Nvidia Rolls out "Tegra" Chips

Nvidia Rolls out "Tegra" Chips

Techtree News Staff, Jun 02, 2008 1229 hrs IST

While Nvidia's "Tegra" chips and Intel's "Atom" chips may be vying for space in the same market, there's a huge difference in terms of chip architectures between "Tegra" and "Atom".

Nvidia has announced its newest line of processors named "Tegra", targeted mainly at an upcoming new breed of mobile Internet devices (MIDs).

Referring to the Tegra 600 and Tegra 650 processors as "computers on a chip", Nvidia is hoping to target the market for highly portable visual devices -- one that chip maker Intel (and number one at that) is already targeting with its latest "Atom" processors.

"Tegra" chips are said to include Nvidia's previously announced application processor, APX2500. They have as their main electronic brain an ARM 11 central processing unit core, a graphics processing unit, a media processor, system memory, and peripherals -- all in one, ultra-low power-consuming chip that is smaller than a dime, according to Mike Rayfield, general manager (Mobile Business) of Nvidia. Rayfield said the prices for MIDs with "Tegra" chips would range between $200 and $250; the chips would be on store shelves by the holiday shopping season.

While Nvidia's "Tegra" chips and Intel's "Atom" chips may be vying for space in the same, tiny-but-powerful computing market, there's a huge difference in terms of chip architectures between "Tegra" and "Atom".

Intel's "Atom" chips use its x86 architecture while Nvidia's "Tegra" chips have at their core an ARM 11 central processing unit. Intel insists its x86 architecture is better suited for computing applications such as gaming and Web browsing.