View Full Version : How is Centrino game performace?
How good are Centrinos at playing games? is there a P4 equivalent? or do p4s blow them out of the water...
i am also thinking about getting a dell 1.4ghz centrino lappy, but i'll just stick with the 32mb onboard video as i'm not forking over 200 bucks for a 9600.
i'd like to hear comments as well regarding performance. mostly what i'll be doing is general websurfing, music, and videos.
betterlife18
05-08-04, 07:39 PM
My uncle has a Pentium-M @ 1.4GHz (Centrino) in a Dell laptop and he says it blows his old 1.6 P4 (northwood) out of the water. That 1MB L2 cache apparently helps a great deal.
P-Ms are fast. We've got a bunch in the office. I find P-M 1.4s about equal to a P4 2.4. It's plenty fast for office apps.
I think for games the video card would make much more of a difference.
re: Dells: I'd suggest a Latitude over an Inspiron, better build quality.
i meant centrinos vs a 2.8C or something... cause i know a centrino has way better battery life, but how is the performance difference. also i don't think you can get a centrino with a 9700 while you can with a p4
doormat
05-08-04, 08:53 PM
They say a P4 2.4C = P-M 1.6, but it might be different with games (because of the larger cache on the P-M).
And the dothan reviews are probably going to tip up monday, so you'll definately know then. They are supposed to be released in 2G, 1.8G and 1.7G speeds, all with 2MB cache.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15176
that will be interesting...
chasingapple
05-09-04, 12:45 AM
I have seen gaming on a Pentium M 1.6Ghz and a Radeon 9600 64MB, it rocks.
This notebook (http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product.cfm?ProductType=3760)
doormat
05-09-04, 12:52 AM
Yea, the rate at which intel clocks up dothan will be interesting. Especially when they start to use P-Ms for desktops, probably ramp the FSB, dual channel DDR2, etc.
My roomate has a centrino lap-top. The only game he plays on it is silent storm, but it runs very well.
Originally posted by chasingapple
I have seen gaming on a Pentium M 1.6Ghz and a Radeon 9600 64MB, it rocks.
This notebook (http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/notebooks/product.cfm?ProductType=3760)
thats about the same price as a similarly equipped dell. i think i'd rather have a dell than a sager.
betterlife18
05-09-04, 02:57 PM
Some motherboard manufacturer MUST make an ATX motherboard with the i855 (centrino) chipset.... does anybody know of one?
doormat
05-09-04, 04:10 PM
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15384
betterlife18
05-09-04, 04:32 PM
Hmmmm.. I wonder which motherboard they use
Evilsizer
05-10-04, 11:20 PM
found this linky off of the inquirer.
http://www.lippert-at.com/index.php?id=21
At 1.2ghz it can be passively cooled. its an M-ITX board.
I have a Dell 600m with a Centrino 1.4 When it comes to gaming it does everything that my desktop does. I have to turn down the settings on the more intense games because of the inferior graphics card in the laptop witch is a 64mb Radeon 9000.
The Centrino's paired with Ati Mobility 9600pro's and Ati Mobility 9700's are great combinations for mobile gaming.
Intel likens the Centrino 1.4 to a P4 2.0, and a 1.6Centrino to a
P4 2.4, and the 1.7 Centrino to a P43.0
where can you get a centrino with a 9700? that would be interesting...
i don't think you can. i think the mobile 9600 is the best you can get at the moment. a little steep at 190 bucks extra.
i'll probably go with the 15.4 inch widescreen inspiron 8600.
if you want a gaming laptop you might want to look at the emachine that has the a64 3000+ with a ati 9600+ 64 meg. I think it might be the best price/performance ratio. That said I do have a 600m with ati 9000 with dual batteries. I have about 8 hours of battery life but with gaming drops to around 2 hours using full brightness and an optical mouse. I think the emachine at gaming can last around 2 hours with one battery and has better frame rates with the ati 9600+.
I can play cs and war3 without problems. But ut2k4 and battlefield is not playable meaning I wont be able to compete because of the low frame rates.
