p3 or p4 for a laptop

[dshodson]

im thinking of getting a new laptop and trying to decide between buying a p3 or spending the extra for a p4
how much more performance do i get out of a p4 for the same clock speed with laptops and which one is more forgiving on the battery life
anyone with suggestions on what to get to spend my cash
im looking for a relatively powerful laptop although not top of the line

D

 

[Athlon4all]

A P4-M is better in terms of power consumption, however you do need to look at the laptop itself because some lappys have weak batteries that limit battery life, and further, many Pentium 4 laptops are not using the P4-M but rather using desktop Williamette and Northwood P4's which lack SppedStep. Is a P4-M's performance really noticeable? Depends. a P3-M holds its own and it prolly suitable for most people.

 

[bacillus]

a p3 1.2GHz model has almost equal benchmarks as a p4 1.7GHz one according to a recent article!

 

[Macro2]

Duron

 

[Athlon4all]

<< a p3 1.2GHz model has almost equal benchmarks as a p4 1.7GHz one according to a recent article! >>

Wow!!!! Unbelieveable!!!

 

[SteelCityFan]

I would have to see the article... what specs were with the P4? Was it using DDR266, DDR200, or PC133?

It would depend on what you wanted to do with it, available options for each (like for example, Dell does not sell their GeForce4 with the P3 4100 series)... and how much of a price difference.

For normal laptop use, I would probably save the money if it were in the range of $300+ more. If I planned on gaming heavily with it, I would get the P4 most likely.

The 1.8's are out now, so maybe you can get a deal on a 1.6 / 1.7

 

[BD231]

So far there are no DDR P4 notebooks, which is why the P3 can compete with the p4 1.7

 

[Athlon4all]

<< So far there are no DDR P4 notebooks, which is why the P3 can compete with the p4 1.7 >>

Not true. Look at the Dell Inspirion 8200. All 3 of them use DDR

 

[dshodson]

are there any reviews on these p4s with ddr?

 

[Utterman]

A little OT, but has Dell stopped taking orders for the 8100 in favor for the 8200?

 

[human2k]

Buying a P3 over a P4 is like buying an AMD K6-2 over an Athlon XP, just stick with new stuff. Dell has a special right now, $1349 grabs you a:

Inspiron 8200
1.4P4-M
GeForce 2 Go (you can upgrade to GeForce 4 32MB for $79 more)
15inch SXGA
256MB DDR SDRAM
20GBHD
8XDVD
Plus nice i/o's like Firewire, tv-out

Deal ends tomarrow

 

[dshodson]

how much of a special is that deal?

i might be tempted to get it.

D

 

[MWink]

<< Buying a P3 over a P4 is like buying an AMD K6-2 over an Athlon XP, >>



Only if the P3 is like the Athlon and the P4 is like the K6-2. Really, that statement is so wrong it's not even funny.

 

[Colt45]

PIII-M

with the higher IPC its equal to a higher clocked P4, and lighter on the battery too, IIRC

I assume a P4 would choke on SDRAM too..


btw, whatever happened to the "banias" (or something similar, i dont remember the name exactly ) processor?
It was supposed to be a PIII @1.6+ with some arcitectural revisions. If this is true, that chip would blow the P4-M right out of the water, not to mention the damage it would do to a willy.

 

[CDigs]

From what I understand, the PIII-M's with 512k on die L2 cache are close cousins of the Tualatin, which holds it's own against the P4's.

I would personally go with the PIII-M as you're gonna end up paying a premium for the P4-M systems simply because they're relatively new to the market.

 

[JackBurton]

<< Really, that statement is so wrong it's not even funny. >>


You got that right!

 

[AGodspeed]

btw, whatever happened to the "banias"

Intel's "Banias" processors are due in January 2003. They will adopt the same bus (or similar at least) as the Pentium 4 (quad pumped FSB) but will keep the same basic P6 architecture. Basically, Banias is a super-duper Pentium III, supposedly being able to combine good performance and great battery life.

I believe the initial speeds will be around 1.6GHz or so.

As for which Intel processor to choose, it's not that difficult:

Get a PIII-M processor-based laptop if you absolutely need good battery life.

Get the P4-M processor-based laptop if battery life isn't much of concern. Performance is negligible for the most part.

Btw, make sure you get a decently fast hard drive, that can really slow down even P4-M laptops if the HD is 4200 RPM or lower.