Laptop CPU

[BoredBloke]

I'm looking at getting a cheap laptop over the next couple of weeks. When shopping around I've seen in the Intel camp there are for example

Intel Dual Core T2390 1.86Mhz

and say

Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 2mhz

There is a slight difference in terms of the clock speed so why the large difference in terms of the the number preceeded by the T?

Given the choice of the 2 what would be the best to pick?

[voodooflux]

I'm looking at getting a cheap laptop over the next couple of weeks. When shopping around I've seen in the Intel camp there are for example

Intel Dual Core T2390 1.86Mhz

and say

Intel Core 2 Duo T5800 2mhz

There is a slight difference in terms of the clock speed so why the large difference in terms of the the number preceeded by the T?

Given the choice of the 2 what would be the best to pick?

The latter looks to be a newer processor so may have more cache, a higher bus speed and possibly run cooler. Details on the latter CPU seem to be sketchy, and there doesn't seem to be much info on the Intel site about it.

[BolshieBastard]

Im looking for a laptop or two. But are there really any 'credit crunch' bargains out there? Not the end of line clearance or basic type shyte they just want rid of but real bargains?

Had a look at lewis' pc world, curry etc but cant see any real bargains.

[voodooflux]

Im looking for a laptop or two. But are there really any 'credit crunch' bargains out there? Not the end of line clearance or basic type shyte they just want rid of but real bargains?

Had a look at lewis' pc world, curry etc but cant see any real bargains.

It's worth keeping a eye on Hotukdeals - they come up pretty reguarly on there.

[jkoder]

Usually you should look for the cache. You often used to see AMD Athlons (best ) and Semprons (budget) with almost the same clock speed but with huge differences in price and you would think "Why the difference?" - It's almost always the cache with todays CPU's.

Basically, a cache reduces the time it takes for the CPU to communicate with RAM, improving the speed of the machine. It's basically a cache in every other sense in IT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_cache

Something else to check is the FSB (Front Side Bus, which is something else which governs the speed). Basically the FSB is the way the CPU access' such a cache as highlighted above. Usually the bigger the number the better because it's based on speed.

But, if I can only say this once! When you buy a new machine or build one of your own always buy the fastest hard drive because it's the biggest bottle-neck in a PC, the hard drive writes a lot slower than a CPU can work and it can slow things down quite a bit (in terms of your system overall). That's why people use RAID so you can write to two or more drives at once, or you can also use them as a backup in case one fails.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

There are lots of improvements in every area and I don't follow as much as I used to, so this is general advice

[BoredBloke]

The latter looks to be a newer processor so may have more cache, a higher bus speed and possibly run cooler. Details on the latter CPU seem to be sketchy, and there doesn't seem to be much info on the Intel site about it.

The thing is, I thought it was the other way around. I thought the T5800 @ 2mhz was to older one and I was quite happy with that naming convention. Now there are a load where the T numberber is about half the size of the other but is running at a clock speed almost the same.

[voodooflux]

The thing is, I thought it was the other way around. I thought the T5800 @ 2mhz was to older one and I was quite happy with that naming convention. Now there are a load where the T numberber is about half the size of the other but is running at a clock speed almost the same.

Details are very scarce on the T5800, and most of the info I can see on it is very recent (from around October this year) so I'm pretty sure it's a very new processor. The T2390 was released in the first half of this year.

Here's what I can find:

The T5800 is a Core 2 Duo processor.

The T2390 is a Pentium Dual Core processor.

This article explains the differences between these series of processors, quoted below:

Intel manufactures dual core processors under a number of different architectures.

From the most to least expensive/powerful:

• Core 2 Duo
• Core Duo
• Pentium Dual Core
• Celeron Dual Core

The Celeron Dual Core is limited to 512KB of L2 Cache and has lower Front Side Bus (FSB) and clock speeds than chips higher up on the list. However, it is a very low priced CPU and apparently a good overclocker. The only Celeron Dual Core currently available is the E1200 (January 2008). It has 512 KB of L2 Cache, a clock speed of 1.60 GHz and an 800 MHz FSB.

The Pentium Dual Core is the next step up. With 1 MB of L2 Cache, these chips are still targeted at the cost-conscious. Slightly more expensive and slightly better performing than the Celeron Dual Core. The Pentium Dual Core models are: E2200, E21xx, T23xx, and T20xx. All have 1 MB of L2 Cache, either a 533 MHz or 800 MHz FSB and clock speeds ranging from 1.46 GHz to 2.20 GHz.

The Core Duo chips are dual core cpu's that have 2 MB of L2 Cache. This is also a 32-bit architecture (Celeron and most Pentium Dual Cores are 64-bit). The Core Duo processors: T2700, T2600, T2500, T24xx, T23xx, T22xx, T2050, L2500, L2400, L2300 (L=Low voltage), U2500, U2400 (U=Ultra low voltage). All have 2 MB of L2 Cache. FSB is either 533 MHz or 667 MHz and clock speeds range from 1.06 GHz(for the U2400) to 2.33 GHz.

Core 2 Duo cpu's are aimed at both desktop and mobile computers in the mid-range of the processor market. This line of cpu's have L2 caches ranging from 2MB to 6MB and clock speeds from 1.06 GHz (again, for the Ultra low voltage U7500) to 3.16 GHz. The extra cache and higher clock and bus speeds make these generally more expensive and faster than the Core Duo's. Intel claims a 25% performance increase between two similarly clocked Core Duo and Core 2 Duo cpu's (but real world benchmarks pegs 5%-15% as a more reasonable claim).

[BoredBloke]

Details are very scarce on the T5800, and most of the info I can see on it is very recent (from around October this year) so I'm pretty sure it's a very new processor. The T2390 was released in the first half of this year.

Here's what I can find:

The T5800 is a Core 2 Duo processor.

The T2390 is a Pentium Dual Core processor.

This article explains the differences between these series of processors, quoted below:

Thanks for the info. It backs up what I was thinking regarding going for the t5800. Cheers for all the effort you put into finding the response. T5800 it is than.

[voodooflux]

Thanks for the info. It backs up what I was thinking regarding going for the t5800. Cheers for all the effort you put into finding the response. T5800 it is than.

No worries - good luck with the laptop hunt.