Centrino trashes Itanium in brain measurement test

A FEW YEARS BACK at another plaice we got the world scoop on the first photograph of an Intel Merced microprocessor, the 64-bit "brains of a computer", as top IT hack Chris Long describes these crafty chips.

David Ross, from Hexus was kind enough to send the INQ a version of this "Merced" microprocessor along with its cooling apparatus.

So we thought we'd conduct a rather scientific survey of how heavy the brains of a computer actually are.

On the left, below, is our wonderful Panasonic CF-W2, containing a Pentium M ULV 900MHz processor, and as you can see happily displaying the INQ front page using a Wi-Fi connection.

And on the right is heavyweight contender the Intel Itanium I, which as you can see lacks any kind of case at all, never mind the other things "the brains of a computer" needs to make it operate.

Both items weigh almost the same, 2.5lbs.

This scientific study using our kitchen scales just goes to show that Moore's Law is alive and well, and living in the Centrino chassis. µ