Notebook Processors

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Last Updated: December 6, 2008

Today's Best Choice - 12 to 17 Inch Screens

The Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz, 1066MHz FSB) processor for notebooks will offers the best mix of high speed and low price.  It's part of the Intel Centrino 2 platform released in mid July that includes new minimum requirements such as mobile Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors with 1066MHz front side bus, 802.11n wireless, improved integrated graphics performance, support for faster DDR3 memory, and gigabit Ethernet.

Today's Best Choice - 8 to 10 Inch Screens

The Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor is the fastest processor for mini notebooks.  It's a small, low powered, single core processor that can handle Skype, web browsing, email, and basic office applications.  A 2.4GHz dual core processor is much faster, but there are times when the extra speed is not needed.

Rule of Thumb

The general rule of thumb is to purchase a processor three steps down from the top of line to get the best mix of low price and top performance.  If you had to spend $150 on options, then buy more memory, a faster hard drive, and/or a better video card rather than buying a faster processor.  I doubt I'll be able to tell the difference between a 2.4GHz and a 1.8GHz notebook unless I was rendering video or converting a batch of RAW (not JPEG) photos.

A notebook computer with

• 1.8GHz processor
• 2GB of RAM
• nVidia GeForce or ATI Radeon video card
• 7200rpm hard drive

will run faster than a notebook computer with

• 2.4GHz processor
• 1GB RAM
• Intel integrated video card
• 5400rpm hard drive

Recommended upgrade options for faster speed:

Start with 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 800MHz front side bus, 1GB RAM, 120GB 5400prm hard drive

1. 160GB, 5400rpm hard drive (speed increase for 5400rpm drives when you hit 160GB).
2. From 1GB RAM to 2GB RAM.
3. From Intel integrated video to nVidia GeForce or ATI Radeon video card.
4. From 800MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) to 1066MHz FSB to make the whole computer faster.
5. From less than 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo to 2.0GHz.
6. From 160GB, 5400rpm hard drive to any 7200rpm hard drive or 250GB or 320GB 5400rpm hard drive.
7. From 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo to 2.4GHz.

I high quality, high resolution screen should be a part of the upgrade process, but the screen options vary and not everyone can see extra small text on the highest resolution screens.  It's more subjective than the speed increases above.

History

• July 2008: The Intel Centrino 2 platform includes new minimum requirements such as mobile Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors with 1066MHz front side bus, 802.11n wireless, improved integrated graphics performance, support for faster DDR3 memory, and gigabit Ethernet.
• May 2008: The Intel Atom processor started to appear in netbooks.  It's a very low power, single core processor.
• January 2008: Intel Penryn shrinks the processor die from 65nm to 45nm yielding a slight speed increase and slight boost in battery performance with lower power requirements.
• May 2007: Intel's Core 2 Duo is updated to the Santa Rosa platform that enhances the Centrino components and adds new features like a 800MHz Front Side Bus.  Read more details.
• August 2006: Intel's Core 2 Duo (code named Memrom) is a 64-bit, dual core processor for notebook computers.  The processor shares the same name as the desktop version, but the laptop version offers more aggressive power savings.  Under a normal load using a battery, it runs faster, cooler and longer than the Core Duo.  Under a full load, it still gets as hot as the desktop version.  The processors run on a 533MHz, and then later, a 667MHz Front Side Bus.
• January 2006: Intel's Core Duo (code name Yonah) is a dual core processor for laptops that offer better performance and more battery life than a single core processor, according to AnandTech.com (Jan 2006).  Although dual core processors for desktops are 64-bits, Core Duo is 32-bit.  It's not a show stopper since most software is still 32-bit.  Core Solo is the version with a single core processor.
• May 2004: The next generation of the Pentium-M chip from Intel (code name Dothan) increase the L2 cache from 1GB to 2GB for increased performance.  It's also more battery efficient by offering a faster processor for the same amount of battery life.  Intel starting using model numbers for each type of processor, but the model numbers don't reveal how fast they run in GHz.  See this chart that shows how fast each model number will go.
• March 2003: Intel releases the Pentium-M (Centrino) to replace the Pentium 4-M.  It runs at slower GHz speeds, but runs applications faster.  It also had advanced power management that puts the processor to sleep hundreds of times a second when there is nothing for it to do.  Batteries now last 1-2 hours longer.  A 1.6GHz Centrino will go faster than a 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M.
• March 2003: Desktop Pentium 4 processors appear in notebook computers.  Anything faster than 2.4GHz is a desktop processor.  USB 2.0 High Speed (480Mbps) is now built in.
• March 2002: The Pentium 4-M processors were like their Pentium 4 counterparts for the desktop and suffered a 400-500MHz penalty when comparing them to a Pentium III.  This meant a Pentium III-M 1.2GHz ran the same speed as a Pentium 4-M 1.6GHz.
  
  PC World says, "It's a bit disappointing that the P4-M based system, running 500 MHz faster, merely kept pace with the PIII-M based unit, but the same thing happened when Intel introduced its P4 desktop processors."
• August 2001: The Pentium III-M was introduced that increased the bus speed from 100MHz to 133MHz.  This made everything on the computer run noticeably faster.
• Pre-August 2001: Intel Pentium III with SpeedStep technology was used to offer faster speeds when plugged into an electrical outlet and offer longer battery life by slowing down the processor when running on batteries.

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