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General discussion

Athlon64 notebook versus Centrino, need assistance.

by ajusaf May 27, 2005 12:22PM PDT

Between both they seem to offer alot for similiar price. Overall in games and wireless etc. which would be best. I read both do great in not using alot of battery power. centrino offers 2mb cache what should i be lookign for in deciding? thanks

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
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RE
by nino88 May 27, 2005 1:07PM PDT

I own both. For battery life, it's not a comparison. My centrino laptop can last 2.5-3 times longer than my AMD 64 (both with 12 cell battery). AMD runs a bit cooler than P4 but that's about it. I hardly hear the fan noise on my Centrino laptop but the amd one pretty much keep running (slow mode).

I thought AMD is much better in games though.

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me thinks...
by server May 27, 2005 2:27PM PDT

For wireless WiFi and battery conservation
go "Intel Inside" C$entrino

For Power and Memory intensive applications
Go "AMD Inside"

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RE:
by damasta55r May 27, 2005 3:10PM PDT

You can get wireless for any laptop and as for battery life, 2.5 hours is not that bad, just get 2 batteries and you've got 5 hours. Intel Pentium M may be more energy efficient, but not by much compared to the Athlon 64 3500+, in a comparison of the Pentium at 2.0GHz and 533fsb. Done at tomshardware.com. Not sure about the link currently...
Roger

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Get Sonoma Pentium M ending in 0 if Centrino....
by KenSanramon May 27, 2005 5:31PM PDT

The big issue right now with the new Intel Sonoma Pentium M (Centrino) notebooks is that they mostly have the updated integrated intel video chip (faster than before but not dedicated video). The Compaq X1000 I have based on the 400mhz bus (Sonoma is now 533mhz bus) had an ATI 9200 dedicated video card with up to 64mb dedicated video.

In theory the integrated video runs better than the prior standard but gamers would definitely want dedicated video RAM (64mb dedicated at a minimum, 128mb dedicated if you are serious about performance, 256mb dedicated on a desktop).

For this reason you may want to go with an Athlon 64 with dedicated video. However, the low voltage chips that have been promised to be competitive with the Pentium M Sonoma are still not out yet.

So, find out if the new Intel intergrated graphics performance will be enough. If so, the Pentium M is more efficient, runs cooler, and also can be in a thinner, lighter case. Battery life should be 3.5-5 hours or more if you have a 12 cell battery instead of a 6 cell.

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Clarification of Pentium M ending in 0 as opposed to 4
by KenSanramon May 27, 2005 5:36PM PDT

Pentium M cpus ending in 0 (and at least 720 or higher) are the new Sonoma standard. The system bus should be 533mhz and the memory should be faster than PC 2700 (333mhz).

The prior standard I have is still indicated by Pentium M cpus that end with a 5. That means you have the 400mhz system bus and likely PC2700 RAM (1st generation was PC2100 RAM). This would also mean you have the 1st generation intergrated video.

So make sure you are getting a Pentium M Sonoma system with the 533mhz bus, faster RAM (get at least 512mb --if you fill 1 slot only you can add another 512mb RAM cpu cheaper yourself later). Note that a Pentium M 725 (Dothan) and Pentium M 730 (new Sonoma) are both 1.6mhz Pentium M cpus but the ones ending in a 0 are the new chipset, bus speed, chip updated, etc.

Again, the frustrating thing is the lack of dedicated video options on most of these new Sonoma notebooks ---

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We have a few R3000s.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator May 27, 2005 10:06PM PDT

The office picked up a few R300s and I'm lucky enough to have received one so I can write a bit from owning one.

The current Centrinos are fair gaming systems. So are the Athlon 64s. But the bottom line is a gamer has never liked laptops. The games can't be run in full glory.

For us, it's future proofing. You will see 64-bit everywhere by year end. Look no further than what chips are in production at Intel/AMD. The 32 bits are either a percentage point or a run to satisfy a standing order.
Again, I'm talking about the factory and not what you see at retail.

Along with the 64-bit blitz you'll see 64-bit enhanced games.

If games in 1 year are what you want, you want 64-bit.
If you only care about today, either machine is very nice.

Bob

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dell
by ajusaf May 28, 2005 3:36PM PDT

just saw Inspiron 9300 for 1400 bucks which has Pentium

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