I'm interested in buying a laptop...CPU question.

[Cheex]

What is the difference between the Athlon 64 X2 (1.7GHz) and the Turion 64 X2 (1.8GHz).

 

[myocardia]

Well, the Turion (in this instance) is a bit faster, since it's running 100 Mhz faster. Besides that, the only difference is battery life; Turions have alot more of it.

 

[Laminator]

Uh, isn't the Athlon 64 X2 a desktop chip? Why is the Turion 64 X2 faster? Clock speeds don't mean sh*t.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Laminator
Uh, isn't the Athlon 64 X2 a desktop chip?

Yeah, why do you think that it has such horrible battery life, compared to a Turion?

Why is the Turion 64 X2 faster?

Because it uses the identical architecture, and performs identically, clock-for-clock, as it's desktop equivalent.

Clock speeds don't mean sh*t.

They do, when comparing identical architectures, bub.

 

[wampa]

Originally posted by: Cheex
What is the difference between the Athlon 64 X2 (1.7GHz) and the Turion 64 X2 (1.8GHz).

The main difference is that the turion is more energy efficient, meaning longer battery life and less heat. But besides the energy savings, the athlon 64 x2 and the turion 64 x2 are similiar.

 

[Cheex]

Thanks a lot guys. BTW, my question was really directed at the design differences and completely neglecting the 100MHz.

I think I have my answer and therefore I think I should try to go with the Turion.

I would love if anyone had anything else to add though...

 

[Markfw]

So my PM response appears to be correct, just lower power on the Turion.

 

[Cheex]

What are the architectural differences between the Athlon and the Turion?

Keeping in mind:
(1) Clock-4-Clock Efficiency
(2) Processing Power as a percentage of a Core 2 Duo

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: Cheex
What are the architectural differences between the Athlon and the Turion?

Keeping in mind:
(1) Clock-4-Clock Efficiency
(2) Processing Power as a percentage of a Core 2 Duo

I think Turions are architecturally identical to Athlons. If they're not just a different bin (i.e. the least-leaky parts that come off the manufacturing process), then they'd be manufactured specifically to leak less (the fab can make leakage-versus-speed tradeoffs). See disclaimer in my sig.

 

[Markfw]

1) the same
2) I have seen seveal benchmarks. The Turion usually looses, but sometimes wins in battery power. You just need to read a bunch of reviews. Myself, I am going with whichever is cheaper when I replace my laptop later this year. Performance is not a biggie for me in a laptop, just battery and heat.