What processor should I choose?

[truoc444]

isn't centrino just a fancy name for an M processor and an onboard wireless card???

[borromini]

isn't centrino just a fancy name for an M processor and an onboard wireless card???

Centrino is the name of the platform. So Centrino = combination of Intel WLAN + Pentium M CPU.

[truoc444]

Centrino is the name of the platform. So Centrino = combination of Intel WLAN + Pentium M CPU.

Thanks, Maybe you should change your middle name to Google which i did right after i asked the question. funny how you never think of that until after you ask the question and then get to feel like a moron after.

[bigtomrodney]

Pentium M and Xeon are both based on Pentium III afaik. Funny how all of the most publicised stuff is old news in a funny kinda way.

[Veli]

I notice you are buying a laptop, unless you're buying a laptop for appearance/size rather than portability neither of these chips are ideal. Centrino, Pentium 4m, Pentium M or Athlon XP-M or Turion would be better. Running a desktop processor on a mobile will just chew the battery, not to mention heat problems. This is a reason why after the initial Pentium 4ms intel pulled back and started shipping Pentium Ms and Centrinos at ~ 1.6GHz to 1.9GHz rather than the 3GHz monsters they had before.

I know that it consumes a lot of power, but are the centrinos powerful enough to run heavy programmes? And this might sound stupid, but what is the difference between centrino and celeron?

[bigtomrodney]

Well the problem with using heavyweight processors is that they got hot, which can be a problem in a laptop. When processors aren't cooled properly they do not perform as well. Although I have been told that AMD chips run a lot cooler than intel ones.

The difference between a centrino and a celeron - well basically a celeron is a cheaper pentium. It's really the same chip with less L2 cache and as such performs the same until under pressure (multiple programs running) then you are force to use normal memory which is slower. As mentioned Centrino is a platform for laptops with is aimed at low power usage and WiFi. I believe it is a pentium M chip which is lower clock speeds and CPU throttling for lower power consumption.

[xdenizen]

AMD 64 all the way.

Matty the Damned

[AlexK]

I say you get a Turion 64, basicially AMD's version of the Pentium-M processor. Similar in power to a full blown Athlon 64, but with a longer battery life. Clock speeds range from 1.6 GHz - 2.2 GHz.

If you do go for a Turion, I would suggest you get one with a nvidia chipset as there are rumours going around that the ati chipset that some manufacturers use for their turions don't work properly with Linux. There was a thread in the coffee lounge about an asus laptop which came with turion + nvidia.