Intel's Core i7 heads to laptops

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Intel today unveiled its Core i7 Mobile processors, detailing the features in the laptop processors formerly known as Clarksfield.

Speaking at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, client group vice president Mooly Eden said Clarksfield was a "kick-ass microprocessor."

"It’s really something that’s really revolutionary," he claimed.

The three Core i7 processors are based on Nehalem architecture and are all quad-core 45nm chips. The 7-920XM, the i7-820QM and the i7-720QM rack up speeds of 2GHz, 1.73GHz and 1.6GHz, but can be boosted by as much as 1.2Ghz using Turbo Mode, which is new to the laptop space.

Turbo Mode takes advantage of unused energy to boost performance, meaning unused cores can be shut down. Speaking of Turbo Mode, Eden said: "I love this technology."

"Everybody will have to have this Turbo tech to stay competitive," he claimed, adding that he expects Intel's competitors to follow suit.

The Clarksfield release follows last month's launch of Lynnfield, the Nehalem 45nm processors for desktops.

Click here for a review of the i7-820QM.

Next up... Arrandale

Intel also reveled details of the 32nm version, set to come out next year. Arrandale chips will feature a 32nm CPU and a 45nm GPU together.

The Turbo mode will utilise unused power from one side and flip it to the other as needed, Eden explained.

Click here for more news from the Intel Developer Forum 2009.

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