Pentium Dual Core T2390 versus Turion TL-60

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Hey, all.

I'm going to buy a sub-$500 notebook in the next week or so, and I'm a little lost when it comes to mobile CPUs. I can't find any benchmarks pitting current budget processors against each other.

The most common CPUs I've seen, which I'd consider buying, are:

Pentium Dual Core T2390
Athlon 64 X2 TK-57
Turion 64 X2 TL-60

Are there any sites benchmarking these CPUs together? Also, do they draw very different amounts of power?

Also, if anyone knows of any good deals on new, sub-$500 notebook computers, I'd appreciate a heads up. The market doesn't seem very good right now, but I can't wait more than a week or so.

Thanks!

 

[geokilla]

Toms Hardware should have a mobile CPU benchmark. I believe the Pentium Dual Core is the same as Core Duo since the model numbers (TXXXX) are more or less the same.

I'd go with the Intel CPU for laptops.

 

[996GT2]

I'd definitely go with Intel for notebook processors. AMD's dual core offerings are still based on the aging K8 architecture, and simply cannot compete with Intel even if the AMD chips have much higher clock speeds.

The Pentium DC T2390 is basically the same as a 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo, with slightly less cache. It WILL outperform both Athlon X2s you listed and will give better battery life.

For example, my Thinkpad T61 right now has a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo T8300. It EASILY outperforms the overclocked 2.8 GHz Athlon X2 in my desktop in everything, from video encoding to synthetic benchmarks such as SuperPi.

 

[pukemon]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Toms Hardware should have a mobile CPU benchmark. I believe the Pentium Dual Core is the same as Core Duo since the model numbers (TXXXX) are more or less the same.

I'd go with the Intel CPU for laptops.

The T20x0 and T21x0 were Yonah (Core Duo) based.

The T23x0 and T24x0 are Merom (Core 2 Duo) based.

No Penryn-based mobile Pentium DCs... yet.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Thanks for the responses so far. It's especially interesting to know about the Yonah vs Merom model numbers.

However, while I know that generally speaking Intel CPUs are better than AMD, I was kinda hoping to see some benchmarks or something to figure out where exactly to draw the line. I don't mind getting a *slightly* slower AMD CPU if it means I can save a bunch of money, or make up for it in other features. But I do mind getting a significantly slower AMD CPU.

Specifically, is the Turion TL-60 slower or faster than the T2390 and/or T2370?

 

[Peter]

Slower or faster at what? Please state the nature of the computational problem.

 

[Ruptga]

Well seeing as 996GT2 says that his 2.4 C2D spanks his 2.8 Athlon X2 and you're asking how a 1.86 C2D will do against a 2.0 Turion (which is an X2 plus some mobile enhancements), take a guess

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: Peter
Slower or faster at what? Please state the nature of the computational problem.

Mostly I'll be concerned about the speed of video encoding. Specifically, Divx/Xvid to MPEG-2. But I'll also be doing audio work, converting WAV-to-FLAC, to mp3, and editing audio in Adobe Audition.

 

[996GT2]

Originally posted by: hurtstotalktoyou

Originally posted by: Peter
Slower or faster at what? Please state the nature of the computational problem.

Mostly I'll be concerned about the speed of video encoding. Specifically, Divx/Xvid to MPEG-2. But I'll also be doing audio work, converting WAV-to-FLAC, to mp3, and editing audio in Adobe Audition.

AT Benchmark

This page is all you need to read really. You will see here that even the cheapest 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo E6300 outperforms or is on par with a 2.6 GHz Athlon X2 in video encoding.

Now, take 600 MHz away from the Athlon X2, and you basically have the Turion TL-60, since both are based on the K8 architecture. The Pentium Dual Core is just a Core 2 Duo with less cache, so it's performance is comparable to the desktop model with the same clock speed.

Obviously, a 2 GHz TL-60, which is the equivalent of an Athlon X2 3800+ in performance, has no chance against a Pentium DC T2390...

Now, if you want to talk synthetic benchmarks like SuperPi, the TL-60 has even less of a chance.

My 2.8 GHz Athlon X2 does SuperPi 1M in 29 seconds with fast DDR2 at 933 MHz CAS 4. My Thinkpad's 2.4 GHz T8300 does it in 19 seconds with generic laptop RAM...

 

[geokilla]

Oh my bad for the mistake. In that case, 100% go with the Pentium Dual Core. Like what 996GT2 said, it's faster than the Turion series. It's also more energy efficient as well.