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General discussion

USAtoday article for Sonoma due 1/19+Athlon 64 Turion mid 05

Jan 18, 2005 10:46AM PST
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/computing/2005-01-17-centrino-update_x.htm

Here are the preliminary details (click link above) for both the Pentium M Sonoma upgrade and the upcoming Athlon 64 low voltage upgrade ---

Note that the article states that the new integrated video should do great at 3D games so I would not buy a notebook now with shared/integrated video with these coming out.

Also, it mentions the faster RAM speed that has already been reported and it states the minipci wi-fi cards (radio component) will receive less interference than the current Intel 2200b/g wi-fi standard ....

So, wait for one or both of these before jumping in if possible

Discussion is locked

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I fear for dedicated video ram.
Jan 18, 2005 10:44PM PST

Interestingly, the information on the new graphics subsystem shows it's still very much substandard.

The GPU runs between 250 and 333 MHz. That's less than any of the current ATI offerings, but close. But the memory bandwidth is really pitiful, especially when you compare it with the Radeon 9800 or a similar card. 6.4gb/s for the Intel integrated, or 19.3 Gb/s for the ATI.

I just fear that with the popularity of the dv1000, 700m, and other integrated-only solutions, the dedicated graphics card may disappear from the mainstream Centrino notebook.

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Is it worth it to wait?
Jan 18, 2005 11:50PM PST

I currently have a Dell 2650. i have been eagerly waiting for Sonoma to be released and see what the new laptops will be like. After reading many times on this board about Longhorn, I was hoping AMD would come out with Turion much earlier than they are. They mention mid 2005, but what if there are delays. Is it worth it to wait that long to have the 64 bit capability?

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It all depends -- Interesting Mobile Athlon 64 (MA64) info
Jan 19, 2005 1:59AM PST

I guess the question you have to ask is: How desperately do I need the performance boost? I didn't wait; I needed the battery life for my last semester of school and I got a deal right then. So I had to act.

But if you can struggle through 5-6 months of using your old laptop, it will probably be worth it.

My gut instinct is to say they took the ultra-low-voltage MA64's and spun them into a new line, and pushed back the release so that they could develop faster clock speeds on that architecture.

But when I read this (src:amd.com): "Mobile AMD Athlon? 64 processors will continue to be offered for notebook buyers who want exceptional performance for the most demanding applications, readiness for tomorrow?s 64-bit applications, and Enhanced Virus Protection in conjunction with Windows

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Transitions exciting with 2 competitors
Jan 19, 2005 2:56AM PST

This is an exciting time for notebook users as like Honda and Toyota in the car market 2 companies are taking 2 products that each was good but had its own issues and is now improving both and using positive points the other has.

Thus, the Penitum M Centrino is adding features it has lacked and the Athlon low voltage 64 will add more battery life and thinner/lighter notebooks to approach the Centrino benchmark.

Of course, the Centrino standard is still 32 bit right now so that is still the drawback on that side of the pond.

These improvements in 2005, however, should be very positive and the true transition to 64 bit notebooks will occur over the next couple of years leading to Longhorn 64 (which may not be until 2007) -- of course Intel is feverishly working on 64bit cpus of its own.

The writing on the wall for all this is the energy is in the Pentium M and Athlon 64 Turion cpus not the Pentium 4M at the desktop level so don't get one of those now unless it is a true desktop replacement ..........