Intel centrino duo processor - able to handle software?

Hey,

I was wondering how you determine if a laptop, powered by an intel centrino duo processor e.g 1.66ghz, is able to handle certain software such as games. Iam askign this question as i have never seen software requiremnets state the requirements for the processors in "duo" terms they usually say stuff such as pentium 4 2.0ghz or higher so i was wondering if there is a way for you to determine if your laptop's duo processor could handle the software?

Thanks

Grant

 

Centrino is nothing more than a marketing scheme for Intel. (Intel Chipset+Internal Wifi+CoreDuo/Solo Processor). Core Duo is basically 2 processor cores on the die, and destroys the P4's of yesteryear. Way to check benchmarks is this; http://www.srtest.com/referrer/srtest

 

Thanks for the help mate, but havent bought a laptop yet. Was wondering if there is any kind of rough guide you can use?

Thanks

 

Hmm, there is one pretty roundabout way to compare.
First, you take the speed in GHz of the Pentium M/Centrino/Core Duo(or Solo), and look up an Athlon 64 at the same speed. Then you look at the Athlon 64's product rating.

For example, a 2GHz Athlon 64 is labelled 3200+, which means it corresponds to a Pentium 4 running at 3.2 GHz.

And Intel's mobile CPU's are *roughly* as efficient per mhz as an Athlon 64.

Other than that, an easier way is to just look up a benchmark online. Every time a CPU comes out, there are plenty of tests and benchmarks made, comparing it to everything else on the market.

However, generally speaking, everything you buy today can run any software. When they list requirements, they're not actually requirements, and the software will run on a slower CPU, although it might be a bit slow.
Moreover, a new CPU will live up to any requirements you can find. I'm not aware of any software that "requires" more than a ~2.5GHz Pentium 4, which is easily matched by any other processor.

So basically, the best guide to use is "don't worry about it", and when that fails, look up benchmarks online.

 

much appreciated bud,

thanks for your help!

Grant

 

what he said. your more likely to not have enough oomp in the video card or RAM than to not have enough processing power.

 

Cheers mate

 

my 1.6 CD handles games with 2.0ghz requirements with great aplomb. I have zero issues gaming or heavey multitasking. If you do alot of hardcore gaming then of coures youll want the fastes but the 1.6 will fit the bill too.

 

Well from what I understand the 1.66 Core Duo is about equivalent to a 3.2GHZ P4 w/ HT in the desktop form. since system requirements are usually based off desktop processors speeds and the mobile ones are more efficient? or something like that :> so your 1.66 is really like a 3.2GHX P4 w/HT

 

Also bear in mind that since your Core Duo has two cores, once more games and apps start taking advantage of the second core you'll see even greater increases. Games like Oblivion and in particular Quake 4 are starting to show pretty significant boosts for dual core CPUs, so in these programs (which will be ten a penny in a few years) your Core Duo will be more like a 4ghz -5ghz+ P4 depending on how well the program is coded.

 

well lets just say that my 1.6 Core duo benchmarked slightly better then my OC'd 3.2ghz HT @3.45ghz. As well as real world performance is MUCH better. I can multitask MUCH better without loss in system response...but I still cant wait for a cpu and ram upgrade.

 

Yeah, don't compare clock speed of a core duo to the P4 netburst speed requirements of some software. If it can run on athlons and P4s, then it can run on core duo.