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General discussion

Centrino (725, 1.6 ) Versus Pentium 4 (532) processor

Dec 26, 2004 2:17PM PST

I am looking forward to purchase a notebook and I would like to know the difference between the centrino and pentium 4 processor. Which is the better processor in a notebook. I intend to use the notebook at home as a desktop replacement. I may travel occasionally with it. Can anyone help with the benefits and disadvantes? Or point me to a technical information anywhere on the internet?

Discussion is locked

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Intel.com will compare Pentium 4M & Pentium M not Athlon 64
Dec 27, 2004 7:49AM PST

Intel.com wants to keep you in the Intel camp so they have good descriptions of what their cpus can do at www.intel.com

The Pentium 4M was really never intended for a notebook but they got put in (4M is notebook modified version of desktop Pentium 4 with some power management improvements but not much) as people wanted portable power.

The only reason to get a hot and heavy Pentium 4M now is if you need the hyperthreading multitasking function (Pentium 4M's that indicate they have HT or hyperthreading) which will give you somewhat better performance if you multitask heavily (have more than 5 programs open all the time and switch between them frequently).

Otherwise, you are better off with a Pentium M (Centrino) even if you use it only occasionally unplugged. Once you have hooked up to a wi-fi router (under $50 and 54G minipci card is standard on nearly all notebooks over $1,000) you will want to move around the house and even sit in the backyard or porch or in front of the TV or on the kitchen table) without having to turn off the notebook or have wires.

Note that a Pentium M 725 1.6 Dothan or higher (with full 2mb L2 system cache on the cpu to make faster access than the RAM or hard drive) will perform at up to 2x its clock speed so a Pentium M 1.6 can be compared to a Pentium 4M 3.0 ghz except for hyperthreading.

A Pentium M (Centrino) with an 8 cell battery (don't get suckered getting a 4 cell battery like on some Acers which cuts your battery life in half) will get 3.5-5 hours battery life. Most Pentium 4M's will get about 2 hours or perhaps 2.5 unless they have a monstrous 12 cell battery that is very heavy (some Toshiba Pentium 4M models have a large battery and get very good battery life but they are hot and heavy).

Note that neither of these is 64 bit like the Athlon 64 so you should consider that expecially over the Pentium 4M as it is 64 bit and will run faster when Windows Longhorn arrives in 2006-2007. HP/Compaq and Gateway/E-machines have Athlon 64's and you very well might find them the best choice if battery life is not your #1 priority.

When low voltage AThlon 64's arrive in 2005 then Pentium M Centrino users like me will take notice but until then for an all around efficient notebook (size, weight and battery life) the Pentium M is tops for that camp right now.

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Pentium M vs. P4 Processors
Dec 28, 2004 8:42AM PST

As a general rule, the difference Centrino (Pentium M) Processors will perform very similarly to P4 machines. Don't be fooled by the clock speeds on the processor. The Pentium M processors have greater amounts of cache (think RAM for a processor) allowing the computer to do a lot more with less actual horsepower.

This has several advantages:

1. your notebook with a Pentium M processor will run cooler (less wear and tear)
2. your Pentium M notebook will have a longer battery life
3. A pentium M notebook can be smaller due to it's reduced requirement for a honkin battery or large bulky cooling systems.

If it's a notebook that you're using at a desk most of the time, go with the Pentium 4, it's going to be cheaper. Just make sure to buy a branded manufacturer (Sony, Toshiba, HP, IBM, Dell) as a lot of the clone manufacturer's may not be great on the cooling end, which will reduce the life of your machine.


page 15 of the following brief from intel breaks down the differences between the various mobile processors:

http://www.intel.com/performance/resources/briefs/mobiletechnology.pdf

good luck.

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centrino or p4
Jan 7, 2005 2:36AM PST

im a college student who after research stress and more stress finally bought a laptop but im not sure bout it. i had to decide between

Toshiba M3OX - 11 Intel pentium M centrino, 1.6 Ghz, 400 MHz FSB 2MB cache, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive, DVD RW, 15. 4 " screen

and a
Toshiba A60- 173 Intel 532 P4, 3.06 Ghz, 533 MHZ, 1mb Cache, dvd rw, 512 RAM, 15 " screen, 40 GB hard drive

the Pentium M was more expesive by

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Pentium M better for efficiency -what about dedicated video?
Jan 7, 2005 3:33AM PST

If you are carrying the notebook around at all and especially if using it unplugged (on batteries) you want the Pentium M Centrino. If you are using it mostly plugged in and don't carry it around much the Pentium 4M is fine for that purpose.

The problem is that I think you have shared/integrated video memory (not video card dedicated memory) with one or both of these notebooks so you will be disappointed if you want to play any games --that requires 64mb dedicated video memory (ATI or Nvidia video card) or above....

If one of these 2 notebooks has dedicated video memory keep that one for that reason alone ...