AMD Turion Mobile CPU Info: Compiled into one thread

[tata]

great info. thanks !

 

[fbrdphreak]

More is to come! Check the main page of LaptopLogic.com (see sig) in about 20 minutes, there will be a lot more info up!

 

[fbrdphreak]

Thread fully updated and the main site page has two news items about Turion technology & forthcoming notebook models
And of course AT has an article up too

 

[DogFaceMonk]

I can't wait until NVidia unveils their chipset for the Turion platform. I would be happy if it supports PCIe MXM add-on cards and ExpressCards; whatever else they put in it is gravy. (I love NVidia since I'm a Linux dude. Nobody offers Linux drivers like NVidia.)

I'm also *kinda* disappointed that the Turion processors will only support single-channel DDR. I wasn't hoping for anything phenomenal like dual-channel DDR2 support. I just had hoped that since they were going to use socket 940 that they could support dual-channel classic DDR.

I've got a question, though, that I had posted elsewhere on AT and never got an answer to, and that is: Does the TDP of the NForce4 chipset necessarily prevent NVidia from just reworking one of those and slapping it into a notebook, or is it something different, or is there nothing preventing NForce4-Turion notebooks at all?

Also, to fbrdphreak: You certainly have moxy to moderate a thread on AMD notebooks using a Centrino laptop. I mean, I have nothing against it personally, but I imagine there are some die-hard AMD freaks out there who would.

Another quick correction: whoops, they'll be using socket 754, so there's no way they could support dual-channel anyway; oh well.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Are you sure nVidia is going to unveil a chipset for Turion? To my knowledge, nVidia has yet to make a mobile chipset. ATI I know is making some and that will theoretically will go into the Arima notebook referenced on LaptopLogic, but I hadn't heard anything about nVidia. Link perhaps?

And it is disappointing we won't see dual-channel DDR, but at least we get official support for DDR400. Since they decided to stick with the Socket 754 interface, that right their limits everything to single channel DDR. However, it also drives down cost since S939/S940 are more expensive than 754 right now. If memory manufacturers come out with some low lantecy SO-DIMM RAM, then we have the chance to really unlock some performance.

In regards to the nForce4 Chipset, the TDP I'm sure is one of many issues with trying to squeeze an nForce4 into a laptop. I think nVidia just doesn't care about making mobile chipsets right now. I'm sure there are other chipset manufacturers for AMD chips than SiS, but I don't know of any offhand. Maybe that's a question AT can pose to their nVidia contacts

And I'm "moderating" this thread typing on my Pentium M Thinkpad right now I would go AMD, but I needed something thin & light to take everywhere with me and AMD didn't offer that last Fall. With Turion, maybe things will change!! Although I doubt we'll see Turions in Thinkpads, so I can't even say then that I will buy a Turion notebook

 

[DogFaceMonk]

Yeah, I'm kinda fond of Thinkpads myself, but I'm also fond of AMD. Too bad the two don't go together. If you don't believe me about the NVidia thing just check out the graphic in today's AT article. It at least lists NVidia as doing sth. in the way of graphics and or chipsets. I don't hate ATI or anything, I just would rather see an NVidia PCIe graphics sol'n in any notebook that I would be buying at the moment. (better Linux drivers and all...) I also didn't mean to be accusing you of being an "Intel lover" or anything; as you can see in my configurations, I have an Intel laptop to. (We have a love/hate relationship.)

 

[fbrdphreak]

I assume you are referring to this. While I would say that "Graphics Chipset" is referring to the GPU, but the listing of nVidia with VIA & SiS is quite intriguing. I looked at nVidia's site and they have indeed made mobile chipsets before, look here. Quite intriguing!!

 

[DogFaceMonk]

Very intriguing!! At least if NVidia is doing graphics solutions for the Turion platform it means that *somebody* is going to provide a chipset with support for PCIe add-ons like MXM (since NVidia's current gen mobile graphics solutions are all MXM); that's all I care about. (although ExpressCard support would be nice, you chipset makers!)

 

[fbrdphreak]

VIA and SiS have announced chipsets for Turion, check out the details here.
The thread will be updated later tonight, but the news has all relevant info
ENJOY!

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: DogFaceMonk

Originally posted by: Fox5
I guess the lower wattage cpus are just cpus that were lucky enough to be better and able to undervolt, presumebly if there were 130nm cpus that could do 35w then there should be 90nm cpus that could do lower if amd really wanted to bin for them.

