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AMD Launches Turion Mobile Processor
justforaday writes "Earlier today, AMD launched their Turion mobile processor, which is based on the AMD64 architecture. This is set to compete directly with Intel's Centrino (Pentium-M) line of processors. Chips will initially be clocked between 1.6 and 2.0 GHz. Looks like we should be seeing some nice low-powered 64-bit notebooks in the near future."
They have this new thing called the internet. It sells you stuff and things.
If you tell someone about your computer processor, and you cough slightly while you say the processor name, you end up with a Turing machine. If only it were true...
I really wish we could complete that ratio.
No, I'm not saying that Intel is as bad as Microsoft (although those recent anti-trust actions might make one wonder). I'm just saying that look how well things have turned out for the consumer on the processor front because there's a viable alternative.
Wouldn't it be cool to have a competitor for Microsoft the way AMD competes with Intel?
This should be a very interesting product for the silent computing community (check SilentPCRReview) if some manufacturer decides to make desktop motherboards for it. People are already using Mobile Athlon XP's and Pentium-M's in desktop computers because of their relatively low heat output.
My own wish would be to some day have a passively air cooled computer. Running an Athlon64 passively with only one big slow (=nearly silent) case fan is already feasible with carefully managed airflow inside the computer case. Turion could be theoretically cool enough to cool with convection airflow if the potential is realized with wellmade motherboards.
There are other advantages, namely the additions to the x86 ISA that fix some of its shortcomings. There are 8 more general-purpose registers and 8 more SIMD registers.
I have a Digital AlphaBook, the first 64 bit notebook computer! 266 MHz Alpha Processor (EV4 I think) 128 Meg RAM, and runs OpenVMS! Best of all I got it back in 1998. Nobody was even thinking 64 bit desktops back then. And you know what, it still rocks. I've rebuilt the battery pack and still use it today. You should see poeples face when VMS is booting up and it goes into the DEC windows manager.
Better get used to lugging a massive battery if you plan to really get the most out of that 64 bit CPU.
What? Peak use is 25W-35W. Pentium Ms use 22W, but then you also have a northbridge and a southbridge. Whereas most Athlon-64 based (and therefore Turion 64) have only one other chip (other than the CPU). At the least, they're about the same in terms of power usage.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
MegaPeople. I see these all the time, especially at all-you-can-eat restaraunts. I think there number is increasing rapidly in America.
Smoking is an expensive, slow, and unreliable method of suicide.
2 MB L2 cache doesn't do much by itself, give that Dothan core a 533 MHz FSB instead of the 400 MHz Banias was on and it starts to shine (and of course the power consumption goes up too). Speaking of which, AMD Turion 64 (and Athlon 64) have memory controller in the core not in north bridge like Intel processors, so that 25/35W CPU power envelope includes MC overhead too.
;)
BTW, most 512 kB L2 Athlon 64 CPUs run circles over P4 3.6+ GHz with 2 MB cache in gaming benches, so cache alone means squat
And it looks like it's going to be two years until Pentium M range gets 64-bit core. AMD Turion 64 already has 16/16 INT/XMM registers, SSE/SSE2/SSE3 support etc.