Laptop CPU Question

M

mythicallith

New Member
I'm buying a top-of-the-line laptop and my knowledge of proccessors needs a little touching up. The computer will run primarily gaming apllications as well as the standard stuff. Assuming the rest of all the computers will be configured in the same way, which one of these would be better and why? My guess would be the Athlon 64 FX-60, but what I know about those is just from reputation.

AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
--Alienware Aurora m7700

Intel Pentium 4 670 Desktop Processor w/ HT Technology 3.8GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB
--Alienware Area-51 m7700

Intel Core Duo Processor T2600 (2MB Cache/2.16GHz/667MHz FSB)
--Dell XPS Notebook

--Sven
 
AMD FX-60, If you can afford 1K for a CPU go for it. Intel should be embarrased at it's gaiming marks, AMD has the edge right now.
 
I've not really checked into the benchmarks recently, but I know Intel has made some of the best performace/battery life processors around. If I were to get another laptop soon, I'd go for a Pentium based laptop.

I hope you realize what you're getting, because laptops don't last nearly as long as desktop PCs, and aren't as powerful with similar hardware inside.
 
Typically how long will a laptop last anyways? I've never owned one and plan on purchasing one. Which part of the laptop will be first to go out and etc.?
 
Usually the graphics card since they usually are not upgradable. As far as how long a notebook will last that all depends on what you get and what you use it for.
 
Well? Let's see an Epson HX-20 with a microcassettte drive lasted... 20 yrs.! Could you believe it? With the newer units obviously the lcd screen along with the other internal components will last longer with the casual rather then the rigid alien blasting, torpedo launching, monster truck racing uses it may see these days. They are far from gaming systems while if taken care of properly can last if treated well. They are afterall made for "occasional" uses while traveling not X-Boxes or Playstations or... ?
 
The_Other_One said:
I've not really checked into the benchmarks recently, but I know Intel has made some of the best performace/battery life processors around. If I were to get another laptop soon, I'd go for a Pentium based laptop.

I hope you realize what you're getting, because laptops don't last nearly as long as desktop PCs, and aren't as powerful with similar hardware inside.
Click to expand...

very right there, the new core duo would be a thing, though the fx processors would be top of the line, but you would have a battery which lasted half the time.

and a desktop pc with the same specs will beat a laptop with the same specs as the cards and stuff are modded so that they use less battery
 
The_Other_One said:
I've not really checked into the benchmarks recently, but I know Intel has made some of the best performace/battery life processors around. If I were to get another laptop soon, I'd go for a Pentium based laptop.

I hope you realize what you're getting, because laptops don't last nearly as long as desktop PCs, and aren't as powerful with similar hardware inside.
Click to expand...
actually, the core duo is nicer than the Pentium 4 if you ask me. Intel even admitted that Netburst uses WAY too much power.
if i were getting it i'd get the FX-60 because it actually doesn't use all the much more power than the core duo. i know it sounds crazy, but i made a thread on this just yesterday
http://computerforum.com/showthread.php?t=44197
tomshardware reports that an X2 3800+ not only performs just as good as a core duo in most applications (some better some worse probably because of cache size no doubt) but also uses around the same amount of wattage.
this means that the FX-60 will use more power at higher clocks... but will also perform better in probably over 90% of the applications you are using.
of course, when you're unplugged you can expect it to underclock, in which case the FX-60 will probably use a lot less power than even an X2 3800+ plugged into the wall.

either way any dual core processor will use a lot more power than a single core processor...
but the performance is much better.
also, make sure you pick up the patch from AMD once you buy it... its for dual core laptops, i believe its got something to do with power usage and dual core / cool 'n quiet... definitely worth picking up.
 
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idahoduk said:
AMD FX-60, If you can afford 1K for a CPU go for it. Intel should be embarrased at it's gaiming marks, AMD has the edge right now.
Click to expand...
the Core Duo is very good for gaming as well, but not as good as an FX-60.
 
Christian Darrall said:
i would say try playing games on the laptop and see how the battery life is, if anything youll have to plug into mains
Click to expand...
Battery life would be horrible with an FX-60 and a high end graphics card, depending on the battery, you'd be lucky to get an hour of play off the battery.
 
yep the high end graphics cards really take a toll on power usage.
as for the FX-60 draining a ton of power, it wouldn't underclocked.
Pentium 4 with HT would probably use more idle than the FX-60 would in full load.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/09/amd/page20.html
now consider three things...
1. the X2 4800+ is only clocked 200mhz slower than the FX-60
2. and the FX-60 is newer, so it probably uses even less power :)
3. thats a P4 3.6ghz, not 3.8ghz like were debating in this thread.

do you really think the FX-60 drains that much power? i think not.
basically, get the FX-60 because the lappy will even underclock itself to save battery life with still really high fps.
just stay near a power outlet, especially if you get a high end graphics card..
btw alienware's don't perform worse than most desktops with the same hardware...
they don't really optimize them more for power usage a lot of the time, i mean my uncle owns one and its got a P4 (he didnt buy it, it was a gift) 3.6ghz and it only underclocks to 2.94ghz while unplugged...
the performance cut on alienwares isn't as devastating on laptops as it is on most laptops.
 
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Dual core cpus are intended for multitasking over single cored models. When you run a large app that demands memory and other resources plus the background services along with other apps running you don't want locks from the demands on cpu time. But for a single cored processor where you have a choice over Intel the FX-60 would work here.
 
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