Atom D525 vs Su core 2 duo and/or i3 i5 um cpu's.

As most of you probably already have read, the new cpu in the asus 1215 will be the 1.8 ghz dual core atom D525. I would like to know if you guys have any idea how this cpu will perform compared to intels low voltage processors (so the SU and i3/i5 um cpu's).
The reason why I ask this is quite simple: the current 12-13 inch laptops with low voltage cpu's (like the asus u and sony y series) are ideal for taking notes in class and have a long battery life. But taking notes and watching modest videos is all you can do with them since they usualy have integrated graphics, while the price remains around the 7-800 euros.

When you take a look at the asus netbooks with ION like the asus 1201n, you can even play games like modern warfare. The 1201n has a dual core cpu of 1.6 ghz. I'm not sure if that cpu is better than the current intel low voltage cpu's, but with asus bringing out a netbook with a 1.8 ghz dual core cpu one starts to wonder how these cpu's compare to each other.

If the atom cpu's are close in performance I see no reason why one would buy a laptop with a low voltage cpu, which probably has way weaker graphics than the asus netbooks with nvidia ION, and costs way more (7-800 euros for a laptop compared to +-450-500 euros for a netbook) except for the shorter battery life of the netbooks.

 

My main concern would be battery life, and that's not a strong suit for the ION netbooks so far... like, at all.

EDIT: And I believe with all my soul, that the absolute lowest i-series would blow the Atom out of the water.

 

The current 1201n still got 4-5 hours which is something I can live with, and since it can play modern warfare with a 1.6ghz dual core atom cpu I would expect the new D525 to be decent enough for daily tasks, but since I haven't tried working on any low voltage cpu or one of the atom cpu's I have no idea what to expect when working with word, acces, excell, Spss & paws (both statistical programs which do calculations based on entered data), youtube, etc.

 

Well, the Asus Eee 1215N does feature switchable graphics so it should give some extra minutes of portability.
And like XGX2007 mentioned, Intel C2D and i-series CULV are way more powerful that Intel Atom.

 

You can get Core 2 ULV notebooks such as the HP DM3 which are configurable with Discrete graphics in this case the G105m which would perform similarly to the 9400m found in the ion chipset.

 

Can you (or anyone) specify how big the difference really is? I read many people are already discontent with intel core 2 duo low voltage processors, I can't imagine what they would say about those atom cpu's then.

The hp dm3 is indeed a very good bargain, but I can't work with the mirror touchpad, it drives me crazy (much like the current touchpad of the asus 1201n with its litle round bumps makes it a living hell to work with).
If the asus 1215n or the 1218 will also have such bad touchpads I would gladly forget about ion and just go with a decent sony vaio y, eventhough i'd have to live with +-4 hours of battery life and integrated intel graphics...

 

A dual core Atom CPU is pretty much equivalent to a 4-5 year old Pentium D processor. The CULV and i5/i7UM processors are much more modern.

http://cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Atom+D525+%40+1.80GHz

Edit: Nevermind about the Pentium D thing, just check out that list and this one for comparison. The benchmark isn't the best, but it is the only thing we have to compare this many CPUs.

http://cpubenchmark.net/mid_range_cpus.html

 

best performance for the mobile laptop:

i7-680UM
1.33GHz turbo boost 2.53GHz(single core)
18W

$305

 

yes.. this is the one but the 640UM is more common... but IMO , even acer timelines with regurlar powered i series CPU have great battery life with switchable graphics... it really depends upon ur needs.. whether u want more and more battery life or ur happy with good battery life of 5hrs ++...

 

A few D525 disadvantages compared to a ulv Core i:

• The integrated graphics
• In order execution
• No L3 Cache
• No Speedstep or idle states
• 45nm

The D525 will be fine for daily tasks, but video/photo editing and cpu intensive tasks will get accomplished much quicker with a Core 2 or Core i ulv.

 

I only understand the 1st of those 5 advantages

 

The 1215n is actually going to have ion 2, which is based off the NVidia 310M, not the 9400M.

 

Asus ul30vt/jt has core2duo culv/i5/7ulv. It also has Nvidia G210/310.

