NVIDIA Ion platform adds muscle to Atom Netbooks

by Stevie Smith - Dec 18 2008, 13:32

While there’s no denying the aesthetic appeal and pocket-friendly portability, convenience and pricing of diminutive Netbook computers such as the ASUS Eee PC or the Acer Aspire One, they’re not exactly the most powerful devices.

Yet, although the majority of Netbooks are designed to accomplish little more than competent Web surfing, GPU manufacturing titan NVIDIA is looking to offer prospective Netbook owners up to 10 times more dedicated processing muscle than is currently available through Atom-based portables.

PC World reports that NVIDIA is planning to release a brand new Netbook hardware platform called Ion, which will combine Intel’s Netbook stalwart Atom CPU with its own GeForce 9400M GPU in order to enhance the capabilities of everyone’s favourite line of ultra mobile personal computers.

In terms of the potential performance boost that could be ushered in alongside Ion, the California-based graphics specialist has indicated that Netbooks would be able to deal with video encoding, host graphics intensive computer games, and even run Windows Vista and perhaps even Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 7 operating system.   

And, while some might expect the combined processing platform to arrive as a drain on single-charge battery longevity, NVIDIA has said Netbook battery life for Atom-equipped systems will be relatively unscathed by the improvements while heat production will even be reduced.

Scheduled to be made available on Netbook systems at some point in the first half of 2009, the arrival of NVIDIA’s Ion is likely to be followed by Yukon, a similar processor-combining Netbook platform currently in development by chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

The associated price impact of Ion has not yet been revealed by NVIDIA, although it’s more than likely that Netbook lovers would be more than willing to shoulder a modest increase in return for more able hardware.

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