Centrino 2, really required?

I was just wondering how much a deal the new centrino 2 processors are for laptops compared to traditional core 2 duo ones.

 

not needed at all, just a brand name.

 

Centrino 2 is a platform. It still uses Core2Duo processors -- the difference is that you have the option of using DDR3 RAM and different wireless cards. The only difference in the processors themselves is that they have a slightly faster FSB (1066MHz rather than 800MHz).

 

Thanks for that.
Will centrino 2 greatly increase the battery life compared to core 2 duo ?

 

Here is how the labeling system works:

Centrino 2 = Core 2 Duo Processor + Intel Wifi Card + Intel Chipset
Core 2 Duo = Core 2 Duo Processor + Any brand wifi card + Any brand chipset

 

So no difference in battery life?
Because i have an centrino 2 laptop with 512MB Nvidia 9200GM dedicated graphics card on my mind to buy

 

No centrino or centrino 2 is like a package which contains a Core 2 Duo Processor, an Intel Wifi Card and a Intel Chipset.

 

Well depends, Centrino 2 by itself wont drastically improve battery life. If the difference between the Centrino 2 and the Core 2 Duo laptop is just the wifi and the rest of the devices are the same then practically no difference will be seen. However, if the Core 2 Duo laptop was using a different chipset than the Intel one used in Centrino 2 then there might a slight decrase in battery life. overall, however, other components like the CPU, GPU, screen tend to make a larger difference in the battery life than just the wifi. In most cases however the only difference between a Centrino 2 and a Core 2 Duo branded laptop would be the wifi and in such a case it doesnt matter what you choose. Typically intel wifi's are priced higher than competing ones.

 

I think DDR3 gets slightly lower batter life but it is hard to measure between laptops, I would not worry about it.

 

'they say' that more than 50% of a laptops power consumption is in CCFL backlighting.

Worrying about a watt here and there for chipsets, cpus, ram sticks, and hard drives isn't a real productive activity.

If you really want to extend battery life, get a laptop that uses LED backlighting. Dell says that 75% of their lappies will be LED backlight by years end, I'm assuming that the other major makers will follow suit.

Unfortunately, laptops that have LED backlighting also have small batteries to keep weight and cost down. So be aware of that when shopping around.

 

That depends on the activity of what you are doing. On a overall demanding application(say running a game), even low power CPUs can typically reach 40-50% of the total system power consumption. In comparison, screens use relatively consistent amount of power consumption.

I haven't seen much laptops not using Centrino labelling. When comparing Centrino to Centrino 2, there's always a difference. I honestly think they should have waited Centrino 2 labelling until Calpella, but this new name is here to stay imo.

 

I'd put more power consumption on the GPU than the CPU. Considering high end GPUs can put out max 75W vs. CPUs at 45W.

 

The Centrino 2 platform does not require DDR3, and only very specific Intel chipsets: the PM45 and GM45. You also need to have a 1066MHz FSB processor, and either DDR2-800 or DDR3-1066 RAM, and an Intel 5xxx wireless card.

 

Centrino 2 is just a name, it's only slightly more rapid than Centrino.

 

There is a significant difference in battery life in the new Centrino 2 chipsets. Even comparing apples to apples (e.g. P series CPUs at 25w TDP or less), the Centrino 2 will come out on top at least half an hour longer of battery life due to improvements in the GM/PM45 chipset and other components that are now becoming standard (LED backlighting). In addition to this, the memory performance of the GM/PM45 is significantly better than the Santa Rosa, and shows up as nearly an entire point increase in Windows Experience scores (although it is a rather crude benchmark, a point difference IS VERY significant statistically speaking). This is true even if you use the exact same RAM in both the SR and Montevina (e.g. DDR2-667 in the Montevina still will yield nearly an entire point increase in performance due to chipset memory handling improvements).

In the real world, these "statistically significant" improvements are still noticeable and very welcome unless you've never used a SR notebook, then there isn't a basis for comparison. It is too hard to compare apples to apples anyways because Montevina chipsets also use newer components all around (GPUs, Wifi etc etc) which both increase performance and decrease power draw.