I know its been said before, but apparently it needs to be said again. Centrino is NOT the processor. Centrino is Intel's marketing name for the combination of a Pentium-M processor, Intel MB chipset, and Intel Wi-Fi. As desktop versions of Dothan (not "the new centrino") become available, this apparently perplexing distinction will become more important. Its like calling all AMD processors "Athlons", all Sony TVs "WEGA", or all food from McDonald's a "Happy Meal".
ok thats just what im calling it ok... i am quite aware that the Centrino is not the actual proessor and im sure Maxvla and the others do also.
liquidtrance123
05-12-04, 08:13 AM
from all the dell d600's and d800's i go through here at work, i see nothing be amazing things from the Pentium M / Centrino cpus
wait... "nothing be amazing"? did you mean nothing but amazing? so are you saying its good?
theflyingrat
05-12-04, 01:59 PM
Originally posted by Maxvla
i don't think you can. i think the mobile 9600 is the best you can get at the moment. a little steep at 190 bucks extra.
i'll probably go with the 15.4 inch widescreen inspiron 8600.
Dell offers the Pentium-4 along with a Mobility Radeon 9700 in two modes, as far as I know. The Mobility 9700 is far and away the best gaming card for laptop use.
There's the Inspiron 9100 and the Inspiron XPS. The XPS is available with a lot of nifty options and all, but it's just too pricey, in my opinion. The 9100, though, looks like a good buy, and if I needed a laptop to include gaming, I'd make a beeline for that model.
It doesn't look, though, as if they have any Pentium-M models with the 9700. I think the biggest advantage the P4 has over the P-M is sheer clock speed... that said, the aforementioned laptops are available in only 2.8GHz+ configurations, putting them a bit above 1.4 or 1.6 Pentium-M models.
And as for the Pentium-M itself, I think it's a ridiculously cool chip. I've got Inspiron 500ms, 600ms, and Latitude D600s that I support in this company, and everyone that has them likes them a lot. They're light, they get a ton of battery life for their relatively small battery packs, and they perform at least as well as I could hope. Now, I'm ordering 1.8 Dothan Latitude D600s, and I'm very anxious to get my mitts on them.
Pentium 4 and PentiumM are completely different... we are saying the Pentium M isn't available with a Mobility 9700 ;)
Evilsizer
05-12-04, 05:53 PM
Originally posted by stan03
Pentium 4 and PentiumM are completely different... we are saying the Pentium M isn't available with a Mobility 9700 ;)
why not look on ebay for one? i have seen a few for sell... not for sure though if it was the 9700....
cause not all laptops have the option to replace the graphics card... im not sure which ones that you can do that on... i can only think of alienware and maybe dell?
Originally posted by theflyingrat
Now, I'm ordering 1.8 Dothan Latitude D600s, and I'm very anxious to get my mitts on them.
dothan? those are already out? what is the difference between the current mobile chips and that one?
Evilsizer
05-12-04, 07:51 PM
Originally posted by Maxvla
dothan? those are already out? what is the difference between the current mobile chips and that one?
they have 2mb cache .09micron, and 533fsb. i could have swore they were adding HT but after looking at the inquirer they are not. the link was posted earlier.
Originally posted by Maxvla
dothan? those are already out? what is the difference between the current mobile chips and that one?
yup sure are:D like Evilsizer said they have more cache etc. unfortunately toms doesn't like it :(
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20040510/index.html
"Rome Wasn't Built In A Day, And Neither Was The Dothan"
doesn't look that great to me...
only 5% gain when you account for the clockspeed differential. they didn't say whether one ran hotter than the other. I'd like to see that.
i'm only going for the 1.4ghz p-m so it doesn't matter that the dothan can clock higher.
no. just the 32mb fx5200go or whatever nvidia calls it. the stock video card. the lappy isn't for gaming.
the only reason why I bought a dell was because I wanted dual batteries and a good discount. If you just want a pentium M laptop go some where else.
why... where would you go?
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