Intel Atom 230 vs Intel Atom Z560 vs Intel Atom Z500

Intel Atom 230

The Intel Atom 230 is a small and cheap CPU for small desktops (Nettops). It is similar to the Atom N270, but lacks Speedstep and features a higher TDP.

Due to the "in-order" Architecture of the Atom series, the 230 is slower than similar clocked Core 2 Duo processors and only suited for low demanding tasks. The Atom 230 support Hyperthreading.

Intel Atom Z560

The Intel Atom Z560 is a relatively high clocked Atom processor of the power efficient Z-series. It is specified at a much lower TDP than the similar N-series and offers hardware virtualization (VT-x). Due to the in-order execution, the performance per clock-rate is not as good as Celeron or Core 2 Duo processors. The missing Intel 64 Instructions wont allow a user to install a 64 Bit operating system on the Z550.

Intel Atom Z500

The Intel Atom Z500 is a single core CPU for small MIDs, netbooks, internet devices. The performance is very low and therefore only some applications with low CPU demand may run fluently (e.g., email, simple word processing). The Z500 is specified with a TDP of only 0.65W but the US15W chipset needs 2.3W. 

The Atom Z500 supports HyperThreading to execute 2 Threads with the single processor core. However, 64 Bit instructions are not supported.

Furthermore, the Atom Z500 supports the following power saving features:

• C1/AutoHalt state
• C1/MWAIT state
• Enhanced HALT state
• Stop Grant state
• Enhanced Stop Grant state
• Sleep state Deep Sleep state
• Deeper Sleep state
• Enhanced Deeper Sleep state
• C5 state Deep Power-down technology
• Enhanced SpeedStep technology