Ms CP
@dsl-w.verizon
|  [Notebooks] AMD 'Anything' vs Intel's M-Series
Hi, I'm a college prof (but far from a 'techie') shopping for a new notebook and I need a reliable 'road warrior'.
While most of my students' notebooks use Intel M-Series processors, some students with AMD-processor notebooks seem to like them a lot. Can someone tell me which (if any) AMD mobile processors are as good, or better than, Intel's M-Series? |
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GDATL
Premium
join:2002-02-08
Atlanta, GA
 ·AT&T Southeast
| Turion is the latest mobile processor from AMD. As for me, I still prefer the Pentium M (also labeled Centrino with an appropriate Intel chipset and Intel Wi-Fi card). There are numerous comparisons - www.tomshardware.com for instance. Several tests have shown that the Intel Pentium M processor is better on batteries in notebook. Either processor will do the job, more than likely, for you.
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GDATL - Atlanta GA |
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DarkSithPro
join:2005-02-12
Huntington Beach, CA
| said by GDATL  :Turion is the latest mobile processor from AMD. As for me, I still prefer the Pentium M (also labeled Centrino with an appropriate Intel chipset and Intel Wi-Fi card). There are numerous comparisons - www.tomshardware.com for instance. Several tests have shown that the Intel Pentium M processor is better on batteries in notebook. Either processor will do the job, more than likely, for you. Do you think a few more minutes of battery life is more important than 64-bit capability? |
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3SGTE
ST215W
Premium,MVM
join:2000-11-23
there
clubs:
| Apparently he does.
Thus his use of "prefer".
As for me, I have an old pentium M, It used to be part of a Centrino package, but I ditched the Intel B card for a cheapo no-name "G".
If I had to make the choice again, I would probably lean toward Pentium M, as a dead battery tomorrow is more important to me than a need for 64-bit support in the future.
Having said that, there isn't a massive power usage difference, unless a notebook with a desktop processor is thrown in the picture.
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The preceeding post may contain dry humor. |
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Ms CP
@dsl-w.verizon
| reply to Ms CP
As I understand it, current releases of Windows XP are 32-bit, so even if the next version of Windows is 64-bit, of what practical consequence might that be for someone like myself?
Speaking of battery-life (between charges), of the notebooks I'm considering (Dell/Gateway/HP), most have 6-cell batteries, but offer an upgrade to 9-cell. What difference might I notice between the two in typical use? |
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Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-02-18
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| said by Ms CP :
As I understand it, current releases of Windows XP are 32-bit, so even if the next version of Windows is 64-bit, of what practical consequence might that be for someone like myself?
Exactly. Unless you're running 64-bit Windows XP, you aren't going to see any difference that comes from the AMD CPU being 64-bit.
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GDATL
Premium
join:2002-02-08
Atlanta, GA
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Ms CP
I don't have any 64 bit applications to run! Do any of you? So yes, the performance of the Pentium M/Centrino is excellent and the battery life is what gives the edge to Intel instead of AMD.
To Ms CP: Assuming that the cells are the same type, a 9 cell battery should provide a 50% improvement over a 6 cell, just like the math would imply.
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GDATL - Atlanta GA |
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alg
Just a shot away
Premium
join:2001-04-10
Houston, TX
clubs:
 ·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| reply to Ms CP
said by Ms CP :
As I understand it, current releases of Windows XP are 32-bit, so even if the next version of Windows is 64-bit, of what practical consequence might that be for someone like myself? To be honest, if you have to ask a question like that then the answer is you won't see any improvement. 64 bit is the next step in tech, I'll admit, but right now and even in the future there really isn't that much advantage for regular users.
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5 December 1791 |
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Ms CP
@dsl-w.verizon | If you guys would entertain just one more technical question on this subject:
Based strictly on 32-bit use (Windows XP), does the Turion provide comparable/better/worse performance to the Pentium-M (clock-rate for clock-rate)? |
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GDATL
Premium
join:2002-02-08
Atlanta, GA
·AT&T Southeast
| reply to Ms CP
Check these sites and make your own decision. I'll give you the synopsis: Both the Intel Pentium M and the AMD Turion are capable mobile computing platforms. There are some differences in performance and power management, but most likely either will do the job if you are running typical business/office/internet browding applications. Beyond that, you can spend as much time in details at many sites, such as those listed below:
»blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=1586
»www.cooltechzone.com/forums/arch···306.html
»www.channelregister.co.uk/2005/0···n_bench/
»www.1src.com/forums/archive/inde···892.html
»www.mobilityguru.com/2005/09/06/···e21.html
You can use Google and search "Intel Pentium M AMD Turion compare" and find lots more comparisons.
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GDATL - Atlanta GA |
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Ms CP
@dsl-w.verizon | My head is spinning after reading all of your references, so I'll settle for your summary... I'll probably wind-up ordering a Dell (with Pentium-M) simply because it seems to be the 'safest' purchase for a non-techie like myself. |
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GDATL
Premium
join:2002-02-08
Atlanta, GA | reply to Ms CP
Sorry, I forgot about your comment early in the thread about not being a techie!
