Intel's Clover Trail+: Dual-Core CPU and Graphics Unveiled at MWC 2013

We find ourselves at another Mobile World Congress, discussing another Intel Atom based smartphone SoC. While last year we were talking about faster and lower performing versions of the Medfield family, this year there’s a new topic for discussion: Clover Trail+.

Here’s where Intel’s codenames start getting a bit confusing. Medfield was the original 32nm Atom SoC for smartphones, while Clover Trail was the 32nm platform for Windows 8 tablets. Clover Trail+ is still a 32nm Atom based SoC but it can be used in phones and tablets.

Architecturally, Clover Trail+ takes the Medfield platform, adds a second CPU core (and leaves Hyper Threading enabled), dramatically improves GPU performance and introduces the same memory controller enhancements that were present in the original Clover Trail. Compared to Clover Trail, CT+ mostly adds improved graphics performance.

Intel Goes Dual-Core
On the CPU side we’re still talking about 32nm 2-wide in-order Atom cores, with two threads per core (4 threads total per chip). This is still a direct descendent of the original 45nm Atom core that first debuted in 2008. Intel is quick to point out that the redesigned 22nm architecture is still on track for an introduction (in tablets) this holiday season, but for now we’re still stuck with the old core.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6790/intels-clover-trail-dualcore-cpu-and-graphics-unveiled-at-mwc-2013