Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

First Intel Yonah Laptop Announced

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the hot-off-the-presses dept.

Lam1969 writes "IDG News Service reports NEC will release its first laptop based on Intel's Yonah dual-core processor in the first quarter of 2006, for just under $2,000. According to AnandTech, Yonah performance is comparable to AMD Athlon 64 X2, and is more efficient than the AMD chip in terms of power consumption."

6 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Yonah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh yeah ebonics. As in "Yonah need alot a dough to buy one."

  2. Re:Great by The+Lost+Supertone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From Apple after MacWorld San Francisco

  3. More on that by mnemonic_ · · Score: 5, Interesting


    "Reliable sources have further confirmed recently to Think Secret that new iBooks and Mac minis--as well as iPod shuffles--will debut at Macworld Expo San Francisco next month. Apple's new Mac mini and iBook are expected to be among the first--if not the first--systems to feature Intel's new mobile processor, code-named Yonah."

  4. Re:As for the laptop itself by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Insightful
    As a serious question though, who's going to be doing renders and such where dual cores really shine, on a laptop? Can anyone tell me applications of dual core for a on-the-go computer?


    Many people don't want PC Towers of any size anymore, they'd rather have a notebook. Just like they don't want CRT montiors vs. LCD. Or normal CRT TVs vs. Plasma. Etcetera. For many reasons - aesthetics. It's easier to move (Americans move an average of every 7 years). It takes up less space, for a cramped apartment or just to dispose of (something Europeans think a lot about in both cases).

    Thus, the notebook isn't a on-the-go computer anymore (Why pay for 2 computer systems anyway if you aren't a gamer, etcetera.) It's the main computer. This is reinforced by the fact that notebook sales exceeded PC sales for the first time this year.

    BTW, dual-cores aren't only handy for rendering. They are handy for responsiveness, it's most obvious when a process hogs the CPU and makes everything else slow to a crawl - including but not only when trying to kill said process if it turns into a zombie. On a dual-core, that's not a problem.
  5. Re:The company that can mass spin by carlislematthew · · Score: 5, Funny
    But 64 bit is TWICE as many bits. Therefore is is TWICE as good, and TWICE the speed.

    You must have a 32 bit brain or something...

  6. This is NOT a 64-bit CPU! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    So how does Yonah's performance compare to the AMD Athlon 64 X2 running AMD64/EM64T software? Yonah can't even run it. That doesn't sound faster to me.

    Read about the benefits Intel ascribes to 64-bit software here. "Processors with Intel EM64T support 64-bit capable operating systems from Microsoft, Red Hat and SuSE." And you won't be able to run them.

    There are some applications where a 64-bit CPU can perform FOUR TIMES more work in 64-bit mode than 32-bit mode. One of these is big integer multiplication. Check out Is 32 bits really better than 64?": "If we instead would compare an Athlon XP and an Athlon 64, the latter would be almost 4 times faster. Why 4 times and not just 2 times? Because a 64x64=>128 bit integer multiplication actually performs 4 times more work than a 32x32=>64 bit integer multiplication!"

    If you want a low power 64-bit CPU consider an AMD Turion based notebook. Check out this article and its conclusions. In particular, "A lot of people see Dothan's 27W TDP & Turion ML's 35W TDP and assume that Dothan is automatically lower power. Intel computes thermal design power as 75% of the maximum load on the chip, while AMD's TDP rating is derived from the absolute worst case power dissipation of the chip. Part of the total system power is also incorporated into AMD's TDP, as the memory controller is located on-chip. Intel's memory controller is built into the chipset and thus draws power not calculated as part of Dothan's TDP. Also while Turion 64 is at idle (800MHz clock speed), it's performance is likely to be higher due to the higher bandwidth data bus. All of these factors contribute to Turion 64 being more power efficient under low load circumstances."

    And the -MT Turions have even lower power consumption: AMD Turion 64 specifications.

    My next notebook will not be constrainted to only running x86-32 software.