Intel Puts StrongArm on Death Row

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109388,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...d,109388,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>My 3870 is rapidly growing outdated...<br /><br />"Intel has given developers notice that its SA-1110 StrongArm processor will not be available for much longer.<br /><br />The chip, which has served as the processor in several generations of personal digital assistants from numerous companies, has been superseded by Intel's XScale line and the company has told developers that it will continue accepting orders for only another six months. The last StrongArm shipments from Intel are due no later than February 6, 2004, according to a notice sent to developers last week."<br /><br />This is not really surprising, considering most major manufacturers have already moved over to ARM5 chips, such as XScale - it sounds like a typical product end-of-life. The SA-1110 is a pretty legacy chip by now, and hopefully the new and upcoming PXA-255 will blow the doors off the old chip, furthering its obsolescence.

[Reinaldo]

That means my 3970 could be next. 8O But the ARM was a good chip. Sometimes better than the x-scale. RIP.
What would the replacemnt be for lower than 300 MHz?

[mscdex]

That means my 3970 could be next. 8O But the ARM was a good chip. Sometimes better than the x-scale. RIP.
What would the replacemnt be for lower than 300 MHz?

First of all, your 3970 uses an X-Scale cpu, so your iPaq is a long long ways off from being "next". Also, the replacement for lower than 300MHz would be an X-Scale chip (they can go as low as 100MHz). After all, the HP 1910 has a factory default CPU setting of 200MHz.

[Weyoun6]

But does this mean that PPC 2003 will be x-scale enhanced?

[Foo Fighter]

Well it's not like this should come as a shock to anyone. xScale was the intended successor to StrongARM, so it makes little sense for Intel to support two parallel product lines.

On the plus side, I see this as solid evidence the next PPC OS release will be optimized for xScale. Praise Jesus! :P

[SnAPPUrU-nyan-ko]

(Salutes the strongARM 206 mhz)

[Foo Fighter]

(Salutes the strongARM 206 mhz)

Shall we play taps? Or just hold up our cigarette lighters in unison? :D

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I was actually trying to think of devices that are still being manufactured with the StrongARM chip... I'm assuming that HP stopped manufacturing 38xx units (one of the last StrongARM units out)... Casio's gone... Toshiba discontinued their line that relied on this chip... I'm not sure about NEC. Were the PPCPE devices based on StrongARM?

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

But does this mean that PPC 2003 will be x-scale enhanced?
There are many here that believe the lack of XScale performance is due to inefficient h/w design on Intel's part. We'll see how hardware changes when PPC2k3 is rolled out.

[Janak Parekh]

Were the PPCPE devices based on StrongARM?
Yes, they're still using 206MHz StrongARMs.

Presumably, the Pocket PC platform will eventually shift its codebase to a "new" processor. After all, Pocket PC 2002 dropped MIPS and SH3 support, right? I don't know if it's going to happen this year or 10 years from now, but you can hardly expect Pocket PC 2035 to still base itself on ARM4. :)

--janak

[R K]

Optimization of the OS may be good, but I think the next XScale will be enough to give a satisfying speed boost.
An iPAQ H5450 overclocked to 472MHz is way faster than an iPAQ H5450 overclocked to 500MHz, and the 500MHz overclock uses the same bus as the 400MHz.

[mscdex]

I was actually trying to think of devices that are still being manufactured with the StrongARM chip... I'm assuming that HP stopped manufacturing 38xx units (one of the last StrongARM units out)... Casio's gone... Toshiba discontinued their line that relied on this chip... I'm not sure about NEC..

Don't forget about the Sharp Zaurus series! :D

[Buddha]

My trusty IPAQ series 3800 is not going anywhere! :grinning devil: My IPAQ 206Mhz must feel so lucky, to have such a caring owner (ME). :wink:

Time to startup a user-group for the now defunct StrongARM 206Mhz users? :P

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

My trusty IPAQ series 3800 is not going anywhere! :grinning devil: My IPAQ 206Mhz must feel so lucky, to have such a caring owner (ME). :wink:

Time to startup a user-group for the now defunct StrongARM 206Mhz users? :P
Let me know when and where and I'm there! :wink: My quirky, contrast-deficient, purple-tinted, sidelight-blinding 38xx ain't goin' anywhere soon either!!