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A64 2.0Ghz vs. Pentium M 1.73Ghz - how do they compare?

Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
My brother is planning on upgrading his notebook tonight. He currently has a 2.0Ghz Athlon 64 with 1mb l2. The notebook he wants has a 1.73Ghz Pentium M with 2mb l2. How do those chips compare, both in speed and in battery life? It's nearly 300Mhz less, so I'm wondering how much it will affect his gaming, movie editing, etc.
 
I wouldn' call it an upgrade, but I wouldn't call it a downgrade. They will probably perform very similar, with the PentiumM probably having an edge in battery life.

I would only do it if the Pm notebook had a better video card.
 
I assume this is a regular Athlon 64 DTR chip? If so, it will be slightly slower (not a huge difference) and will have a much better battery life & less heat.

For an idea of performance, check out our Dothan vs Turion article:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/resources/articles/42/1/1/

Turion is basically a low-power A64 with certain performance & power optimizations. I would expect a full-blown A64 2GHz to run about the same as a 2GHz Turion.
 
Ah, nevermind. He decided to get an HP with a 2.8GHz P4 lol. like > 1.5 hrs battery life I bet 😛
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
P4...mmm......toasty :sun:
Click to expand...

Yeah, the power brick is about the size of my foot. Supposed to be like 135w or something insane. Sick computer tho, even has media center on it 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Conroy9
isn't that even more of a downgrade?
Click to expand...

bigger screen, plus MCE and tv tuner equipment. performance wise, imo, my 2.0ghz a64 is faster than a 2.8ghz p4. I have a 2.8ghz p4 in my dell desktop and a 2.0ghz a64 in my laptop, and my laptop owns.
 
No idea about the Mobile AMD processors, but AMD Athlon 64 2.0 GHz (desktop 2.0 is named as 3200+) would surely beat a P4 3.0 GHz, but then Pentium M is not like P4 (P4 has lower InstructionsPerClock than AMD's Athlons, Athlon XPs and Athlon 64's, even a P3 1.2 was faster than P4 1.4 GHz, Pentium M is not like that). Compared with a P-M 1.73GHz, I'll place my bet on the Athlon 2.0 winning in 90% benchmarks.
(Didn't read the last post above earlier, kaido has evidence from Mobile processors as well).
 
If u want power + decent battery + 64-bit, get a Turion ML-37. P4 and PM are great but they don't have 64-bit, so when Windows Vista comes ur screwed.
 
Originally posted by: scottish144
If u want power + decent battery + 64-bit, get a Turion ML-37. P4 and PM are great but they don't have 64-bit, so when Windows Vista comes ur screwed.
Click to expand...
I've noticed you like to give a lot of advice on laptops, most of it wrong.

Vista WILL BE 32-BIT COMPATIBLE. REPEAT AFTER ME PEOPLE -- 32-BIT AND 64-BIT VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :|
 
yea but 64 bit is already catching on. the far cry dvd i got had the 64 bit patch on it and damn it runs sweet. anyhow, i hope your brother enjoys his p4. it should make for a great desktop replacement.. but i hope that's what he was looking for in the first place
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Originally posted by: scottish144
If u want power + decent battery + 64-bit, get a Turion ML-37. P4 and PM are great but they don't have 64-bit, so when Windows Vista comes ur screwed.
Click to expand...
I've noticed you like to give a lot of advice on laptops, most of it wrong.

Vista WILL BE 32-BIT COMPATIBLE. REPEAT AFTER ME PEOPLE -- 32-BIT AND 64-BIT VISTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :|
Click to expand...

I thought that a diamond member such as yourself would know that there is a significant performance increase in 64 bit OSs, but apparently I was wrong.
And the only other advice I gave on Notebook threads was to buy an Acer Ferrari 4000 and download some software from widowpc.com that sometimes fixes stuck pixels. Please point out how any of this is wrong.

Edit: I also reccomended notebookreview.com, which is a great site with in-depth review of many notebooks. Once again, please tell me how this is wrong.
 
I thought that a diamond member such as yourself would know that there is a significant performance increase in 64 bit OSs, but apparently I was wrong.
Click to expand...

You're wrong about there being a significant performance difference. Every comparison I've seen has shown only small differences. The big difference is how much memory a 64 bit system can use.
 
Originally posted by: scottish144
I thought that a diamond member such as yourself would know that there is a significant performance increase in 64 bit OSs, but apparently I was wrong.
And the only other advice I gave on Notebook threads was to buy an Acer Ferrari 4000 and download some software from widowpc.com that sometimes fixes stuck pixels. Please point out how any of this is wrong.

Edit: I also reccomended notebookreview.com, which is a great site with in-depth review of many notebooks. Once again, please tell me how this is wrong.
Click to expand...
I don't call notebookreview in-depth, but maybe its just me

And right now 64-bit OSes don't provide a big performance jump because the software is not optimized for it. When applications truly make use of the 64-bit registers and the extra supported memory, THEN will it be okay to say that 64-bit is a necessity. But telling someone they will be screwed if they don't get 64-bit is a wee bit misleading 😕
 
Fine, I exaggerated the 64bitness. My point was that once Windows Vista debuts, 64-bit software will experiance a considerable jump in developement, and this will probably lead to some 64-bit exclusive programs in a few years. 32bit WILL be phased out eventually. I was thinking long-term 2-4 years ahead. As for notebookreview, it is in-depth from the consumer point of view. They don't have a review of everything, but reviews such as this one for the Acer Ferrari 4000 are far surperior to many I have encountered.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.a...6&review=Ferrari+4005+WLMi+Notebook+PC
 
*shameless self plug*
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/acer/117/1/1/
😀

I will agree that that review is one of their better ones. But frankly, most are hodge podged just so people can get $60 :roll:

And I don't know if I would say 2-4 years, but yes 64-bit will replace 32-bit eventually. Honestly tho, I don't see this as a reason for the 90%+ consumers that have 32-bit only systems to even think about upgrading for that reason within the next 1-2 years.
 
Originally posted by: tenner
yea but 64 bit is already catching on. the far cry dvd i got had the 64 bit patch on it and damn it runs sweet. anyhow, i hope your brother enjoys his p4. it should make for a great desktop replacement.. but i hope that's what he was looking for in the first place
Click to expand...

yeah, he loves it! I have to admit I'm jealous. The screen is amazing. MCE is pretty nice too, I like it.

Personally I'd go with a 14" widescreen right now, because of the way I use it. My 15.4" is dang heavy to carry around all day. The 14" seems just right. I'm looking at the Asus W3V, but I have to sell my current laptop first 😉
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
*shameless self plug*
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/acer/117/1/1/
😀

I will agree that that review is one of their better ones. But frankly, most are hodge podged just so people can get $60 :roll:

And I don't know if I would say 2-4 years, but yes 64-bit will replace 32-bit eventually. Honestly tho, I don't see this as a reason for the 90%+ consumers that have 32-bit only systems to even think about upgrading for that reason within the next 1-2 years.
Click to expand...


:Q Oooooooooooo. I stand corrected about notebookreviews.com However, I still think that once 64-bit is released in ernest (Vista debut), it will gain more attention rapidly, depending on the quality of Vista.

Right now, the only widespread 64-bit OS is simply 64-bit XP, and it was released when most people had 32-bit XP already (plus it had horrible compatability issues). As previously mentioned, programs optimized for 64-bit do run significantly faster than 32-bit, and I think that it will go the way of dual core, which has already caught on to a decent degree. And a good laptop should last 4 years at least.
 
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