Viiv PCs break the sound barrier

Intel has used the Developer Forum to try and promote its foggy strategy around the Viiv home entertainment platform, which has so far left many people scratching their heads.

The company demonstrated several concept PCs, as well as Viiv PCs available now, and said by the end of the year there would be over 250 designs on the market.

As part of the demo, Intel showed how such PCs fit into the home network, and can work with other devices for entertainment on the move.

It didn't clear the issue up though, as was obvious when Intel was asked again, 'So what is Viiv?'.

It is, the company says, a simple, easy way to get entertainment across a range of devices in the home. It offers a specification made of several parts, much like the Centrino.

The specifications demand that the PC has a dual core CPU, instant on capabilities and the Intel Express Chipset.

It doesn't demand a TV tuner, despite Viiv PCs being billed as central to the home entertainment system and is used in part for watching and recording TV.

Don Macdonald, vice president and general manager of the digital home group, said he would prefer TV tuners to be part of the spec, but that wasn't possible due to 'complexity', particularly because some Viiv PCs hook up to set top boxes and so won't need an inbuilt tuner, which would add to the cost.

Viiv is all about simplicity, and Macdonald agreed that for many consumers, it would be far easier if a tuner was preinstalled, and said many of the 250 designs would include one.

Intel also tried to 'debunk the myth' that Viiv PCs would be too noisy, showing charts plotting the heat and noise generated by the Golden Gate PC compared to common devices found in the living room.

While cooler than many devices, noise still hit 32dBi, far noisier than the recommended 24dBi.

As a gaming PC, Conroe-based systems will offer far better performance than today's Pentium Extreme Edition desktops, once the CPU is shipped later this year.

That additional boost was demonstrated on Call of Duty 2, with it achieving 111 frames per second compared to 90fps using the Pentium EE.

It was, said Macdonald, due to 'secret source' in the code, which an Intel spokesman later confirmed to be Nand based, but would give no further details.

Instant on also uses Nand to speed up boot up and shut down times.

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