New ASUS Eee PC 1201K netbook with Geode NX processor

ASUS is planning to launch a new netbook from Eee 1201 series, Eee PC 1201K. The netbook has 12.1" 1366 x 768 screen with LED backlight, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB hard drive upgradeable to 320 GB, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-fi, and 0.3 Megapixel web-camera. The netbook is shipped with 6-cell Li-ion battery, and weights with the battery 3.2 lb or 1.46 Kg. The 1201K comes with Windows XP Home operating system. The most interesting part about the new netbook is a processor. Unlike other 1201-series netbooks, majority of which use Intel Atom microprocessors, the 1201K includes AMD Geode NX 1750 CPU. The motherboard in the Eee 1201K utilizes SiS741GX North Bridge and SiS966L South Bridge chipsets. Obviously, the chipset does not support DDR2 and DDR3 memory, so the netbook comes with DDR1 memory.

Released six years ago, the Geode NX1750 was based on K7 micro-architecture, and is not much different from Athlon XP-M CPUs. The processor runs at 1.4 GHz, has 266 MHz FSB frequency and 256 KB exclusive level 2 cache. The Geode NX 1750 supports MMX, 3DNow! and SSE instructions. Typical power consumption of this CPU is 14 Watt, while the maximum TDP is 25 Watt. Due to its low power consumption compared to desktop AMD Athlon XP CPUs, the 1750 was used mainly for embedded applications. Still, the CPU has substantially higher TDP than modern netbook-oriented CPUs, and that probably explains poor 2-hour battery life of the Eee PC 1201K.