On 5 Nov 2005 23:20:43 -0800, "DBLWizard" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:
>I was wondering if there is any kind of comparison out there that shows
>how these two processors compare or maybe a better way to say it is
>which ones are close to equivilent. I am looking to purchase a new
>laptop and am trying to decide which one to get. Most of my work on a
>laptop is usually plugged in so the extended battery life of the
>Pentium M is not that important to me. But if I can get a good deal on
>a pentium M and I am not sacrificing any CPU power then I would take
>one.
>
>So I was wondering if there was any kind of comparison out there that
>would say something like the 750 Pentium M chip is equivlent to 650 P4
>chip so that I could know about how the two cpu's compared and could
>compare apples to apples when evaluating laptops.
Unfortunately such comparisons are rather few and far between since
it's VERY difficult to get a pair of laptops that are identical other
than their CPU. As a result, any comparison ends up being badly
flawed and often becomes more a comparison of the other parts of the
system (memory, chipset, video, etc.) than the CPU itself. There was,
however, one rather interesting test done now too long ago:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2382
In this test they actually placed a handful of Pentium-M CPUs in a
desktop board (with the use of a small adapter kit). This allowed
them to directly compare the Pentium-M CPU to desktop P4 chips in the
same motherboard. Note that this review is using DESKTOP P4 chips,
not the "Mobile Pentium 4" chips that are designed for laptops. That
being said, from the sound of things that is what you're looking at
comparing (many of the so-called "desktop replacement" laptops also
use desktop P4 processors).
The general rule here is that it depends on what you're running. In
some cases the Pentium-M comes out looking pretty damn good, in other
tests it stinks. For example, in Business Winstone 2004 the Pentium-M
725 (1.6GHz) all but matches the performance of the Pentium 4 660
(3.6GHz). However on the Data Analysis Sysmark 2004 test the
top-of-the-line Pentium M 770 (2.13GHz) is quite handily beaten out by
the Pentium 4 530 (3.0GHz, slowest P4 tested). Most tests follow in a
similar fashion with a pretty even split of apps where either chip
completely dominates the other one.
Of course, if you want a chip that is at or near the top of the list
in all applications, your best bet is probably a Desktop Replacement
notebook based off an AMD Athlon64 chip. In desktop replacement
notebooks, much like in actual desktop chips, AMD has Intel beat hands
down. Something like an Compaq R4000Z or HP zv6000 might fit the
bill, or maybe even one of the snazzy Acer Ferrari laptops.
-------------
Tony Hill
hilla <underscore> 20 <at> yahoo <dot> ca