I thought that Lancaster and Newark (which together will comprise Turion, am I wrong?) were both supposed to be 90nm CPUs binned for 35W and 62W, respectively.

Edit: I take that back, it appears apon further inspection that only CPUs binned for 35W and under will receive the Turion branding, but still, aren't they going to be 90nm?

Acer had the Ferrari 3200 early last year that used a 35w Athlon 64 2800+ 130nm, and that cpu also made its way into the retail channels. It seems to have basically disappeared now though, Acer only lists the Ferrari 3400 on their website now, and it just says Low-Power Mobile Athlon 64 Processor 3000+ without supplying any wattage ratings. It may be that AMD stopped producing 35w 130nm mobiles, or the 3000+ is the latest one of them, or Acer is now using just one of the normal mobile athlon 64s.
The 3400 is listed as getting 2.5 hours of battery life, but I don't think the 3200 was much better.(it had a low power cpu, but it wasn't a thin and light notebook)

 

[fbrdphreak]

For those who haven't gathered it yet, Turion is basically a low-power mobile A64. The difference between Turion and a 35W A64 (A) that there will be 25W Turions starting at lower clock speeds than the M-A64's and (B) that the chipsets designed for Turion will hopefully be low-power also (in addition to be being thin & light).

Personally, I'm hoping there will be support for Turion in S754 desktop boards. That biotch will OC like a mofo :-D

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
For those who haven't gathered it yet, Turion is basically a low-power mobile A64. The difference between Turion and a 35W A64 (A) that there will be 25W Turions starting at lower clock speeds than the M-A64's and (B) that the chipsets designed for Turion will hopefully be low-power also (in addition to be being thin & light).

Personally, I'm hoping there will be support for Turion in S754 desktop boards. That biotch will OC like a mofo :-D

Too bad there will be no 939 versions, the extra overclocking may be worthless compared to the extra performance from dual channel, and the lack of dual cores.
Hopefully the better quality 939 90nm chips will be able to unndervolt to mobile levels or near them though.

 

[fbrdphreak]

If they moved S939 to the mobile platform, I would rejoice! That would be the ultimate CPU there, a 25W S939 chip. But since I have a S754 board, I could buy a 25W Turion; OC the sh!t out of it, and keep my S754 for a while longer.
Maybe anyway; I haven't even OCed my Newcastle 3200+ CG and I hear they do well
So we'll see I guess

 

[Jassi]

In all honesty, the more news that are released about the Turion, the more disappointed I am. No across the board PCI-E support, not a likely pairing with a good GPU and the pricing is not that much better. Yes it will o'c well in a desktop but I could care less. Its just a repackaged A64 754 socket, nothing as revolutionary as I expected. The only advantage it has is 64 bit support in the thin and light arena.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I agree, the lack of innovation is disappointing; but had Turion appeared before Centrino wouldn't it have been revolutionary? Right now as long as chipset makers can control power usage, we have a Centrino-contender for battery life with 64-bit compatibility, and as long as you pick the right manufacturer you will get a good chipset w/a good GPU. And pricing is good enough to make a difference in the cost of the notebook; high-end Turions are ~$100+ less than the P-M of the same clock speed; and not having to use Intel mobo's will lower the cost also.
I think Turion has promise, its up to AMD and their manufacturing partnets (i.e. chipset companies) to NOT drop the ball.

 

[Jassi]

Here is what will seal the deal for me:

Nvidia 6800go or even 6600go with enough oomph to power some decent games.
Atleast $150 - 200 cheaper than a comparable Centrino

I could care less if it weighed less but atleast comparable.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I will second that; I could see both of those GPU's making their way into the boards. The 6600go definitely and I bet Turion will power DTR's too; the A64 mobile never sold well anyway, so a lower-power version should do find replacing it from AMD's perspective
And my bet is that notebooks will be probly about that much cheaper than Centrino
But only time will tell

 

[mdahc]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Are you sure nVidia is going to unveil a chipset for Turion? To my knowledge, nVidia has yet to make a mobile chipset. ATI I know is making some and that will theoretically will go into the Arima notebook referenced on LaptopLogic, but I hadn't heard anything about nVidia. Link perhaps?

And it is disappointing we won't see dual-channel DDR, but at least we get official support for DDR400. Since they decided to stick with the Socket 754 interface, that right their limits everything to single channel DDR. However, it also drives down cost since S939/S940 are more expensive than 754 right now. If memory manufacturers come out with some low lantecy SO-DIMM RAM, then we have the chance to really unlock some performance.

