One of our sources has pointed out something very interesting to us, Intel's upcoming Nehalem based mainstream CPU with built in graphics, which at the moment seems to be the Clarkdale, has a different memory controller compared to the non-IGP Lynnfield.

From what our sources has told us, the memory controller used in the Clarkdale core has been derived from the G45 chipset, although it's of course an improved version, but it's different to the one inside the Lynnfield which will use a memory controller that has more akin with the one in the Nehalem based Core i7 processors.

So far it's unknown what difference this will make, but it will most likely lead to different memory performance between the two CPUs, despite the fact that both use DDR3 memory. We're not sure why Intel has gone down this route, but it might have something to do with the IGP. As the IGP components are also based on an improved version of the G45 chipset, this is the only logical connection that can be drawn.

We'll bring you more details on this as we find out more, but it seems like there's more to the replacement of Havendale with Clarkdale than what Intel has let slip.