- Joined
- Jun 8, 2002
- Location
- Isla Vista, CA
The "Centrino" package requires 3 things:
1. The Pentium M processor.
2. The i855m chipset.
3. The Intel 802.11b integrated wireless package.
While I do think the price premium for "Centrino" is a bit high, there are certain advantages. Such as the 802.11b wifi will shut itself down when not in use automatically instead of just searching constantly for wifi signals like normal wifi cards do (which wastes battery power).
The Pentium M is about as much a "distant relative" of the P3 as the K8 is a "distant relative" of the K7. In fact, I dare say there are more differences between Banias and the P6 core than between the K7 and K8 cores.
As with everything, performance depends on software. Trying running dynamic logic software with little to no data locality a larger than 6MB data set on an Itanium 2 vs a Pentium M and you'll see the IPC of that Itanium 2 crumble down. Try running POVRay on an Itanium 2 vs anything and you'll see whatever the competition is look like a distant looser.
Same goes for the Opteron. It does better with different types of code with different behavior than Banias. It seems particularly that applications that heavily use SSE2 run very poorly on Banias and only moderate on the K8. Yet try scalar integer software and Banias will probably surpass the IPC of an Opteron. So again, it all depends on what software you use.
1. The Pentium M processor.
2. The i855m chipset.
3. The Intel 802.11b integrated wireless package.
While I do think the price premium for "Centrino" is a bit high, there are certain advantages. Such as the 802.11b wifi will shut itself down when not in use automatically instead of just searching constantly for wifi signals like normal wifi cards do (which wastes battery power).
The Pentium M is about as much a "distant relative" of the P3 as the K8 is a "distant relative" of the K7. In fact, I dare say there are more differences between Banias and the P6 core than between the K7 and K8 cores.
As with everything, performance depends on software. Trying running dynamic logic software with little to no data locality a larger than 6MB data set on an Itanium 2 vs a Pentium M and you'll see the IPC of that Itanium 2 crumble down. Try running POVRay on an Itanium 2 vs anything and you'll see whatever the competition is look like a distant looser.
Same goes for the Opteron. It does better with different types of code with different behavior than Banias. It seems particularly that applications that heavily use SSE2 run very poorly on Banias and only moderate on the K8. Yet try scalar integer software and Banias will probably surpass the IPC of an Opteron. So again, it all depends on what software you use.
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