More Intel mobile processors surface

From CNET News.com: While Intel updated its price list with a number of new mobile processors over the weekend, a few didn't show up on the list.

Intel on Sunday added new mobile Core i5 and i7 processors prominently to its price list, among other new mobile chips, but didn't cite a new mobile Core i3 processor, a Core i5 variant, and two mobile Pentium chips.

Why? "These SKUs are considered transactional, which means they are targeted at retail and SMB (small- and medium-size businesses) and are subject to terms and conditions with (PC makers) that target those markets. We don't disclose the pricing on those," Intel spokeswoman Connie Brown said today.

The Core i3 is the lower-end Core i series processor SKU, falling below the pricier Core i5 and Core i7 chips. Core i3 processors typically lack a technology called Turbo Boost, which dynamically adjusts the performance of the chip depending on what an application demands.

Pentium processors are slotted under Core i series chips because they lack any advanced features, such as Turbo Boost and hyper-threading, which adds virtual processing cores to the physical cores, increasing performance.

Taking a look at the unlisted processors, the Core i3-380M, which is used in products such as the Hewlett-Packard TouchSmart all-in-one desktop and Acer laptops, is rated at 2.53GHz, has 3MB of cache memory, and includes hyper-threading. Interestingly, Intel does not show any mobile Core i3 processors on its price list, though they are listed in Intel's database.

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