AMD and Intel Mobile CPUs
AMD's mobile chips are still stuck in the single core, single channel memory era; the Turion chips are basically mobile versions of socket 754 Athlon 64. They still perform quite well, and with lower power requirements they fit the mobile sector better. You might also be able to pick one up and stick it in a desktop socket 754 motherboard for some decent overclocking, but given the prices there's no reason to go that route over 939/AM2. We're really looking forward to the launch of the dual core Turion chips, as they will provide some much-needed competition to Intel's Core Duo lineup. Of course, by the time such chips are available they might need to go up against Core 2 Duo mobile chips instead. Here are the Turion chips we're currently tracking.
Turion prices have bunched together in the past few months, with the difference between the cheapest ML-30 (1.6 GHz and 1MB L2 cache for $143) and the most expensive MT-40 (2.2 GHz and 1MB L2 cache for $230) being $87. If you need a faster Turion chip than what you currently have, you might as well go all out and purchase the MT-40 [RTPE: TMSMT40BQX5LD].
Intel has quite a few more mobile offerings, though you will need to make sure that your laptop supports the processor you want. 945GM/PM chipsets will support Core Duo/Solo as well as Pentium M, while 915GM/PM chipsets and earlier will only support Pentium M.
Unlike AMD, Intel is still charging a hefty price premium for their faster mobile processors. The cheapest Core Duo T2400 [RTPE: BX80539T2400] ($250) costs more than the most expensive Turion, and Core Solo T1300 only costs slightly less [RTPE: BX80538T1300] ($211). We skipped the Core Duo T2300 because an extra five dollars to add 133 MHz is money well spent. Pentium M prices are a bit lower, but dollar for dollar we would give Turion the advantage over Pentium M, so for Intel mobile chips the Core Duo is the way to go. Celeron M (479) is basically disappearing from the market, so we didn't bother to list those prices as we're only seeing one processor that's still in stock.
AMD's mobile chips are still stuck in the single core, single channel memory era; the Turion chips are basically mobile versions of socket 754 Athlon 64. They still perform quite well, and with lower power requirements they fit the mobile sector better. You might also be able to pick one up and stick it in a desktop socket 754 motherboard for some decent overclocking, but given the prices there's no reason to go that route over 939/AM2. We're really looking forward to the launch of the dual core Turion chips, as they will provide some much-needed competition to Intel's Core Duo lineup. Of course, by the time such chips are available they might need to go up against Core 2 Duo mobile chips instead. Here are the Turion chips we're currently tracking.
Intel has quite a few more mobile offerings, though you will need to make sure that your laptop supports the processor you want. 945GM/PM chipsets will support Core Duo/Solo as well as Pentium M, while 915GM/PM chipsets and earlier will only support Pentium M.
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Calin - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
The only reason you could have to buy an Sempron (AM2) over an Athlon would be the lower power use (35W TDP for the new Semprons compared to the 65W TDP of the Athlons64 AM2 (or 89W of the X2 versions).Could there be an evaluation of the difference in power use between the same frequency Sempron and Athlon64 processors? Thanks
johnsonx - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
The low power Semprons aren't available yet, nor are the low power Athlons at the current time. Currently shipping Semprons and Athlons are all 65W TDP.Looking at the recent price lists, I'd make a bet that all the single-core Athlon64's are going away before long, with the possible exception of the highest performing parts. It's the same logic that applies to the 1Mb cache parts: single-core A64's cost AMD more to make than Semprons, yet AMD can't really charge more money for them because of their convoluted model numbering system.
Having an Athlon64 3000+ that is clocked the same but has 4x the cache as a Sempron 3400+ just makes a mess of things.
mino - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
Well they are :)AFAIK pretty much any 90nm Sempron(doesn't matter which socket) is in the 20W-35W power consumption range.
Calin - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I saw on offers Sempron (AM2) processors with TDP of 35W, compared to the Athlon64 (AM2 versions) with TDP of 65W and the dual cores (again AM2) with 89W TDP.I suppose the low voltage versions are not here yet, but the power rating in offers still remains
JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
You will also be able to get low power X2 and Athlon 64 chips in the near future. I will see about testing an Athlon 64 3000+ (AM2) compared to the Sempron 3400+ (AM2). My experience in the past is that AMD's TDP power numbers have been extremely conservative, so I would be surprised if Sempron chips are more than 5 Watts lower. That might matter for notebooks/laptops, but for desktops 5 W is basically meaningless -- you're looking at $5 (or less) for power costs over the course of an entire year, assuming the system is running 24/7/365.Calin - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
Thank you very muchSonicIce - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I can't belive how cheap single core Athlon 64's have gotten. This is a very good thing! Hopefully dual cores will fall soon.jelifah - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
That's what Jarred was trying to say in his article when he said 'if you can wait a month'July 24th AMD is expected to slash prices by around 50%. And yes that includes the pretty little X2 3800+, which should be available for $150. Now the only question is how quick NewEgg can ship them on that day, because I WILL place an order at that price.
I'm actually going to be paying LESS for a dual core than I paid for my socket 939 3000+ single core 18 months ago.
ChronoReverse - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I'll be watching prices very carefully in the upcoming months. Right now I'm still undecided as to getting an used s939 3800+, a new AM2 3800+ or getting the $160 Conroe.Great times ahead now that there's competition again.
Rebel44 - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
Yeah they will - I´m just waiting for release of new Intel´s procesors because AMD announced to lower prices of X-2´s by up to 50%:-)