Intel 'breaks' Moore's Law with new Atom chips

The GMA 500 is "indeed better than the old 945," said Jon Peddie, principal at Jon Peddie Research, but it's still not in the league [of the Ion.]"

Despite the architectural change, Pineview-class Atoms will , says Intel.

At the same time, Intel argues that and leave Nvidia out in the cold.

Brookwood agrees. "Once the [Intel] GPU moves onto the same die as the CPU, you have to wonder what role, if any, a discrete GPU from Nvidia can play," Brookwood said.

Nvidia, which has as it tries to sell Ion, did not return a request for comment.