Turion X2 vs Core 2 for Battery Life

[tdawg]

Hi All,

I previously had a Dell Inspiron 1420 that I bought refurbished last year (I've since sold it). I didn't really like this laptop overall and once I was done with school, I never really used it.

I'm now looking at a Toshiba that has a Turion X2, rather than a Core 2. My Dell had a 1.8 Core 2 Duo and I was really underwhelmed by the battery life.

My question is one that's probably been beaten into the ground, but what kind of battery life can I expect from a Turion X2, compared to a Core 2? I'm sure it will be less, but is it drastically less? Which Turions get the better battery life, the ML- series or the MT- series (I think it's the ML- series, but I can't remember)?

Thanks in advance,
Trevor

 

[IlllI]

short answer: not much improvement, if any. in fact i'd say the c2d probably has better battery saving features than the x2

 

[Rottie]

Next-Generation Power Management
Get long battery life with performance on demand. Enhanced AMD PowerNow!? Technology dynamically switches performance states (processor core voltage and operating frequency) based on processor performance requirements enabling today?s more mobile and demanding PC user to extend battery life. With AMD Dynamic Power Management, each processor core, and the integrated memory controller and HyperTransport? technology controller are powered by a dedicated voltage plane to give you the performance you need while multitasking on the go. Independent Dynamic Core Technology extends battery life by dynamically optimizing the operating frequency for each core in the processor based on end-user application needs. And AMD CoolCore? Technology extends notebook usage while on battery by turning off processor features that are not being used

Read for more info HERE

I hope AMD get a better with long battery life with new processors So it is up to you to decide

 

[Peter]

Turions used to be much better in low-workload situations, because their idle power draw is impressively low. I don't know how much Intel managed to catch up in their latest iteration.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: Peter
Turions used to be much better in low-workload situations, because their idle power draw is impressively low. I don't know how much Intel managed to catch up in their latest iteration.

That's my understanding of it. AMD is a huge sponsor at one of my yearly conferences. I've watched their Turions the past 2 years wow everyone in power consumption and laptop processing power.

If I wanted to game or run compiling Apps, I'd still prefer the C2D....but you have to decide at some point if you want a Lightweight-Laptop for battery life or need a Mobile Desktop for more processor intensive computing.

 

[IlllI]

those mobile c2d were specifically engineered with power management in mind. i dont think the turion is as advanced in that area. if you compare similar clocked turion to similar clocked c2d then they are in no way better. maybe equal in some areas but not better.

 

[corkyg]

Model for model - all things being equal, Intel CPUs are more power efficient than AMD. Battery life is more influenced by the display and graphics processor, and by other peripheral hangers on such as the optical drive and usb DEVICES.

 

[Peter]

Under higher load, true. At idle, not necessarily.

Adding the fact that Intel's mobile chipsets are quite a bit less power efficient than AMD's (the 780G is just brilliant), the overall package that AMD offers does have its audience. If you want a top performer, you'll have to buy Intel, but if you're going to use mostly office software and casual games, do look into AMD's offerings.

 

[Erock]

I have an amd turion x2 ultra @2.1 and its kinda power hungry but I'm never too far from a power source. The battery life is about 2 hours give or take.