Intel shows off Quad-core mobile CPU

If there's one thing that I can say about Intel, it's that they never stay in one place for very long. While the company's Santa Rosa dual-core mobile chipset is still fairly new--even by technology standards--Intel is already looking toward Montevina, the platform that will replace Santa Rosa, and the quad-core Penryn chips that it will house. At a developer forum in Taiwan, Intel showed off both the 45nm quad-core mobile chips and the Montevina chipset; though the chips are still in the early stages of development, the demo machine was shown running the recent "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars" game "without a hitch."

Of course, a quad-core CPU crammed into a notebook is going to require some heavy-duty cooling and Intel also has a few ideas in that department. Most notably, the company demoed a cooling technology based on compressors--the same type used in refrigerators--that could be integrated into a laptop's heatsink and fan assembly. According to Intel's mobile platforms chief Mooly Eden, this technology could reduce the temperature inside of a lappie by 10 degrees Celsius. Finally, Eden briefly discussed a new material in development that is permeable to gases but not liquids. The idea is that a barrier made of this material would sit under the keyboard, allowing air to move in through the keyboard, thereby cooling the system, while also serving as a barrier to accidentally spilled liquids. Intel says not to expect either of these cooling technologies for at least another year--Montevina and the quad-core mobile CPU, however, should be ready to go by mid-2008.

For more on Intel's latest tech:
- see this AppleInsider article