Pentium M Vs Centrino

Doublespresso

Sorry of this has been discussed previously.

I'm puzzled by the two CPUs in question.

Pentium M speeds are usually quoted as being 2.2, 2.4Ghz etc but the Centrino are 1.4, 1.5 Ghz etc

My understanding is tha these Centrino speeds are comparable to the 2.2, 2.4Ghz due to thei efficiency.

Given that they are both designed for Laptops/Mobile Computing which is the better perfomer overall? Any advantages/disadvantages?

Thanks!

Harpoon_2

Centrino isn't really a CPU. It's an Intel marketing brand for a number of items - they are: a Pentium M CPU, the chipset which 'glues' lots of bits together (named 855 or the just launched 915) and a wireless network card.

The Pentium M has some very neat power saving features built in and is designed for use in a laptop.

Intel also do a Mobile P4, a Mobile P4 with Hyper Threading (HT) and a Mobile P4-M.

Confused yet? You should be

It depends on the application as to which of the P4s it will 'keep up' with For instance, in some games a Pentium M 755 (2.0Ghz) can keep pace with a Pentium 4 530 (3.0Ghz). There's 10 pages of graphs here:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2342&p=11

Intel have a flash widget which will, in theory, tell you the right CPU based on your requirements : http://www.intel.com/personal/resources/configure/decision_tool.htm

FWIW, I've got a Centrino based laptop and love it. Battery life is great and it flies along.

DVB_3

I would say that Centrino is a better overall performer. However, it cannot be directly compared, as we would essentially be comparing the same thing. Centrino is not a processor, but a combination of three components: Intel Pentium M processor (90nm), Intel 855 chipset and Intel PRO/Wireless network card. Centrino perfomrs better because of the better processor (actually, all of the components) design, which includes additional pipelines and massive L2 cache (2MB). It's much more power-efficient and does not require extensive cooling. Intel PRO/Wireless is a top performer in terms of range, stability and support; it was the first card to have a working driver for the forthcoming WPAv2 (AES) standard, when others only had models. Even Cisco now uses Centrino-based wireless devices to measure the performance of its own wireless equipment, and all recent operational distance measurements with respect to wireless devices on the Cisco's website are quoted for the Centrino platform.

As far as I remember, Centrino-based 2GHz platform should easily match (or even outperform) a normal 3-3.2GHz Pentium, and all that at the cost of much greater battery life and more stable performance.

Also, take a look here (pdf file).

DVB_3

Apologies Harpoon - crossposted.

Harpoon_2

No prob DVB - takes a while to type that lot out

tara

anyone knows where I could buy stowaway wireless (Bluetooth <£80 or IR <£40) pDA keyboard cheap? US sites sell them cheap but would not ship over. Pl help if anyone knows.

tara

tried it. not any cheaper. Thanks for the suggestion though.