AMD Athlon 64 vs Intel Centrino
WaveRider, Mon Mar 13 2006, 09:42AMI am in the process of deciding on a new laptop computer. My previous one (which was stolen a couple of months ago
) was an Acer 1520 that had an AMD Athlon 64 processor which was pretty fast running my coilgun simulations.. The bloke at the shop is madly trying to convince me to go for the Centrino, but I am not convinced it is grunty enough for my mathematical (floating point) simulations. What shall I go for? The AMD or the Intel Centrino? Any advice you can offer me?Thanks!!
Re: AMD Athlon 64 vs Intel Centrino
Hellmark, Mon Mar 13 2006, 08:07PM
While the Pentium M line of processors (which are what is included in the vast majority of Centrino based machines) are really good, I'm more loyal to AMD in this aspect, if battery life isn't as important to you. The Pentium M's are a bit more energy conscious, and so get more battery life.
One thing you have to remember, that most people don't, is that Centrino just means that the laptop comes with a Pentium M processor (and now, they're starting to include the Core Solo and Core Duo processors), and a battery & wifi chipset (along with a few other things) preselected by Intel. Intel has very anal specs on what can get the Centrino name, so basically any machine with Centrino will be fairly identical. AMD has a similar program for what they call "Turion" based computers, but they are not as anal. AMD basically says, that it has to have a battery able to output so much energy for so long, a 802.11g compatable wireless chipset, and a mobile AMD64 processor.
Now that the Core based Intel processors are hitting the market, I've not really seen any fair benchmarks comparing AMD's against them. All the comparisons I've seen, were fairly illmatched, like comparing big beefy AMD64 x2's against the Core Duos (which is silly, because right now, Intel only has the mobile Core CPU's on the market).
Do you know which processor the Centrino's the guy is trying to sell you has? If its got a Pentium M, you may be happy back with AMD. If its a Core CPU, then you could be pleasantly surprised (I've heard its been blowing the older stuff out of the water, but like I said, not seen any good benchmarks to say for sure).
If you're a Linux user, Centrino's can be a pain at times getting the wifi and other little gadgets going ok, so go AMD.
Hellmark, Mon Mar 13 2006, 08:07PM
While the Pentium M line of processors (which are what is included in the vast majority of Centrino based machines) are really good, I'm more loyal to AMD in this aspect, if battery life isn't as important to you. The Pentium M's are a bit more energy conscious, and so get more battery life.
One thing you have to remember, that most people don't, is that Centrino just means that the laptop comes with a Pentium M processor (and now, they're starting to include the Core Solo and Core Duo processors), and a battery & wifi chipset (along with a few other things) preselected by Intel. Intel has very anal specs on what can get the Centrino name, so basically any machine with Centrino will be fairly identical. AMD has a similar program for what they call "Turion" based computers, but they are not as anal. AMD basically says, that it has to have a battery able to output so much energy for so long, a 802.11g compatable wireless chipset, and a mobile AMD64 processor.
Now that the Core based Intel processors are hitting the market, I've not really seen any fair benchmarks comparing AMD's against them. All the comparisons I've seen, were fairly illmatched, like comparing big beefy AMD64 x2's against the Core Duos (which is silly, because right now, Intel only has the mobile Core CPU's on the market).
Do you know which processor the Centrino's the guy is trying to sell you has? If its got a Pentium M, you may be happy back with AMD. If its a Core CPU, then you could be pleasantly surprised (I've heard its been blowing the older stuff out of the water, but like I said, not seen any good benchmarks to say for sure).
If you're a Linux user, Centrino's can be a pain at times getting the wifi and other little gadgets going ok, so go AMD.
Re: AMD Athlon 64 vs Intel Centrino
FastMHz, Mon Mar 13 2006, 11:02PM
I have an AMD 64 3700+ laptop that I use for everything...it screams. AMD CPUs definitely give you more bang for the buck, and they do a lot more per MHz than Intel. My laptop is a 4750 from
FastMHz, Mon Mar 13 2006, 11:02PM
I have an AMD 64 3700+ laptop that I use for everything...it screams. AMD CPUs definitely give you more bang for the buck, and they do a lot more per MHz than Intel. My laptop is a 4750 from
Re: AMD Athlon 64 vs Intel Centrino
WaveRider, Thu Mar 16 2006, 09:10AM
Thanks for the tips! I decided to go for the AMD, since I was very satisfied with the performance of my last computer... Linux was not too hard to get running and it was fast..
Thanks again!
WaveRider, Thu Mar 16 2006, 09:10AM
Thanks for the tips! I decided to go for the AMD, since I was very satisfied with the performance of my last computer... Linux was not too hard to get running and it was fast..
Thanks again!
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