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General discussion

trying to decide between 3 different processors

Jan 6, 2005 11:04PM PST

buying a new laptop and confused about my options choosing a processor:
1. Pentium IV - Centrino
2. Pentium IV
3. AMD Athlon 64

a. I've been told the AMD Athlon 64 would be faster for the new operating systems of the future.

b. that Pentium IV - Centrino is specifically designed for light weight laptops running cooler -

c. that Pentium IV in laptops runs faster than the Centrino.

Any and all options are appreciated.
Thanks - Gene, Florida

Discussion is locked

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a = maybe. b=true. c=both true and false.
Jan 6, 2005 11:31PM PST

The P4 would have to be the HT model to gain any real edge over the Centino of similar clock rate. In my casual use of too many laptops, the general rule of thumb to compare P4 to Centrino is to multiply by 2 the Centrino clock rate to pick the matching P4 speed.

A few comments.

1. The CPU is only one piece of the performance puzzle. You could have the hottest P4 HT CPU, but saddle it with shared video RAM and a 4200 RPM hard disk and the other CPU with 5400/7200 RPM drive and dedicated video would zoom past it on some benchmarks.

2. This year will see more 64-bit announcements from Intel (maybe at CES?) with the EM64T addons. You may be looking over very stale CPUs.

Bob

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(NT) (NT) Thanks Bob for the good info.
Jan 6, 2005 11:51PM PST
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Updated Pentium M' s(new chipset) and Athlon 64 low voltage
Jan 7, 2005 3:23AM PST

It is the Pentium M used in the Centrino standard (not Pentium 4 Centrino).

Note that the low voltage Athlon 64 notebooks and the new updated Pentium M Centrino notebooks (faster bus speed, faster RAM, etc) are both coming out sometime soon in 2005 so you should wait for those now that you are already in 2005 if you want the best value.