Ultra-Low-Voltage-CPU Guarantees Long Battery Life : Averatec Lightweight Laptop Makes Portability Affordable

Ultra-Low-Voltage-CPU Guarantees Long Battery Life

By Harald Thon, published on September 12, 2005
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: averatec, lightweight, laptop | Themes: Business Notebooks

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Not Just Light, But Stylish, Too
3. USB Ports: Always Powered
4. Graphics, Display & Sound
5. Keyboard And Other Interface Elements
6. Memory And Hard Drive Practically Not User Upgradeable
7. System Backup And Manual On The Hard Drive
8. Ultra-Low-Voltage-CPU Guarantees Long Battery Life

8. Ultra-Low-Voltage-CPU Guarantees Long Battery Life

In idle mode, the Pentium M 733 ULV automatically decreases its clock speed from 1.1 GHz to 600 MHz.

We already mentioned that the AV1050 is quite affordable. Considering its moderate price, it is all the more surprising that Averatec chose to use an ultra-low-voltage CPU: the Pentium M 733. After all, at $241, this version of the chip is a good third more expensive than the standard version. Still, the investment is well worth it, since it brings the advantage of lower power consumption. This is achieved via three different factors: slower FSB speeds, lower frequencies and a much lower core voltage. Indeed, at only 0.94V, the Pentium M 733 needs a good 27% less voltage than the standard Pentium M. At its lowest speed of 600 MHz, the minimal core voltage can be dropped to a mere 0.81V! Taken together, these energy saving decisions ensure that the maximum power requirements of the Pentium M 733 ULV lie at just 5 watts, compared to the up to 27 watts of the standard Pentium M.

Pentium M
Processor	Coreclock	L2-Cache	Frontsidebus	Die	Thermal Design Power
Pentium M 780	2.26 GHz	2 MB	533 MHz	90 nm	27 W
Pentium M 770	2.13 GHz	2 MB	533 MHz	90 nm	27 W
Pentium M 760	2.00 GHz	2 MB	533 MHz	90 nm	27 W
Pentium M 755	2.00 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	21 W
Pentium M 750	1.86 GHz	2 MB	533 MHz	90 nm	27 W
Pentium M 745	1.80 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	21 W
Pentium M 740	1.73 GHz	2 MB	533 MHz	90 nm	27 W
Pentium M 735	1.70 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	21 W
Pentium M 730	1.60 GHz	2 MB	533 MHz	90 nm	27 W
Pentium M 725	1.60 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	21 W
Pentium M 715	1.50 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	21 W
Pentium M 705	1.50 GHz	1 MB	400 MHz	130 nm	24.5 W
Pentium M 778 LV	1.60 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	10 W
Pentium M 758 LV	1.50 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	10 W
Pentium M 753 ULV	1.20 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	5 W
Pentium M 738 LV	1.40 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	10 W
Pentium M 718 LV	1.30 GHz	1 MB	400 MHz	130 nm	12 W
Pentium M 733 ULV	1.10 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	5 W
Pentium M 723 ULV	1.00 GHz	2 MB	400 MHz	90 nm	5 W
Pentium M 713 ULV	1.10 GHz	1 MB	400 MHz	130 nm	7 W
LV = Low Voltage, ULV = Ultra Low Voltage

As a result of these low power requirements, the system also dissipates very little heat. This makes ULV CPUs the ideal choice for use in small and light laptops, since they don't need an elaborate active cooling solution. Theoretically, such a system could even rely completely on a passive cooling.