The World’s Fastest Mobile CPU

We take a hands-on look at a top-of-the-line Intel Calpella notebook complete with an Intel Core i7 Extreme 920XM CPU and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M. It doesn’t come much faster and portable than this!
High-performance notebooks was a market segment that didn’t really take hold until recent years. With improvements to manufacturing processes, power consumption, and of course compute performance, is it time to consider a high performance mobile PC? Is the performance gain over mid-range notebooks justified by the price, or are you better off sticking with a desktop for your serious computing needs?

We answer these questions and more as we delve into a reference notebook based on the Calpella platform – the latest PM55 based mobile chipset from Intel. Calpella is Intel’s 6th generation Centrino platform (but perhaps the 3rd in the minds of most consumers) and it takes advantage of all the latest trends in consumer computing.

Intel i7 Extreme 920XM with NVIDIA GTX 280M Performance Review - Breaking the Mobile Speed Barrier - Mobile 41
 

Calpella supports:
  • Intel Core i5 / i7 mobile processor support for Arrandale and Clarksfield CPUs (including i7 ULV models to i7 Extreme mobile CPUs)
  • Improved memory bandwidth thanks to DDR3 in dual-channels (up to 8GB at DDR3-1333)
  • Wireless N (802.11n) support, WiMax, and other wireless options
  • Improved power efficiency
The system we’re looking at today is one of the fastest configurations available for Calpella: decked out with an Intel Core i7 Extreme 920XM CPU (marketed as the world’s fastest mobile CPU) and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M 1GB. We put this mobile system through our battery of performance tests and throw in some Intel desktop systems so you get a sense of relative performance.

Intel i7 Extreme 920XM with NVIDIA GTX 280M Performance Review - Breaking the Mobile Speed Barrier - Mobile 42

This article is intended to give you a good idea of what to expect in a top-of-the-line system so you can make your own choices on a performance mobile system available from many vendors. Let’s get on to our review!



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