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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."
So it's a glorified gamer machine? How fast can it start and run Lotus Notes or Thunderbird? How fast can it run a complete AV scan? How well and how fast does it run end to end, real world applications and not just RAM resident games? These benchmarks suck and pretty much ignore the fact that it's a notebook machine at all. And battery life appears to suck hard.
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.
How does the battery life compare to the 'single core' Pentium M?
Does battery life not matter in laptop reviews anymore?
How is the lap heat, is it twice as hot? My current laptop gets limited lap time because of the heat.
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.
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
Jesus, check their logo.
intel(r)
core(tm)
inside(tm)
This requires talent. I just hope we don't run out of words we can use seeing how businesses trademark them one by one.
Just found another review: http://www.hardware.info/en-US/articles/am5na2ptZA /Toshiba_Qosmio_G30_Intel_Core_2_Duo_Mobile_and_HD _DVD__Review/
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.
Ceci n'est pas une Signature !
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
- first chip - better than some other chips, unless you wait until spring
- chip II - chip C is better than this in all respects, except that a certain chip which may or may not be the second chip or chip 3 is more modern and consumes less heat and is faster
- third chip - designed in a foreign country and better than chip 2 but slower than the second chip
- another chip - better than a chip which is to say not really better, but overwhelmingly not quite as power hungry as chip 1
- a different chip - this is the be-all and end-all of chips off the ol' block, the mother load of chipdom, but not very impressive otherwise as that other chip
Having trouble following me? Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry! As you can see, I'm having some difficulty stringing nouns and verbs together in order which conveys useful meaning. This article is a wedgie bunchy terdhammer pukebucket of crap. This article is a hopeless string of buzz words in a mash-up, probably ripped from an ars technica article or two and cranked back and forth through the Google translator to obscure the source . Don't waste your time reading it.I hope and desire that reading this really-not-fine-in-any-way article has not permanently affected my linguistic processing ability, although it may be so effected... doh! affected.
Doesn't anybody *screen* these submissions?
If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
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 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.
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
It has only itself to blame really. If it had only listened to God in the first place it wouldn't have been swallowed whole by that other chip.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
How much time does it take to finish an infinite loop? Did they say that?
Hello, astroturf. Who the hell knows the model numbers of their friend's laptops??? Is there some sort of organized place where slashdotters can identify astroturfers like this?
I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.