Athlon vs. P4 in laptops

[amendmentx]

I was wondering if someone could give me some information on which one of these processors performs better in laptops.

[jagojago12]

Based on the general trend on desktop Athlon and Pentium4 comparisons, the Athlon XP starts to become slightly slower than the Pentium4 at around the model number of 2100/2200. Model number lower than that to comparable Pentium4's the Athlon XP is generally slightly faster.

However, when you are looking for laptops, I would buy an Intel simply because they have much better battery life. I would never trade a few percentage points of performance for 30 minutes of battery life difference.

I used to have a 900MHz Duron laptop with the near same Wh rating as my 1.13GHz Pentium3 laptop. The 900MHz AMD got slightly over 1 hour of battery life, while my intel laptop gets between 2.5 to 3 hours.

[KegCanMan]

Originally posted by jagojago12
Based on the general trend on desktop Athlon and Pentium4 comparisons, the Athlon XP starts to become slightly slower than the Pentium4 at around the model number of 2100/2200. Model number lower than that to comparable Pentium4's the Athlon XP is generally slightly faster.

However, when you are looking for laptops, I would buy an Intel simply because they have much better battery life. I would never trade a few percentage points of performance for 30 minutes of battery life difference.

I used to have a 900MHz Duron laptop with the near same Wh rating as my 1.13GHz Pentium3 laptop. The 900MHz AMD got slightly over 1 hour of battery life, while my intel laptop gets between 2.5 to 3 hours.

what duron lappy are you using? i have the presario 702US....and i get maybe 1 1/2 hours with the battery....even with that powernow.

[jagojago12]

Originally posted by KegCanMan


what duron lappy are you using? i have the presario 702US....and i get maybe 1 1/2 hours with the battery....even with that powernow.

It used to have a Sony Vaio FXA33. While performance wasn't an issue, the battery life was absurd.

[anfpunk]

I would go intel, also make sure to get a mobile chip and not a desktop chip. If you aren't plugged into the wall the desktop chips will cut their speed in half.

[ua549]

Originally posted by anfpunk
I would go intel, also make sure to get a mobile chip and not a desktop chip. If you aren't plugged into the wall the desktop chips will cut their speed in half. You've got that backwards. The mobile chip will adjust its speed. The desktop chip doesn't change its speed.

[anfpunk]

fraid not. While I do agree that they mobile chips do change speeds due to activity, the desktop chips cut in half when not plugged in.

http://www4.tomshardware.com/mobile/02q4/021101/index.html

and here's the original /. article as well.

http://developers.slashdot.org/articles/02/11/04/1945239.shtml?tid=137
also, here's the link to dells website that even says it. it's at the very very bottom under note 2. in real small text. hehe

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/model_inspn_3_inspn_200n.htm#tabtop

also if you check a mobile p4 chip you'll see they dont add that disclaimer. such as this inspiron.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/model_inspn_1_inspn_8200.htm

[ua549]

I have an IBM ThinkPad that does not change it speed ever.
I have a Compaq Evo that changes its speed all the time, even when on wall power.

It seems to be dependent upon the particular vendor's chipset implementation.

[cmdrvenom]

athlons get pretty toasty in the confined space of a laptop. you cant really out a good heatsink on it cuz there isnt enough space. so id say get a p4 laptop if you are going to get a laptop.

BTW i have an athlon laptop so i am speaking from experience.