laptop processors

[intrudah]

Ive been looking for a laptop for college this year, I was planning on getting it custom made by a buddy of mine but I was checking the dell site and an HP magazine to compare prices.

Why do they all sell processors around 1.6ghz (mostly celtron or pentium M)?

are mobile cpu's really that far behind? or do they perform at PC speeds?

my 1.6ghz at home is about 2 years old now..I was hoping to get a 64bit one but these retail sites dont offer any

[Maxtr0sity]

Well, Centrino's are really differen't than P4s. A 1.6Ghz Centrino is equivalent to a 3.2-3.4Ghz P4. Don't get the Celerons, I have a 1.8Ghz Centrino and it works wonders. Orrr, you can go with the traditional P4 without Centrino, but that's gonna be one hot mofo, heat wise.

[CagedApe]

Well, Centrino's are really differen't than P4s. A 1.6Ghz Centrino is equivalent to a 3.2-3.4Ghz P4. Don't get the Celerons, I have a 1.8Ghz Centrino and it works wonders. Orrr, you can go with the traditional P4 without Centrino, but that's gonna be one hot mofo, heat wise.

Does that same rule apply to Pentium M processors?

[Maxtr0sity]

K-man had a link a while ago in one of my threads, I can't find it. :(

[kirupa]

Does that same rule apply to Pentium M processors?
Centrino is a collection of technologies that include the Pentium M with some extra stuff for wireless networking, etc. Imagine three people standing under a giant umbrella. The three people are called CPU, Wireless Tech., and Mr. Chipset. The umbrella is called Centrino.

Instead of calling each person by name, you can just say "Centrino", and all three will respond. The umbrella itself is just a marketing term ;)

EDIT: Max - is this the link? http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050119/sonoma_alviso-19.html :P

[teet]

A 1.6Ghz Centrino is equivalent to a 3.2-3.4Ghz P4

Is this really true? Do you have any data to back up this claim? I find it to be unbelievable.

I always assumed a 1.6 Ghz centrino...was, well, like a 1.6 Ghz PIII. I thought you were giving up speed for mobility. I mean, most people really don't need a laptop running at 3 Ghz to browse the web, check their mail, or use a word processor.

-teet

[kirupa]

The Pentium M's are about 1.6-1.8X the speed of their P4 equivalents.

Here is a comparison between Desktop P4, PM, and other chips: http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/dfi-855gme-mgf/index.x?pg=1

:fight:

[teet]

Interesting article...I had never given the Pentium M enough credit :)

Now I see why they're really pushing it for laptops. Long battery life without comprimising performance!

-teet

[B3NKobe]

Well, Centrino's are really differen't than P4s. A 1.6Ghz Centrino is equivalent to a 3.2-3.4Ghz P4. Don't get the Celerons, I have a 1.8Ghz Centrino and it works wonders. Orrr, you can go with the traditional P4 without Centrino, but that's gonna be one hot mofo, heat wise.
Sweet, never knew that, helped alot, especially as im looking at a dell laptop!! :thumb:

[Maxtr0sity]

Thanks k-man, it was one of the two you pointed out, Centrinos/PM needs more street cred. Speaking of battery life, I just underclocked my CPU and GPU, making battery life 1.5x longer. :thumb:

[kirupa]

Thanks k-man, it was one of the two you pointed out, Centrinos/PM needs more street cred. Speaking of battery life, I just underclocked my CPU and GPU, making battery life 1.5x longer. :thumb:
Doesn't the Intel Speedstep automatically underlclock the CPU when not in use. My 2 year old P4 3.06 Dell laptop even has Speedstep, so you may want to look in your BIOS to see if it is enabled.

It ramps up the processor speed if you are doing something CPU intensive, but if you are just word processing, it reduces the speed down to about 50%. Right now, my CPU speed is a 1.6 according to System Properties.

:thumb:

[Maxtr0sity]

I'm using a program called Centrino Hardware Control (.Net required) which lets me define my speed. SpeedStep likes to throttle randomly. Ex. I open Word, SpeedStep throttles to 1.8Ghz and stays there for 10 minutes wasting precious battery time and increasing heat output (not good for my soldiers). Instead, I limit it at 600Mhz so the expense is the one second 1.8Ghz processes saving probably a couple minutes of battery life. Random throttles like that builds up. My battery life is up to 4 hours now.

[kirupa]

Oh - that's really good! I might give that program a shot, for my laptop dies at around the 5 hour mark when I'm traveling, and I'm sure Solitaire or the MS Pinball don't require 1.5GHz to run hehe.

[Maxtr0sity]

5 hours, nicce. What kinda battery you got?


PS. I forgot I was on battery just now and accidentally hard-off'ed the computer...stupid me.

[kirupa]

5 hours, nicce. What kinda battery you got?
I have no idea. My current laptop contains a desktop P4 (not even Mobile), so it's like a mini tank. I wouldn't be suprised if an automobile battery was there somewhere :P

My Inspiron 6000 should be here in the few days, so I can finally play Pocket Tanks without the fans spinning non-stop!

[Maxtr0sity]

Does your P4 cook right now?

[kirupa]

Does your P4 cook right now?
No - I can't hear anything at all. But when the CPU speed increases to its max, then it gets pretty noisy. Luckily, that is very rarely since I do most of my gaming on my desktop :te:

[intrudah]

sry for the late reply had this bookmarked at work and didnt have time until now to check it out.

thx for the links and all the info, ill check out the links

now im not so worried about buying a retail laptop

does anyone here do web design sololy on a laptop?
I'll be moving to college and working out my dorm room and all I can afford is one new computer. I'll be running CS2/zend and other high-cpu usage programs really often.

[kirupa]

does anyone here do web design sololy on a laptop?
I'll be moving to college and working out my dorm room and all I can afford is one new computer. I'll be running CS2/zend and other high-cpu usage programs really often.
I did for about two years. It wasn't a hassle at all, and my laptop screen went up to 1600x1200, so I was able to have a lot of stuff on the screen at the same time.