Intel's fanless and energy efficient Haswell chip coming later this year

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Intel may have launched its fourth generation core processor, code name Haswell, in early June, but the chipmaker is already planning to launch another version of Haswell that will use less energy and will not need a fan.

 

 

CNet.com reports that, according to an Intel spokesperson, the new Haswell processor will cut down its power rating to just 4.5 watts, versus the current lower limit of 6 watts. In addition, the spokesperson said it will be the first member of the Core family of processors to be fanless.

 

What does this mean? Well, that means that in theory, the more powerful Haswell chip could be put into thin and light notebooks, tablets and hybrids but still provide those products with a better battery life compared to the regular Haswell chips. Intel already has a low power processor design, code name Bay Trail, that's due to debut later this year in Intel's Atom, Celeron and Pentium chips, but Bay Trail doesn't have the performance of Haswell-based Core chips.

 

Intel says that the fanless and power conservative Haswell processor will be made available in limited quantities later this year. It's not much of a stretch to speculate that it could be used inside a future version of Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet. The current version, which launched in February, has the third generation Core i5 processor inside.