In regards to the nForce4 Chipset, the TDP I'm sure is one of many issues with trying to squeeze an nForce4 into a laptop. I think nVidia just doesn't care about making mobile chipsets right now. I'm sure there are other chipset manufacturers for AMD chips than SiS, but I don't know of any offhand. Maybe that's a question AT can pose to their nVidia contacts

And I'm "moderating" this thread typing on my Pentium M Thinkpad right now I would go AMD, but I needed something thin & light to take everywhere with me and AMD didn't offer that last Fall. With Turion, maybe things will change!! Although I doubt we'll see Turions in Thinkpads, so I can't even say then that I will buy a Turion notebook

nVIDIA already makes mobile chipsets. It has an nForce3 Go 150, which is currently used in the Asus Z81K. Whether or not they'll produce a chipset for Turion64 is still in question since they seem to have the majority of their resources dedicated to the Intel nForce4 SLI thing and producing WHQL drivers for XP x64.

BTW, I'm surprised no one has posted pics of the Asus and Acer Turion64 notebooks from Cebit yet. I think I'd prefer the Acer if I was a gamer, but the Asus looks more appealing to me since it has nVIDIA graphics (i.e. PureVideo support for DVD decoding from the Geforce Go 6200). However, I'm not sure how well available the Asus A6000K will be in the U.S. Acer laptops usually make their way here in a rather timely fashion, so we'll probably see the Aspire 5020 before anything else.

Asus A6000K

Acer Aspire 5020 and Asus 6000K

 

[fbrdphreak]

The Asus is posted on the main page at LaptopLogic, just haven't had time to update the thread yet. I also knew of the Aspire, just hadn't found a link to pics yet. Thanks!

 

[Jassi]

That Aspire with x700 looks like a good setup. Here's to hoping its cheap *crosses fingers*.

 

[fords8]

However, I'm not sure how well available the Asus A6000K will be in the U.S.

The Asus expert we have over at Laptoplogic.com says it should be out by summer.

Check out the Asus @ Laptoplogic.com for info. and news.

 

[DogFaceMonk]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I think Turion has promise, its up to AMD and their manufacturing partnets (i.e. chipset companies) to NOT drop the ball.

I think it is up to NVidia to pick up the ball. IMHO, their support and their support alone will determine the success of Turion. (What would the normal Athlon 64 or Athlon XP be without the NForce line of chipsets? Lightyears behind Intel in terms of feature support, I tell you.) BTW, what chipset does that Asus use? It's almost perfect for me, just needs 6600go instead of 6200go and ExpressCard support, or does it already have that, too?

 

[fords8]

Originally posted by: DogFaceMonk

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I think Turion has promise, its up to AMD and their manufacturing partnets (i.e. chipset companies) to NOT drop the ball.

I think it is up to NVidia to pick up the ball. IMHO, their support and their support alone will determine the success of Turion. (What would the normal Athlon 64 or Athlon XP be without the NForce line of chipsets? Lightyears behind Intel in terms of feature support, I tell you.) BTW, what chipset does that Asus use? It's almost perfect for me, just needs 6600go instead of 6200go and ExpressCard support, or does it already have that, too?

I suggest running over to Laptoplogic.com and asking the Asus expert on questions about the Asus.

 

[mdahc]

Originally posted by: DogFaceMonk

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
I think Turion has promise, its up to AMD and their manufacturing partnets (i.e. chipset companies) to NOT drop the ball.

I think it is up to NVidia to pick up the ball. IMHO, their support and their support alone will determine the success of Turion. (What would the normal Athlon 64 or Athlon XP be without the NForce line of chipsets? Lightyears behind Intel in terms of feature support, I tell you.) BTW, what chipset does that Asus use? It's almost perfect for me, just needs 6600go instead of 6200go and ExpressCard support, or does it already have that, too?

As can be seen at the linked Tom's Hardware page for the Acer 5020, the A6000K uses the SIS756 mobile chipset.

Acer Aspire 5020 and Asus 6000K

 

[fbrdphreak]

Tom's is mistaken, the SiS756 chipset is for the Athlon 64 FX, for desktop systems. If it uses an SiS chipset, it is one of the ones listed in the link below

SiS Turion Chipset Specs

Tom's Hardware Link in ENGLISH