Techno moron requesting help

[niksp84]

Hi.

Im planning to buy a notebook.

Right now im trying to decide between an

AMD athlon - 2.2 ghz - fujitsu seimens.

P4 - 2.6 ghz - toshiba.

The Athlon laptop is at least 219$ cheaper.

I have a couple of questions.

1) How would a 2.2 ghz athlon laptop measure up to a 2.2 P4 laptop. Ive been surfing the net trying to figure this out. I keep coming across terms such as overclocking that i don't really understand. In layman terms what would the difference be like?. Also, would the performance of the P4 2.6 be MUCH better than the Athlon one.


2) How reliable is an Athlon notebook?. Is there any technical reason that athlon's are so much cheaper than P4's?. Would it be able to run programs such as Windows XP, games as well as a P4 would?.

3) Which one would you recommend i buy?. I don't need to run any big programs etc. I might ocassionaly play some games. ( Would it be a problem to run certain games because of the difference of processor?).

Thanks!!.

[rangeral]

Performance wouldn't be a major difference, an athlon will do or run any app as well as an intel, I'd do a search for reviews of those laptops on google to get feedback about those brands. If money is an issue than the amd would be the way to go but again check feedback, cnet.com has alot of reviews.

[Midknyte]

2200+ or actual 2.2GHz? you gotta watch that. AMD uses "PR" ratings to compare the performance to a P4.

I would go with Intel, anyways. Toshiba is definitely a better brand.

DO NOT OVERCLOCK A LAPTOP! laptops are not designed to dissipate the extra heat. I doubt the bios would have the settings to do it in the first place.

The games will run on either one, but make sure to look at the graphics chipset that comes with the laptop. laptops aren't really made to be super gaming machines.

[stix_kua]

Originally posted by Midknyte
2200+ or actual 2.2GHz? you gotta watch that. AMD uses "PR" ratings to compare the performance to a P4.

No they don't, it is to compare Athlon XPs to Athlons.

I would go with Intel, anyways. Toshiba is definitely a better brand.

Not necessarily....Toshiba had some very bad motherboard issues lately. Fujitsu is great tooo. I have several friends who use them daily and it works perfectly and they are actually very sweet machines.

DO NOT OVERCLOCK A LAPTOP! laptops are not designed to dissipate the extra heat. I doubt the bios would have the settings to do it in the first place.

First accurate statement...

The games will run on either one, but make sure to look at the graphics chipset that comes with the laptop. laptops aren't really made to be super gaming machines.

Unless you buy from Alienware.

[Midknyte]

http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/index.html

The Athlon xp 3200+ is supposed to be compared to a P4 3.2GHz, etc.

Dunno about your Toshibas, but I've had good luck with them. :confused:

Here's another link:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=1207

[Slade54]

Yes, its true, the PR rating on AthlonXPs are not supposed to be used as a comparison to Pentium 4.

But most people seem to forget that because it does in fact work very well as a guide for comparing to the P4. Well, at least until you get into the top of the line. There the PR ratings are too high to be used to compare to a P4. That is, the 3200 isnt quite on par with a 3.2 P4.

And the AMD laptop is simply cheaper mostly because AMD sells their processors at a much lower price then Intel.

Official AMD Mobile 2200+ price- $91
Offical Intel Pentium 4 2.2 price- $241

As you can see, AMD is quite a bit cheaper. The the performance rating is a good indicator for relative performance to a P4.

[niksp84]

Thanks for all the replies!!.

How reliable are they as compared to a P4?.

Are there any big disadvantages of having an athlon processor in your notebook?.

I am certain that the speed is 2.2 Ghz.

Essentially all i need is a laptop that would help me in college. Any speed above 2 ghz would be fine. I need to be sure however that the laptop will function properly and that i wont suffer because i choose an Athlon as opposed to a P4.

Thanks again.

[x51out]

If I were you, I'd opt for the Athlon based Fujitsu/Siemens. Always AMD, remember that. At a savings of $200, even more so. What you should look at is how much RAM is installed on each machine. Siemens is a very big german electronics company and make RAM chips as well... I wonder if they'd add morre RAM to their lagtops? Hmm. Anyhow, there IS a disadvantage to buying a P4 based lagtop: paying $200+ MORE for it. You could use the cash to add more RAM, for example. Or buy all those ultra expensive books at the campus bookstore :rolleyes:

[Ammok]

If you buy Intel all the virigins at your local college will sleep with you, if you buy the Athlon you got some money to buy em a meal first.LOL.:D

[x51out]

I find sluts are better than virgins. WAY better ;)

[Ammok]

If you buy Intel, all the virgins at your college will sleep with you, if you buy the Athlon, you can give the money to X51out so he can get himself a proffesional, might even be enough there for two.LOL.:D

[x51out]

I could get four $50 hookers. That is alot of skank :x

[niksp84]

LOL.

now getting back to my questions .. hehe

Would a user find any difference between a 2.2 athlon and a 2.2 P4. As in would it make a difference while running a operating system such as Win Xp?.

Would DivX movies work just as good on a AMD?.


Thanks!!

[x51out]

An Athlon running at 2.2 ghz is much faster than a P4 running at 2.2 ghz. Rule of thumb. Equal clockspeed, AMD faster, or should I say, better performance.

[niksp84]

Thanks x51out.

Im starting to lean towards AMD.

Just a few more questions.

- I heard that Athlon has problems of overheating. Is this true.

- When you say a 2.2 AMD is actually faster than a 2.2 Intel P4. How much so( in terms of ghz if possible)

- Any disadvantages with the Athlon?

Thanks!!

[x51out]

Look, the way I see it, you've bombarded with pro-intel and anti-amd propaganda for a few years now. So you are sceptical. My wife has an older Pentium 3 / 800 mhz Compaq laptop. If she leaves it on all day, it gets hot. If she USES it all day, it gets REAL hot. You want to hear something bad about AMD, but I can't give it to you.

[Midknyte]

if it is a true 2.2GHz, then the athlon is a better deal. a 2200+ actually runs at 1.8GHz. that's why i was asking if you are sure it's really 2.2GHz.

[bushmaster]

Would DivX movies work just as good on a AMD?.

Intel is the better multi-media CPU.

[x51out]

Only per benchmark. And then, I'd have to actually see a side-by-side comparision of the two to actually believe it. You wouldn't know it just by watching a movie.

[stix_kua]

Originally posted by Midknyte
http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/index.html

The Athlon xp 3200+ is supposed to be compared to a P4 3.2GHz, etc.


You're still wrong man....THG is nto 105% factual. They try to be...


Dunno about your Toshibas, but I've had good luck with them. :confused:


A close friend had the newer toshiba laptops and it wne t bad one night.. the motherbaord had fried and killed itself and CPU....it overall had cooling problems and didn't run effiexcntly, parts just kept going bad.


Here's another link:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=1207
How much BS have you been fed in your lifetime?

[stix_kua]

Originally posted by bushmaster
Would DivX movies work just as good on a AMD?.

Intel is the better multi-media CPU.

Not in the real world, they are equals...

[niksp84]

Thanks for all the replies.

I dont see the point in spending an extra 200$ for a processor that is just as good,

So AMD it is.

Thanks again