 

• The first is obviously going to be the sucky GMA3150.
• The second (IOE) is not going to benefit processor intensive tasks, because the processor can only deal with one instruction set at a time. Granted it is dual core w/HT but OOE (out of order execution) is usually always better for any type of elevated tasks. The Atom D525 is an IOE architecture.
• L3 cache is cache that is usually shared between your two or more cores, which only gives more performance. D525 has none.
• SpeedStep and Idle States are Intel power optimizations that work REALLY well at delivering better battery life. Those two can mean the difference in 3hr battery life or a 6hr battery life. D525 doesn't feature either of those.
• 45nm is your lithography process, basically how small the transistors are on the chip. The smaller the process, the cooler running, and less power draw the chip will take. Currently Intel is moving the whole line to 32nm, with Sandy Bridge, and eventually transitioning the line to 22nm before the end of the Sandy Bridge life-cycle codenamed "Ivy Bridge". D525 is 45nm and will be it's whole life cycle.
• Really the only thing I can think of that's really new with the D525 is DDR3 memory support.

 

My guesstimate: Atom D525 at 1.8Ghz performs like a Core 2 Duo at 1.0Ghz.

Around 750 Passmark points.
PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs

 

Thanks, atleast now I have an idea. I didn't expect the atom to be this bad though.
Knowing myself as an impatient person and a 'slow pc hater', I think I'll rather get a laptop with a low voltage cpu for a couple hundred euros more and save myself future headaches.

 

You could put something over the touchpad to make it textured as most touchpads still work with a thin covering over them.

 

Some benchmarks of N525.

WPrime 32 83 seconds

For comparison my SU4100 got 69 seconds.

More CPUs: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

 

i dont know about dual core atom.. but whenever i'm on my dad's 2 year old single core atom netbook, i get "roadrage"

 

You should also consider the bang/buck.
A netbook with a N525 should cost about 450-500€ when it is available. For the same price you can get a SU4100 or even an SU7300 based notebook, if you don't need more than an X4500MHD...if you do you can get several SU7300 or even SU9400 based 13" notebooks, with a HD4330 currently for about 600€.
Those will eat any netbook alive in any aspect...

 

I'm not really sure if X4500MHD would be sufficient for my needs, but if it can play youtube video's and watch movies in full screen with wmp it would be enough.
Also, can you specify which notebooks around the €600 price range have a ulv cpu? The cheapest one I could find was an asus ul20 (or ul30, not sure anymore) for €650 euros, which was a month ago but those disapeared from the market here.

 

11.6" Acer 1830 550 euros with Intel Core i3 330UM
Acer Aspire TimelineX 1830T-33U2G25N | Hardware.Info Nederland

Stock seems to be running out quick.

 

The X4500 is more than enough for youtube and videos, it can do it up to 1080p (theoretically, I've never tried it). But if you want to be on the safe side you can choose from these: ( Cyberport.de - Computer, Notebooks, Fernseher, Apple, Handys & Digitalkameras)
- UL30VT - 630€
- 3810T with 3G modem - 605€
They will send them to NL and BE for 4,99 extra.

All the stuff with X4500 is much much cheaper, there are some Ideapads from about 300€, if you only need a secondary computer.

 

Keep in mind that German keyboards are different to US/International. Belgians usually go for Azerty keyboards, different again.

 

Its not that bad, I'm not German native but you can get used to it. By the way they are qwertz layout, and its based on the UK english, with the big enter and small left or right shift.

 

Thx for the tips, both the asus ul30vt and acer 1830t seem like a good bargain. I know those laptops were being sold but here in Belgium they are way behind the normal laptop releas dates. But since i'm not so comfortable buying from web stores (I prefer buying in an actual store, so when there's something wrong, you can instantly drive over there instead of waiting for a courir to pick up your laptop), I think i'll just take a drive to the Netherlands (20-30 mins and i'm over the border ^^) and just try to work with the qwerty keyboards.

 

I was in the same boat as you all but I could not wait for a good atom system to come out so I was able to get a ul30vt for a great deal. I wanted a 12in laptop but 13 in works just fine for me. This system has all the power it needs for me to watch 1080p x264 movies on the intel vid card or on the nvidia card. even when the system is running at 1gig it still able to do this with out any problems. I like this system alot. I have been able to get about 5hr battery life with wifi and bt being on

 

A year ago I got a Samsung X360 which is a 13.3" ultraportable with the SU9400 ULV c2d 1.4ghz, 128gb ssd and 4gb ddr3. I'm still very happy with it and it'll do 5 hours on the battery easily. I think an Atom D525 would be sufficient for ultraportable/netbook use, but I'd only get that over a ULV SU C2D cpu if BOTH the battery life were significantly better and the laptop was super thin and light (more so than even the X360). However price wise the Atom dual core should be significantly cheaper than an SU C2D. Mine was very expensive when I purchased it a year ago.