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As I have mentioned in Gamingonlaptops, MSI is about to launch two gaming laptops with Intel Sandy Bridge processors: the GT680 (with Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M graphics) and GX680 (with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6870 graphics). As far as I know, these are the first announced laptops with Intel Sandy Bridge processors. They are expected in January 2011.
Source: Portables4Gamers. Via: Gamingonlaptops
The new Arrandale processors are Intel’s lastest processors for mainstream laptops. They are dual-core processors that support Hyperthreading (so they can work virtually as quad-cores) and incorporate the GPU in the same chip as the CPU. Today it’s the official launch and so the first reviews are up. Engadget has compiled some of them. In summary:
All in all, Intel Core i5 processors seem a very worthy replacement for current Core 2 Duos. As they support 4 threads and there are some models with a TDP as low as 18 W, quad-core mobile processors from AMD look less awesome now. As always, we need a good comparison!
OK, we all know AMD is late, late, late in quad-core mobile processors, but according to X-bit labs, AMD plans to offer a wide array of Phenom II mobile processors in May and, if you look at the models, you will notice that the AMD Phenom II P920 has 4 cores running at 1.6 GHz with a TDP of only 25 W, while the Phenom II N930 has 4 cores running at 2 GHz and a TDP of 35 W. This is very low for quad-cores, because the slowest quad-cores from Intel, the Core 2 Quad Q9000 at 2 GHz and Core i7-720QM at 1.6 GHz, have both a TDP of 45 W, and low-end Core 2 Duos such as the T6600 have a TDP of 35 W (mainstream Duos are more power efficient and have a TDP of 25 W). TDP measures the heat produced when the processor runs at full speed, so a low TDP indicates that the processor uses less power and produces less heat.
Maybe clockspeeds are a bit low, but quad-core processors that draw so little power are great news for laptop users. I hope performance is good enough and that the low TDP translates in longer battery life.
Finally! Somebody has performed a power consumption comparison between Intel Core i7 processors for laptops and Core 2 ones in similar configurations. The conclusion: a Core i7-920XM draws a 32% more power than a Core 2 Extreme QX9300 when idle, a 24% when playing a DVD. The performance benefit is ar0und 20% (between 0 and 36%, in general), so the efficiency of this new processors is not impressive. It would be very interesting to see data from the non-Extreme processors, but the results would be probably similar.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
The Windows Experience Index (WEI) is not a very informative benchmark but at the moment it is the only indication of its performance that I have found. Today I have found an HP Pavilion dv7 laptop with Windows 7 and an AMD Turion II M500 (2.2 GHz) at a mall. I have quickly looked for the system properties and the WEI: the CPU subscore was 5.7; next to it there was a dv6 laptop with an AMD Athlon II M300 (2.0 GHz): it scored 4.9.
HP Pavilion dv6z laptop with AMD Turion II processor
Some scores of Intel processors to compare (collected from the Net or from other Windows 7 laptops in the mall):
So it looks like the new AMD Turion II and Turion II Ultra are going to compete in performance against mainstream Core 2 Duo processors, not high-end ones, but we need more benchmarks!
Update: according to PC Magazine, the AMD Turion II M520 (2.3 GHz) scores 4746 in Cinebench R10 (multi). That’s just in between an Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26 GHz (that scores 4687) and a P8600 2.4 GHz (that scores 4856) and confirms the performance level.
Update 2: from the reviews of laptops with Turion II processors, it seems that the M500 is closer to a T6600 than to a P8400 or similar.
It is likely than in a few months the market is flooded by laptops with Intel Core i7 Mobile processors, but if you are looking to buy one of them I guess you are going to find useful to have them listed. You can also find also useful this compilation of Core i7 Mobile benchmarks. Remember that Core i7 Mobile processors are quad-core chips.
Acer
Alienware
Asus
Clevo
Dell
HP
Lenovo
MSI
Toshiba
There are some interesting news about AMD/ATI products this week:
Laptops with AMD processors are not very popular nowadays, but some brands still have strong lineups of AMD-powered laptops: HP, Asus, Toshiba and MSI, among others. In case you are looking for a laptop with an AMD processor, you can find useful information here. Or you can go straight to the featured laptops
Most AMD processors for laptops are dual-core CPUs (Athlon X2, Turion X2 and Turion X2 Ultra; AMD dropped the “64” used in older models), but you can also find a few single-core CPUs (Sempron and Athlon Neo).
For more detailed information see the AMD site and Wikipedia.
Intel Core 2 Duo processors are built on a 45 nm process, while AMD processors are built on an older 65 nm process. In addition, Intel Core 2 Duo processors have optimizations for HD video encoding. These factors give an edge to Intel processors. I found some benchmarks comparing AMD Puma vs Intel Centrino 2 platforms months ago. There are also some interesting benchmarks at Notebookcheck: I’m summarizing the most relevant ones in the following chart:
Please note that many tasks are limited by the hard drive performance and other factors, so the differences in performance will be smaller when performing such tasks. All in all, real-life differences are:
It is quite clear that, if you are going to do a lot of HD video encoding or you need a long battery life, an Intel Core 2 Duo processor is the best alternative for your next laptop. But if you are an average user and you do not perform processor-intensive tasks often, a laptop with an AMD processor is going to serve you well, and make perfectly sense as long as you can find them cheaper than similar Intel alternatives.
Some stores have specific sections for AMD-powered laptops, such as Buy.com in the US and Canada, or Alternate in Spain, so this is a good point to start to find a laptop with an AMD processor. Here you have a few laptops that I find interesting:
17″ laptops
If you are looking for a desktop replacement notebook computer, with a big screen and maybe numeric keypad, but you do not need high performance, an AMD-powered laptop can be a good choice, because shorter battery life is usually not a concern in this case.
Toshiba Satellite P305D-S8900
AMD-powered laptops seem to have been discontinued by HP USA, but they are available in other countries, such as in the UK:
HP Pavilion dv7-1103ea
MSI offers a few gaming laptops with high-end graphics cards and AMD processors. Usually the performance bottleneck for gaming is the GPU, not the CPU, but some games are heavy on the processor too.
MSI GT735
15-16″
HP has configurable 15″ laptops with AMD processors:
Toshiba Satellite A355D-S6930
You can find other 15″ AMD-powered laptops from Asus and MSI.
Smaller laptops
Because of shorter battery life, AMD processors are not usually the best option for highly portable laptops, but I find interesting the tablet-PC with multitouch interface from HP, the HP Touchsmart tx2z (tx2 outside the US):
Also very promising is the upcoming Pavilion dv2 with Athlon Neo processors (waiting for reviews to judge it).
Feel free to share your experiences with recent laptops with AMD processors or point us to other interesting models you have found.
Here you have the laptop reviews of the week:
Toshiba Satellite E105-S1402 (14.1″): CNET (3.5/5).Other interesting reviews:
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AMD announced yesterday two new platforms for ultraportables, codenamed “Congo” and “Yukon“, including the “Conesus” (dual-core) and “Huron” (single-core) processors. According to AMD, they are not direct competitors to Intel’s Atom: their thermal design power (TDP) is not as low, and they provide an uncompromised computing experience. In addition, they are not specifically designed for netbooks, but they are small enough to be mounted in 10-inch or even smaller ultraportables. So they look as something in between of an Atom and an ultralow voltage Core 2 Duo. Availability is expected in 1st half 2009.
A new platform for mainstream laptops was announced, too: codenamed “Tigris“, with “Caspian” processors. Availability is expected in 2nd half 2009. The name Phenom II was confirmed for the new 45 nm desktop processors.
Sources: Extremetech and Ars Technica.
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