It has already been revealed both officially and unofficially that Intel Corp.’s next-generation Atom system-on-chip code-named Valleyview will be substantially faster and more capable than chips available today. But according to slides, which resemble those from Intel Corp.’s roadmaps, the Atom “Valleyview” system-on-chip due in late 2013 will be a rather revolutionary product.

In a bid to significantly improve performance of its entry-level offerings, Intel is expected to boost general-purpose x86 performance of quad-core Valleyview chip by up to 50% - 100% compared to currently available Atom solutions. More importantly, Valleyview will integrate seventh-generation Intel graphics core, which is projected to be up to three times faster than existing graphics technology inside Atom chips. In addition, the world’s largest chipmaker intends to integrate various technologies that improve user experience and enhance security into the Bay Trail platform, according to slides published by 3DCenter.de web-site.

Considering the fact that Atom “Valleyview” chips will operate at 2.70GHz or higher and will feature up to four cores, it is not surprising that the new low-power platform will be 50% - 100% faster than existing one. However, it does not look that Silvermont micro-architecture is substantially more efficient than existing Saltwell micro-architecture despite of the fact that the Silvermont is out-of-order one and is generally believed to be more advanced than all previous Atom micro-architectures.

For the first time in history, highly-integrated Atom system-on-chip will utilize Intel’s own graphics processing technology (current SoCs use PowerVR technology). Thanks to Intel HD Graphics 4000-series graphics core, ValleyView will provide three times higher performance than today’s Atoms for netbooks and nettops.

Intel will offer three versions of Valleyview-based platforms: Bay Trail-T (3W), Bay Trail-M (4W – 6.5W) and Bay Trail-D (12W) for tablets, notebooks, and desktops, respectively. Actual SoCs will come in different form-factors, with different levels of performance and even with some feature-set differences. In addition, there will be server solutions based on Valleyview.

While production of Intel Atom “Valleyview” chips for Bay Trail platform will begin in Q4 2013, it is now clear that they will be released only between February and April, 2014, according to the slides.

Despite of all advantages, when it comes to the PC world, Intel Atom "ValleyView" will be a year late when compared to AMD's code-named Kabini system-on-chip due, according to reports, in Q1 2013.

Intel did not comment on the news-story.

Tags: Intel, Atom, Silvermont, ValleyView, 22nm