X-bit labs

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

AMD Turion 64 Compared Against Intel Pentium M. The Clash of Mobile Titans Posted

Historically Advanced Micro Devices could not offer anything competitive enough with Intel mobile processors. However, due to fundamental changes in the chip architecture at AMD, the recently introduced AMD Turion 64 products seem to be viable alternative for Intel Centrino mobile platform from some perspectives.

Laptop Logic web-site has posted a review that compares performance and battery life of Acer TravelMate 8104 and Acer Ferrari 4005 laptops running Intel Pentium M 760 (2.0GHz) and AMD Turion 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz) microprocessors and equipped with similar 4800mAh batteries.

Based on performance results in 21 benchmarks as well as detailed architecture and feature-set analysis the web-site believes that “unless battery life while performing CPU-intensive tasks is paramount, choosing a Turion-based laptop over a Dothan-based laptop is recommended”. Still, Intel Pentium M processor based on the Dothan core has its own advantages, the web-site believes.

“When making your own decisions about platforms, it is important to keep in mind that there are few available Turion-based laptops compared to the countless Dothan-based laptops on the market. And even though Turion overall was superior, Dothan is no slouch either. Although the Pentium M lost most of the benchmarks, it trailed behind by a mere 5% or less most of the time. Its efficient architecture means that even when performing the most strenuous tasks, battery life is guaranteed to be long. x86-64 (64 bit) support is still not necessary, as a 32bit version of Microsoft Vista will also be released. Don’t feel pressured to choose Turion if the machine doesn’t have the features or options you want: Intel’s Pentium M processor will also satisfy most user’s needs very well,” Laptop Logic notes.

• Laptop Logic: Clash of the Titans: Dothan vs. Turion.

VIA Explains Hot to Use VIA PT880 PRO. Review of Gigabyte GA-8VT880P Combo Posted

While PCI Express and DDR2 SDRAM technologies are gaining popularity, some believe the market for transitional platforms still exists.

Transition to PCI Express x16 graphics cards and DDR2 memory is in the full swing: modern high-end systems definitely feature PCI Express graphics cards and powerful computers based on Intel central processing units usually support DDR2 memory as well. However, there are some enthusiasts who build computers themselves, would like to be able to use modern processors, but do not want to upgrade their memory or graphics cards. For those VIA Technologies offers its PT880 PRO chipset that supports both AGP 8x, PCI Express x16, DDR and DDR2, providing PC makers and end-users maximum flexibility.

Due to PT880 PRO’s multiple delays, only now first mainboards featuring the core-logic emerge on the market. Gigabyte GA-8VT880P Combo is among very few products that are available now.

In order to assist users in installation of the PT880 PRO in general and usage of GA-8VT880P Combo mainboard in particular, VIA Arena web-site, which is official technical support portal of VIA Technologies, has posted a review of the mainboard.

• VIA Arena: PT880Pro – Flexible Upgrading.