Intel killing ARM?
For those who follow hardware and processor architecture you'll know that Intel (and AMD) have predominantly owned the laptop and desktop space with x86 based chipset. This is because they are more powerful than their contemporaries in the ARM space. However, ARM processors are simpler, more efficient and tend to get better battery life.
For the past 5-10 years though we have been heading towards a convergence of sorts. I've always known that sooner or later either x86 chips would match or exceed the power efficiency of ARM while maintaining the superior clocks OR that ARM chipsets would finally match laptop and then desktop performance while maintaining the superior battery life.
The question was always which side would cross into the others boundaries first. And it seems like it has finally started happening. Granted, the new Atom chipsets are not laptop class chips. But they are both more powerful than current generation ARM processors while providing better battery life. When you combine that with the fact that x86 based computers can run full Windows 8 and ARM can't I see ARM being muscled out of that space entirely in the not so distant future.
By the, way the review above matches my experiences as well. Performance on my new Clover Trail based tablet beats out the ARM devices I tried, the battery life is great, and while it still feels like an Atom processor, it feels much closer to a proper laptop processor than the Atom processors of the past.
I don't think this will be the immediate death of ARM as I doubt Intel will price to compete and they don't have the expertise in mobile. Also, I don't know of any x86 ports of the major mobile OS's which should provide ARM based chipsets with some time to play catch up... though now that Intel is there I have no doubts that they will slowly get further and further into ARM territory, and we will eventually start seeing x86 based phones. The day you see the first successful flagship phone running an x86 processor will spell the true beginning of the end for ARM I think.
Likewise, if ARM catches back up and passes Intel and you see a successful mainstream desktop product running Windows RT, it would likely mean the opposite.
The way things stand today though, I think Intel is closer to taking over ARM space than ARM is at making substantial in-roads into Intel's traditional realm.
For the past 5-10 years though we have been heading towards a convergence of sorts. I've always known that sooner or later either x86 chips would match or exceed the power efficiency of ARM while maintaining the superior clocks OR that ARM chipsets would finally match laptop and then desktop performance while maintaining the superior battery life.
The question was always which side would cross into the others boundaries first. And it seems like it has finally started happening. Granted, the new Atom chipsets are not laptop class chips. But they are both more powerful than current generation ARM processors while providing better battery life. When you combine that with the fact that x86 based computers can run full Windows 8 and ARM can't I see ARM being muscled out of that space entirely in the not so distant future.
By the, way the review above matches my experiences as well. Performance on my new Clover Trail based tablet beats out the ARM devices I tried, the battery life is great, and while it still feels like an Atom processor, it feels much closer to a proper laptop processor than the Atom processors of the past.
I don't think this will be the immediate death of ARM as I doubt Intel will price to compete and they don't have the expertise in mobile. Also, I don't know of any x86 ports of the major mobile OS's which should provide ARM based chipsets with some time to play catch up... though now that Intel is there I have no doubts that they will slowly get further and further into ARM territory, and we will eventually start seeing x86 based phones. The day you see the first successful flagship phone running an x86 processor will spell the true beginning of the end for ARM I think.
Likewise, if ARM catches back up and passes Intel and you see a successful mainstream desktop product running Windows RT, it would likely mean the opposite.
The way things stand today though, I think Intel is closer to taking over ARM space than ARM is at making substantial in-roads into Intel's traditional realm.
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