Processors

[stumpyg]

Plase list in order of quality. AMD,Intel celeron,Intel Dual core,Centrino. Iam a novice please help,

[ChuckFickens]

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

[vehelpfulguy]

It is a very confusing business, but just for your info Centrino is not a processor.

It is a set of components provided by Intel, one part of which is the processsor.

[vehelpfulguy]

There are 2 companies that produce processors for computers / laptops: Intel and AMD.

They are both quality companies and a processor from either would do the job. They both have their own "brand" names such as Athlon or Celeron.

Both Intel and AMD produce dual core processros (a chip with 2 CPUs on it) so it is best to go for a dual core.

It is generally considered that the Intel Core 2 Duo are the "best" laptop CPUs at the moment, although the AMD Athlon 64 X2 will also serve you well.

Celeron is a brand name Intel use for their cheaper "low end" CPUs so will come in the cheaper laptops.

But to be honest the CPU is just one component to consider. You should also consider brand name, price, memory size, disk size, screen size, weight, battery life, Windows version, after sales support and so on.

[vehelpfulguy]

Here is a list of all the Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number /chart/core2duo.htm

The ones that begin "E" (such as E8500) are for desktops so you can ignore them.

The ones that begin "T" (such as T8100) are for laptops.

The list has the fastest CPUs at the top, running down to the slowest at the bottom.

So the fastest laptop CPU that they do is the T9500 near the top of the list, and the slowest the T5200 at the bottom of the list.

Obviously the faster CPUs are going to be more expensive for companies to buy, and are likely to be in the more expensive laptops.

If you do see a laptop you want to buy you can look down this list and get a rough idea how powerful the CPU is.

But as I said, dont get hung up on just CPU, most of these are plenty powerful enough for everyday use and todays CPUs are probably twice as fast as those coming out just a couple of years ago.

[vehelpfulguy]

One more thing. Note the list above is ONLY for Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs.

Intel do make a number of other CPUs and it can be very difficult for anybody to sort them out.

Below is a list of laptops from the Dell site and it may be useful for you to see the different CPUs used in each to get an idea of the different numbers.

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/res ults.aspx/notebooks?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs& ~ck=mn&page=1

Note the first laptop in the list (Inspiron 1525). It says it has a Intel Celeron Dual Core T1400. So this is a "dual core" but uses the Celeron brand name for low end CPUs. That laptop is only �369.

Note the 5th laptop in the list, the Studio 17. This has a Pentium Dual Core 2370 (dual core but with the Pentium brand name). This laptop is �499.

So neither of these are "Core 2 Duo".

Note the 3rd laptop on the list, another Inspiron 1525. This has a Intel Core 2 Duo T5550. The laptop is �429.

That CPU is on the list I gave you above, but is fairly near the bottom so is less powerful than others higher up the list.

Finally if you look at the 8th laptop in the list, another Inspiron 1525. This has a Intel Core 2 Duo T8100. The laptop is �579.

That CPU is also on the list I gave you above, but is near the top so is more powerful than others in the list, hence the higher price for the laptop.

Sorry for the long append, but you can see how Intel have a bewildering array of CPUs so sorting them out is not easy.

[ACtheTROLL]

stumpy

go to tesco, wh smiths or somewhere with a decent magazine section and look at a few pc mags ... most have a "hotlist"

.... and tend to use better benchmarks than auntie joan buying one last christmas.

we don't (generally) see enough to make an educated assessment -
(I have work with loads of corporate kit - but that's a different ballgame entirely) -

my preference is for intel ... and "real" dual core is probably your best bet .... but ((to start another argument) there is a strong argument starting at the moment which points out that in the PC area there is no multithreaded software on the market ... and so more than one core has no advantage without manual task balancing ....)

my best advice is - set a budget - and stick to it, don't fall for the for �50 more bigger better urge.

unless you have speciallist needs ... somewhere round �450 is adequate.... if you are a gamer ... get a desktop