Intel's "Santa Rosa" platform gets a "Penryn" refresh before "Montevina" arrives

    Intel needs to call a plumber, because future roadmap details continue to leak from the company. Yesterday, we learned of new 45nm Xeon processors based on Intel’s upcoming Penryn-family. Now we have news of the upcoming Penryn-based mobile Core 2 Duo processors for the Santa Rosa refresh.

    Intel has four new Penryn-based Core 2 Duo processors in the pipeline. Although Intel has not given the new processors model names, Intel reveals the clock speeds and cache configurations in the latest roadmap.

    All four mobile Core 2 Duo processors make use of an 800MHz FSB, matching Merom-based models. Intel does not intend to move mobile processors to a 1066 MHz or 1333 MHz front-side bus like its desktop counterparts.

    The four new mobile Core 2 Duo processors range from 2.1 GHz to 2.6 GHz. Higher-end 2.6 GHz and 2.5 GHz Penryn-based mobile Core 2 Duo processors feature 6MB of L2 cache. The entry-level 2.4 GHz and 2.1 GHz have 3MB of L2 cache, half of the higher-end models. Intel plans to provide Penryn-based mobile Core 2 Duo processors in PGA Socket P and BGA configurations, as with Merom-based processors.

    Additionally, Intel plans a Penryn refresh of its mobile Core 2 Extreme processor. The Penryn-based mobile Core 2 Extreme processor clocks in at 2.8 GHz on an 800 MHz front-side bus. Cache-size remains the same as the other Penryn-based mobile Core 2 Duo processors, at 6MB. Despite a mild speed increase from the high-end Penryn-based Core 2 Duo, the mobile Core 2 Extreme features an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.

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