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Core 2 Duo Notebooks Reviewed
An anonymous reader writes "With the launch of Intel's Core 2 Duo chip today, I found this article that not only covers the new chip itself, but also reviews and benchmarks two retail notebooks. It's interesting since one machine has the entry level 1.66GHz CPU while the other has the top end 2.33GHz chip."
We've had a Core 2 Duo ("Conroe") workstation here for a couple weeks now.
Only the Core 2 Duo "Merom," for notebooks, was released today.
Instead of reading the entire article, here's the summary ...
Verdict
Both of these are impressive machines for anyone who wants to get hold of the power of Merom straight away. The lower clocked AJP does seem slightly lack-lustre compared to the top end Rock, especially as the 1,920 x 1,200 screen wasn't the best we've seen. If battery life is the primary concern you might do better with a Core Duo, due to its lower TDP, unless you can wait for ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo laptops to appear.
If you can spend the money the T7600 based Rock is outrageously fast for a notebook and it's well specced too. However, we think the mid-rage 2GHz, T7200 will end up being the Merom CPU of choice.
Core 2 Duo desktop and laptop chips were formally announced in July (the 27th or so). Desktop chips (Conre) were launched then, and started shipping (with models coming out in serious numbers over the last two weeks). Notebook chips (Merom) were "launched" today, which means we can look at pretty benchmarks as Intel starts shipping them out to most OEMs. We will see the processors in computers at stores in a few weeks.
It's on the last page of the review. And it's very bad (a laptop that can't even run 2 hours on a battery charge?)
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You are entirely wrong.
No. Merom and Conroe are the notebook and desktop versions, respectively, of the same chip. Merom and Conroe are both the internal names of the chips. Officially, they're both called "Core 2 Duo", and the model numbers distinguish the two series. There are physical differences, including FSB speed and (IIRC) cache architecture.
No. Core Duo is based on the Pentium M Dothan, which was an improved (more cache and higher FSB) version of Banias.
True. Props to Intel for the dumb naming.
No! It's a Pentium M with two cores! Big difference! The Pentium 4-M is a pathetic, hot, power-hogging, slow version of the Pentium 4. The Pentium M is based mostly on the Pentium III, and was designed from the ground up to be more efficient per watt.
Yes. structure = microarchitecture.
While I agree, Intel's naming and branding sucks... try not to make it worse!
ttuttle is a rankmaniac
Well, I am not defending them too much but they did perform more than gaming benchmarks..ie large file encryption, photoshop rendering etc etc.. so i am not sure what you're saying... as for ignoring that it is a notebook, well, it would seem to me that if I were looking for a "notebook" as opposed to a "desktop replacement" I wouldn't be looking at a 17" laptop that weighs 10 pounds.. maybe something a little more portable and less exhausting to tote around. And OF COURSE BATTERY LIFE IS GOING TO SUCK!! it always will with present day standards.. Of course I would love a 17" screen, 8GB,1TB HDD, 7GHZ super efficient ultralowvoltage cpu with 12 cores that gets 36 hours of battery life on a single charge running Wireless, bluetooth, playing a dvd, running Bittorrent, while playing Prey, and doing video compression and opening Notes(which stinks!!), thunderbird and doing repeated full system AV scans...
So many injustices..so little time..
Just found another review: http://www.hardware.info/en-US/articles/am5na2ptZA /Toshiba_Qosmio_G30_Intel_Core_2_Duo_Mobile_and_HD _DVD__Review/
I think you misread it. but that's easy to do. Decide for yourself:
Website: So how does the mobile version of Core 2 Duo (Merom) actually differ from the desktop version (Conroe)? Actually, the differences are relatively minor - though as it's essentially the same chip that's not really surprising.
You: So the Intel Core 2 Duo chip, also known as Merom was internally known as Conroe...
Website: (well, the website doesn't explicitly say this, but Dothan came after Banias)
You: and is based on the Pentium M 'Banias' mobile chip based out of Haifa.
Website: Rather confusingly though, Core Duo, which is Yonah, is not actually Core architecture - it's was essentially a dual-core version of Pentium M.
You: Additionally, the original Core Duo (Yonah) isn't really a Core product, it's just a P4M with two cores.
Website: Core architecture, with its various improvements and enhancements, actually begins with the Core 2 Duo
You: Core structure actually starts with Core 2 Duo, thus the Core 2 identification?
ttuttle is a rankmaniac
As far as I can recall all Core2 CPUs are 64bit.
;)
The xnnnn E parts lack virtualization though, not to be confused with the Ennnn parts which are Allendale server chips with virtualization.
OK, I can see why people are confused now
I know a couple of people with Core 1 MacBook Pros, and they seem to get slightly better battery life than I do with a G4 PowerBook, so I think the Core 2 is promising. Now if only Apple would hurry up and put them in portables, I would give them some money...
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It sounds like you think those tasks are more CPU-intensive than gaming might be. Gaming is not just a RAM benchmarks; games hit the CPU harder than almost anything you can throw at a PC. As far as application load times and AV scans go, that's probably equal parts CPU, RAM, and HD speed (more HD speed on the AV scan). If you're benchmarking a CPU, you've got synthetic benchmarks, games, and PhotoShop, pretty much.
[Z?]
I find it interesting that people readily accept the notion that Pentium M is a derivative of the PIII while Core 2 is somehow distinct from Core or Pentium M. The Pentium M was developed years after the PIII, was specifically developed for portables, was created by an entirely different design team, used the bus of the P4 and had significant architectural differences when compared to PIII. The Core 2, meanwhile, is an immediate follow-on of Core, just as Core was a follow-on of Pentium M, is architecturally similar and even shares a pinout with Core in the case of Merom. To claim that Core 2 is the first "Core architecture" product is arbitrary and more absurd than claiming that Pentium M is a new version of PIII, yet that seems to be what's floated around here. Each processor is a new design effort that benefits from designs that came before it. Naming is simply marketing BS.
"Since amd have a lot of CPU with dual core on the store now. I would like to see a comparative with Intel and AMD dual core 64 bits CPU."
No they don't. The Turion 64 X2 was only released very recently, and to this day, good systems (read, NOT from HP or Compaq) with Turion 64s (let alone X2 variants) are hard to find. In fact, in March when I bought my new Core Duo-based Dell, it was simply not possible to find a Turion 64-based laptop with a 17" screen, reputable vendor or not.
Remember, this article is talking about mobile CPUs, not desktops, where Intel has had a very strong lead for quite a while. If you want to see a comparison of Conroe vs. Athlon 64 X2, that's been covered in depth in the past 1-2 months.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
first of all this has nothing to do with Conroe, this is about Merom. Of course I know you can buy conroe chips. Secondly you CAN update the processor in your laptop, all you need is a BIOS update (and a socketed set, not soddered as a few are). The first release with the 667FSB is designed to drop right into the 945GM chipset. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_2_Duo#Merom
There's actually a much better review at Hot Hardware:
l eid=864&cid=10
http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?artic
According to them, there's rough parity on battery usage (within 10% by clock) yet the chip is anywhere from 15-50% faster than the Core Duo depending on what you're doing.
This is seriously a massive step forward, and I for one plan on buying a laptop equipped with one of these.
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