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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GTVic - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
The 930 is the same except for double the cache. Why is it so much cheaper????Robberbaron12 - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
Intel are dumping the 65nm netburst processors as fast as possible, so thats why they are so cheap. The 90nm smithfields are now out of production all together except for the 805 (so I hear). I assume the 65nm netburst must be being shunted to the side to make room for all those Woodcrests and Conroes on the same production lines.JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I think Intel is probably about ready to halt all NetBurst production, and they have a ton of inventory to clear I would guess. Anyway, *all* of the Pentium D prices are quite nice. $140 for the 820 isn't bad either, as it will then get the faster FSB relative to the 805 for only $30 more. The 9xx series is good as well, but they all seem to OC into the 3.9-4.1 GHz range, so you might as well grab the cheapest one (930).eetnoyer - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I doubt that Intel is "about ready" to stop producing netburst chips, considering that current predictions are for ~30% of shipments being C/M/W exiting the year. Unless, of course, they want to lose a bunch more market share. I'm more inclined to believe that they are flooding the market with cheap netburst chips in an attempt to hold unit share at any cost. Their gross margins for Q2 are going to be horrendous.By the way, would it be so hard to include clock speeds in these articles? The model numbers in many cases are almost meaningless to alot of people anymore, and will only get worse going forward. I'm pretty sure that the average reader here is more than capable of understanding the IPC differences.
bamacre - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I don't agree that the Pentium 805 is the most interesting Intel cpu, even with it's low price. The 940, which runs cooler and uses less power, is simply awesome at roughly $75 cheaper than the X2 3800+, and running very close to it's speeds in gaming, and beating it in almost everything else. Easily, IMO, the best bang for your buck dual core cpu.JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I don't know... overclocked 920 at 4.0 GHz doesn't match an overclocked X2 3800+ at 2.6 GHz, so at least to me AMD X2 still comes out ahead in gaming performance. However, price is definitely in favor of Intel right now. I guess "most interesting" is all a matter of personal preference - for some people, FX-62 and Core 2 Extreme are probably the "most interesting". :)JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I think single core will stick around, but all the 1024KB chips are going away. The question is whether Sempron chips are going to be different cores, or just Orleans with some of the L2 disabled. I wouldn't be surprised if AMD goes the disabled cache route.gerf - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
754 outlive 939? I remember some build reviews where 939 was only to be used because of "future upgrade choices." Ouch.What I wonder, is if my Averatec 6235's mobile A64 (754) can be swapped with a new Turion.
JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
Your best bet is to ask Averatec; there's a reasonable chance you will need a new BIOS version, but other than that it should be capable of supporting the Turion. Turion is also built using and 90 nm process where is the socket 754 Athlon 64 Mobile chips are 130 nm, so even at the same clock speed Turion should run cooler.gerf - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
Well, Averatec doesn't apparantly do bios updates. I'd have to check the chipset type, and find something more oem