Intel A110

The Intel A110 is a single-core mobile processor from Intel's Atom (Stealey) generation, built on a 90 nm process at Intel's own foundry. It operates at a fixed base clock of 800 MHz with no boost capability, draws a remarkably low 3 W TDP, and packs 64 KB of L1 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. Released on May 31, 2007, it has since reached end-of-life status. With a single thread and a modest clock, this chip was designed for ultra-low-power embedded and basic mobile tasks, not for heavy lifting.

Platform and Compatibility

The A110 uses the Intel BGA 437 socket, which means the processor is soldered directly to the motherboard. There is no upgrade path in the traditional sense — you cannot swap out the CPU for a faster model. This is typical for low-power mobile and embedded parts, where the entire board is often replaced rather than the chip. The platform is built around DDR2 memory, and the FACT PACK does not list any memory bus width or bandwidth figures, so you will need to rely on the motherboard's memory controller for specifics. ECC memory is not supported, so error-correcting RAM is off the table.

PCIe support is not specified in the data, which suggests that the A110 likely relies on legacy or chipset-provided I/O rather than a dedicated PCIe controller on the CPU. Integrated graphics are listed as "On certain motherboards (Chipset feature)," meaning the CPU itself does not contain a GPU; instead, the chipset on the motherboard may provide basic display output. This is an important distinction for system builders — you cannot expect any graphical capability from the A110 alone.

The processor is built on a 90 nm process with 176 million transistors and a die size of 66 mm². These are small numbers by modern standards, but they reflect the era and the low-power focus. The architecture is based on the older Pentium M design, and the codename is Stealey, which belongs to the Atom family. Because it is a BGA part and has been end-of-life for many years, compatibility is limited to specific motherboards that were designed for this socket and chipset. If you are looking at a used system, be aware that memory is restricted to DDR2, and there is no support for ECC or modern PCIe devices.

Who Should Consider It

Given the specifications, the A110 is not a processor for modern gaming, content creation, or even general-purpose desktop use. Its single core, single thread, and 800 MHz base clock place it far below the requirements of contemporary software. The 3 W TDP, however, makes it interesting for extremely low-power applications — think embedded controllers, simple point-of-sale terminals, or lightweight industrial automation where power draw is critical and workloads are trivial.

The absence of multi-threading means that any task will run on a single logical processor. That is fine for a simple loop or a basic text interface, but it will choke on anything that expects parallel execution. The 512 KB L2 cache is small, so memory-bound operations will likely see frequent cache misses. In practice, the A110 is best suited for tasks that are purely sequential and do not require significant memory bandwidth. Office work, web browsing with modern sites, and even video playback are out of the question — the processor simply does not have the compute or the integrated graphics to handle them.

On the other hand, if you are building a low-power sensor hub, a simple network appliance, or a dedicated single-purpose controller, the A110's low clock and minimal power draw could be an advantage. It will run cool without any active cooling, and the 3 W TDP means you can power it from a small battery or a simple voltage regulator. But do not expect any headroom — there is no boost clock, no unlocked multiplier, and no multi-core scaling to fall back on.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK for the Intel A110 lists no nearest rivals. There are no names, no scores, and no deltaPct values provided. This means the benchmark database does not have comparative data for this processor against any other CPU. Consequently, we cannot offer a positional analysis relative to specific competitors. The only quantitative reference points are the average benchmark score of 0 and the 50th percentile rank among all CPUs in the database, but these are not tied to any rival.

Because no rival data exists, any attempt to compare the A110 to another processor would be speculation. The absence of comparisons is itself a signal: the A110 is so far outside the mainstream that it does not even register in the usual competitive landscape. For practical purposes, if you are evaluating this chip, you are doing so in a niche where modern performance metrics are irrelevant.

FAQ

Q: What socket does the Intel A110 use?

A: It uses the Intel BGA 437 socket, which is a ball-grid array package soldered to the motherboard.

Q: How much cache does the A110 have?

A: It has 64 KB of L1 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. Since there is only one core, that totals 64 KB L1 and 512 KB L2.

Q: Does the A110 support ECC memory?

A: No, ECC memory is not supported. The memory support is limited to DDR2.

Q: What is the TDP of the A110?

A: The thermal design power is 3 W, which is extremely low.

Q: When was the A110 released?

A: It was released on May 31, 2007, and is now end-of-life.

Q: Is the multiplier unlocked?

A: No, the multiplier is not unlocked. The base clock is fixed at 800 MHz with no boost.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark data for the Intel A110 is essentially empty. The FACT PACK reports an average benchmark score of 0 and a percentile rank of 50 among all CPUs. However, no individual benchmark results are listed, and no nearest rivals are provided. This means the average score of 0 is not a measured performance value; it is a placeholder indicating that no benchmarks have been recorded for this processor. The 50th percentile is equally uninformative — it simply places the chip at the median of the database, but without any actual scores, that rank has no practical meaning.

In the absence of benchmark numbers, we cannot state how the A110 performs relative to any other CPU. There are no deltaPct values to compare against. The only conclusion we can draw from the data is that the A110 has not been subjected to the standard benchmark suite, likely because it is an obsolete, ultra-low-power part that never warranted testing. If you are relying on this database for performance guidance, the A110 offers no quantitative evidence either way. The 800 MHz clock and single thread are the only performance indicators we have, and they suggest a very low throughput.

Single-Thread vs Multi-Thread Behavior

The Intel A110 is a single-core, single-thread processor. There is no hyper-threading, no additional cores, and no boost clock. Every workload, regardless of its nature, runs on one logical processor at a fixed 800 MHz. This has profound implications for real-world use. Multi-threaded applications will see zero benefit from parallelism because there is no second thread to offload work to. Even a dual-core chip from the same era would outperform the A110 in any parallel task.

The L1 cache is 64 KB and the L2 cache is 512 KB, both per core. With only one core, these are the total cache sizes. The small L2 means that any working set larger than 512 KB will cause repeated cache misses, forcing the processor to wait on slower DDR2 memory. The 800 MHz clock is low even for 2007, and the lack of a boost clock means there is no transient performance headroom. For single-threaded tasks, the A110 will behave like a very slow, very power-efficient microcontroller. It can handle simple arithmetic, basic I/O, and control logic, but anything that requires sustained computation or large data movement will be painfully slow.

The single-thread nature also means that the processor cannot context-switch efficiently between multiple demanding tasks. While the OS can schedule processes, the single core will time-slice, and the low clock speed will make even that seem sluggish. In practice, the A110 is best used for a single, simple, continuously running task — such as reading a sensor and sending a signal — rather than as a general-purpose CPU. The 3 W TDP and the small cache are perfectly matched to that kind of workload, but they are completely inadequate for modern multitasking or media-heavy applications.