Early indications are that the SoC is very clearly on a
collision course with the CPU. The Surface tablet from Microsoft
highlights the choice that OEMs now have when choosing processor
architecture. This tablet will be made in two versions – one
using an ARM-based SoC processor (Nvidia Tegra 3) and another
using an Intel x86-based CPU processor (Ivy Bridge). Table 1
compares the relevant specs of these two versions while Figure 1
shows a die-photo and block diagram of the two chips. It is
evident that the SoC based design is better suited for the
ultra-mobile consumer form factor where light weight and long
battery life are valued more than having the highest raw
performance. Click on image to enlarge. 1 Comparison of SoC
(NVIDIA) and CPU (Intel) based MS Surface tablets. It is clear
that the tablet with SoC is more amenable for mobile use while
the one with CPU would be less amenable as a mobile device.
(Source: Microsoft Surface website) The CPU based design relies
on extra chips to achieve the necessary h