Ghz quiery...

[chooka]

Im currently on the scopefor a laptop, my first, a move out of the desktops.
I look on some sites in the UK, where i am, and it says this computer has 2.0ghz...thats the highest the site shows even for computers at 2000£ and more. But wheni go on a site, also in the UK, like ebay, it shows computers at 3ghz and up wards up to 4.2 the highest i think i saw on there.
ARe they the same power? what is all this about? can someone explain it to me please, so i know im not getting conned or something!
thanks
Chooka

 

[Geoff]

The highest powered notebook CPU's out there are the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo. Most laptops only have the Core Duo right now, and those range from ~1.6Ghz to 2.16Ghz or so.

They never made a 4.2Ghz processor for a laptop, and what you probably saw was a laptop with an AMD 4200+ in it, which they marketed it as 4.2Ghz.

The 3Ghz CPU's were either mis-marked AMD's, or Pentium 4's. P4's in laptops aren't the best, since they produce alot of heat and drain battery very quickly.

If you want the best processor in a laptop today, you should either go with a Core Duo for Intel, or the Turion X2 for AMD. However generally speaking, the Core Duo is the best overall processor, even the lower-end ~1.8Ghz models.