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GDATL - Atlanta GA |
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C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Ms CP
AMD Turion:
•All 3DNow! instructions
•All SSE instructions
•All MMX instructions
•64-bit support (with x64)
The Turion outperforms a Pentium M, but the Pentium M is designed for longer battery life. That doesn't mean the P-M isn't a slouch either. it's still very good in spite of its lack of SSE3 or 64-bit support.
All things being equal between both, the Pentium M gets spanked by the Turion. However, all things aren't equal. the most a Turion-based laptop has graphics-wise that I've seen is a mobility X700. However, there are several Pentium M-based laptops with a 7800GTX Go.
If you even think you'll be running Windows vista, you'll want 64-bit support.
More cells in a battery mean longer battery life (along with more mAh and watts), but it means also a physically larger battery.
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IAmTheEvilest
There Is Nothing Like A Restart
join:2001-01-03
Santa Barbara, CA
clubs:
1 edit | reply to Ms CP
Wrong, the Intel Pentium M outperforms the AMD Turion in 32 bit applications. Every benchmark I have seen has confirmed that, even computers with the same graphics cards.
The Turion right now remains to be a value solution for value notebooks. The Pentium M, which is more closely related to the Pentium 3 than the Pentium 4, outperforms the Turion in almost all applications.
It doesn't matter that much anyways though, since you have to buy notebooks as the entire unit, you don't get to pick and choose. The best notebooks are still based on Intel Pentium M processor. |
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C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL
·Verizon FIOS
| Dude, are you nuts? The Pentium M won against the Turion only in synthetic benchmarks, such as PCMark, 3DMark, and Winbench.
Laptop Logic even did an extensive comparo between the two. The Pentium M managed to win in terms of battery life and synthetic benchmarks like the aforementioned, but it was still beaten in terms of memory bandwidth and real-world applications.
The Turion is not a "value" chip, as it has more instruction-level support than the intel chips can hope to have, including real 64-bit support (as in the one endorsed by Microsoft, not that EM64T garbage that Intel is pushing out.
And as I said before, the only reason that the Pentium M is considered "the best" is only because Intel has such a stranglehold on the market, and has monopolized all the good GPU's before AMD could get a handle on any of them. Why else do you think that AMD is suing Intel on anti-trust/anti-competitive business practices? anyone that's not completely blind to marketing should be able to deduce that Intel has been reaming us in the notebook market for years now. 
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IAmTheEvilest
There Is Nothing Like A Restart
join:2001-01-03
Santa Barbara, CA
clubs:
| reply to Ms CP
Practically all benchmarking is synthetic anyway. In today's market, both processors will deliver good performance.
I could careless if one processor performs marginally better if I have to buy a much worse laptop to get that processor. Have you ever dealt with Acer support? It can make Dell look good... You can't piece together a notebook like a desktop.
The fact of the matter is that both processors do well and will be sufficient for most users. But the best notebooks still come with Intel's Pentium M processor. Ever seen a Thinkpad with an AMD processor? I didn't think so.
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The two biggest things: the universe & human stupidity --Albert Einstein |
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C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium
join:2001-10-03
Davenport, FL
·Verizon FIOS
| Uh, you do know there is this naughty little thing called exclusivity contract? If the OEM attempts to even try to have AMD when they signed on one with intel, then Intel will not only give them the same deep discounts for the parts, but goes even further by making it next to impossible to have the 'high-end' or 'high-demand' chips, boards, etc. 
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Mospaw
D O N E
Hawaiian Jellyfish
join:2001-01-08
The Pacific
·Cox HSI
Host:
Road Warriors, Not..
All Things Macintosh
Automotive
| Let's not turn this into Yet Another Intel vs. AMD war. Nobody wins that one.
Both companies make amazing chips, but they're rarely directly comparable in price or performance. That's the way it is. Why? because I said so, and I'd rather not have a flame war erupt in here!
Each company offers products that in some specific applications, performs better than products from the other company. Let's keep it civil and on topic, please.
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Mospaw.com
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Ms CP
@dsl-w.verizon
| I see that my topic hit on a very sensitive issue. Please keep in mind that I'm just a non-techie user trying to get some direction from the 'regulars' around here.
I'm hearing it loud and clear that I should not be so focused on AMD vs Intel processors, as they are pretty comparable and I'm gathering (from some of you) that I should pay more attention to the rest of the 'notebook package'. Well ok, but can you guys provide specific guidance as to the better notebooks out there? |
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Ctrl Alt Del
Premium
join:2002-02-18
| reply to C0deZer0
said by C0deZer0 :...not that EM64T garbage that Intel is pushing out... EM64T is exactly the same as AMD64. Calling EM64T garbage is calling AMD64 garbage.
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