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View Full Version : Centrino vs Celeron M vs Celeron D


joemccrackin
11-26-2005, 08:45 PM
While shopping for a PC for my parents, I endeed buying 2 computers @ BestBuy. I bought an eMachines Celeron D 340 (2.93Ghz) desktop, a Toshiba Celeron M 370 (1.5Ghz), and I already own a Latitude D600 centrino (1.3Ghz).

I will only be keeping one of the computers and selling the other. It will be a no-gaming family PC for non-demanding applications. Which computer is better the eMachines, or the Toshiba? Also how will they compare to my current Dell Latitude? (Keep in mind, their RAM a trivial subject because I'm adding 512MB Corsair ValueSelect to the one I keep) Here are the Specs for all three:

Emachines Desktop ($150): Celeron D 340 (2.93Ghz), 256KB L2 cache, 533Mhz FSB, 256MB RAM, Chipset??, DVD/CD-RW drive, 5-in-one card reader, etc.

Toshiba Laptop ($380): Celeron M 370 (1.5Ghz), 1MB L2 cache, 400Mhz FSB, 256MB RAM, ATI Radeon Xpress 400M chipset, DVD/CD-RW drive, 15in display, 802.11g wireless, etc.

Latitude D600 ($1700 in 2003): Intel Centrino Pentium M (1.3GHZ), 1MB L2 Cache, 400Mhz FSB, 855 Centrino Chipset Family, 512MB RAM, integrated 802.11a/b/g wireless, DVD/CD-RW drive, 14.1in display, 10/100/1000 gigabit internet, etc.

So will the toshiba laptop beat out the emachine desktop in performance? Will the Celeron M really outperform it's desktop counterpart? It looks like the toshiba might do that. But I have a hard time believing that a new $380 celeron laptop will beat my 2.5 yr old $1700 centrino computer. If it wiil though, I might as well keep that too. I've reasearch everywhere and have a hard time comparing all the different and conflicting information.


Also, I realize that celerons have been branded as "crappy" due to their last generation counterparts. But after reading up it seems thay have had a sort of turnaround. I mean, the celeron M has the 1MB cache and the celeron D has the 256KB cache. they have also upgraded to deeper pipelines and .090 nm structure.

Are my assumptions about these new M and D celerons not being as crappy correct?

PS-the geek quad @ my best buy are ignorent and retarted. I gave up on trying to explain to them today that the centrino is a marketing term by intel to describe a package of the pentium m, an 855 or newer chipset and some kinda special integrated wireless. My thought's are that if the celeron in the laptop has better stats across the board vs. my 2.5 yr old pentium M...then the toshiba has the potential to outperfom the lattitude with equal RAM. Then again I may be dumb.

classicsoftware
11-26-2005, 09:53 PM
Everything you wanted to know about Centrino (http://news.com.com/Firefox+plans+mass+marketing+drive/2100-7344_3-5972089.html?tag=html.alert) but were afraid to ask.

You are quite correct about Centrino. It is not a processor, It is a combination of things that use less energy and preserve battery life. You are also correct about the Geek Squad at Best Buy. I wouldn't use the word retarded, let's just say, less than knowledgeable.

I personally run and hide when I see E-machines. They are very low quality PC's that are usually under powered and use low quality parts. I like Toshiba, but I am always leery of $400.00 laptop......



And one more thing,

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif forums.

saphalline
11-27-2005, 02:26 AM
These are not easy questions to answer in a timely manner. This delves deep into CPU microarchitectures and complex terms. I won't give you the detailed explanation of everything, but I can tell you the end results.

The Celeron D will outperform the other two in SSE-enhanced apps, like music/video compression/decompression, and other content creation programs.

The Celeron M & Pentium M will trade blows because they are so close together. If I had to pick a reigning champ for performance, I'd pick the Celeron M (due to the Dothan core revision). But for overall laptop functionality, I'd pick the Pentium M (because of its better chipset/platform and the Celeron M's lack IST/EIST).

If you're really into laptops, however, consider the fact that Yonah is on its way! Within about 6 months or so, and it will blow away every other laptop CPU out there!