More Intel Core 2 Duo News

[Boogieman117]

10 things you need to know about Intel's Core 2 Duo (aka "Conroe")
06.29.06

This summer, Core 2 Duo is coming to a PC near you—and it's fast. Lead analyst Joel Santo Domingo dishes on what Conroe is—and isn't—all about.

Total posts: 8


By Joel Santo Domingo

1. Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme will be the fastest processors available. Faster than the Pentium EE, thanks to new techniques like Smart Cache and Wide Dynamic Execution—and, according to preliminary results, faster than the AMD FX62.
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2. Core 2 Duo overtakes the Pentium as the name in processors. Farewell Pentium: There will never be a Pentium 5, 6, or XX. A brief moment of silence, please.

3. For the first time, Intel has specifically created one unified Core architecture for all categories: Conroe (desktops), Merom (notebooks), and Woodcrest (workstation/servers). All are based on Intel's Core technologies, and all three are 64-bit-capable dual-core processors with shared enhancements.

4. All three variations (Conroe, Merom, and Woodcrest) will provide more computing power and use less energy. This will help laptops extend their battery life. It will also enable system builders to come out with thinner desktops and workstations, since lower energy means less heat, which results in fewer fans hogging case space.

5. Expanding on that, lower power also means that the fans used will be slower, so your system will be quieter. With more PCs landing in the living room or in quiet dens, "quiet" is more important than ever.

6. Core 2 Duo is, for now, engineered to drop right into some current Pentium D/EE (LGA775) motherboards (with some BIOS/Firmware updates). This will make upgraders happy—especially those who bought the latest and greatest PC last summer—and system manufacturers, who don't need to buy a bunch of different parts (and won't have to learn the intricacies of a new socket)—yet.

7. Multitasking moves to the next level. With Core 2 Duo's virtualization technology, you can turn one physical PC into several virtual systems, all running different applications and OSs. For example, theoretically you could run an FTP server on one, a Web server on another, have a database running on a third, and still be playing a game or surfing on a fourth. This is a boon for developers who want to keep "clean" virtual machines running.

8. Today, only business PCs have the TPM 1.2 protection chip built in. With Core 2 Duo, all PCs will be protected. TPM (Trusted Platform Module) protects your passwords, logons, and personal data at a hardware level from hackers, spyware, and identity thieves.

9. About the lame code-naming convention: Conroe, Merom, and Woodcrest don't exactly call to mind "speed" or "kickin' performance." Intel's desktop and workstation CPU design offices are in Oregon, California, and Texas, so it makes sense that the towns of Conroe (Texas) and Woodcrest (California) are represented in Intel's code names. And Merom? That's an ancient lake in Israel, so two guesses where the laptop chips are engineered.

10. When can you get one? Intel wants its Core 2 Duo processors in systems within a few weeks of the official launch, which rumor mills have as the last week of July. Look for systems in early August.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1983842,00.asp

Benchmarks:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1985021,00.asp

Wonder if my 8790 can take a new Core 2 Duo chip... I'm sure that would solve the heat problem. :)

[tennisplayer121]

Sweetness, I already knew a lot of that, but I am really looking forward to this processor. I will probably buy it and install it in my S96J the summer of 07, when I will actually have money again.

[FTLOSM]

When do you guys/gals think we will see major notebook companies releasing notebooks with core 2 duo in them?

Anyone sites that have a core 2 duo preorder option at this time?

I wonder how much the same model laptop with a core duo vs a core 2 duo will be price wise between the two (if both are available on that same system) or do you think everything inside is also being reworked (new MB etc).

Reason I ask is I have been waiting to order a new laptop for a few weeks now, keep thinking just hold out a bit and core 2 duo's will be out, not waiting on Vista or anything, and am not a gamer but I do alot of video editing and music editing plus photoshop and such so I figured the c2d would really help in those respects...

Now just to find out when they will start appearing in notebooks like Dell, Fujitsu, Asus, Alienware etc....

[Storm PCs]

When do you guys/gals think we will see major notebook companies releasing notebooks with core 2 duo in them?

Anyone sites that have a core 2 duo preorder option at this time?

I wonder how much the same model laptop with a core duo vs a core 2 duo will be price wise between the two (if both are available on that same system) or do you think everything inside is also being reworked (new MB etc).

Reason I ask is I have been waiting to order a new laptop for a few weeks now, keep thinking just hold out a bit and core 2 duo's will be out, not waiting on Vista or anything, and am not a gamer but I do alot of video editing and music editing plus photoshop and such so I figured the c2d would really help in those respects...

Now just to find out when they will start appearing in notebooks like Dell, Fujitsu, Asus, Alienware etc....

A few more days at most. I have two new laptops for sale with Core 2 T7400's in them if you're interested.:thumbup:

[FTLOSM]

You think Dell and Alienware sites will start showing Core 2 Duo processors in their laptops as options within a few days?

I figured it would be a month or so at the earliest, been looking at the Alienware Sentias and the Dell xps lines yet haven't jumped in just yet (was waiting on merom c2d).

[j_brownch]

According to this article, we should start seeing them next week...

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2006986,00.asp

[Steddy Teddy]

You think Dell and Alienware sites will start showing Core 2 Duo processors in their laptops as options within a few days?

I figured it would be a month or so at the earliest, been looking at the Alienware Sentias and the Dell xps lines yet haven't jumped in just yet (was waiting on merom c2d).

I mentioned in another thread that I saw the Merom mentioned on the same page as the Dell Outlet (US) a couple of days ago. It wasn't on the page for new system configuration for some reason though. Someone else said they saw the Merom listed on the page for new system configuration on Dell's Canadian web site.

It was pulled off both sites after a couple of days. Perhaps they were just doing some prerelease testing on the web sites and hopefully the Merom will be available shorty for new system configuration.

[Storm PCs]

Who you calling shorty?:laughing:

Well, after testing for a couple of weeks and from what others "in the know" have mentioned to me recently, there may be a bit of a delay in the official release of Merom.

The problem is in the cooling. Yes, the Merom is much more energy efficient (even more than the Yonah) but it is also a much more powerful CPU. Because of this the Merom needs better cooling than the Yonah. I think many OEMs thought the cooling they used for the Yonah would be fine for the Merom, and that all they needed to do was a BIOS revision. This is not the case IMO. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the OEMs are working on more capable cooling before the release.

When running my Acer 5672 with a T7400 at 100% CPU utilization on both cores (even without stressing the X1600) the stock cooling is not adequate and the system will shut down due to excessive heat. This only happens during extreme number crunching. I have not been able to cause the machine to shut down during video games or 3D benches, probably because the GPU is such a limiting factor.

I am sure they'll be shipping within a month or less though.:D

[hyefly]

http://www.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/notebooks?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

duo 2 is available now.

[msindi]

when will they be available on IBM/Le Novo?
About to start my MBA and since I need to invest in a laptop, would rather wait a few weeks for the latest processor

[hyefly]

I put one together for purchase and it gave me a ship date of sept 28th, dont know if thats the actual ship date however.

[msindi]

Which model was that for? Just tried speccing a T60 again but no core 2 duo option :(

[hyefly]

isnt that a IBM? I'm talking about dell only, that I know of.

[msindi]

Thanks fgor the clarification...thought you meant IBM

[HawtMonkey]

http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m5550/area-51m_overview.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51M5550-R3&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Alienware has one too.

[NEX_SASIN]

Codename Conroe is a version for PC, and Memron is laptops version, which cn be found on Alienwares laptop by now, sure thang. The cost for me seems increased up to 30%. You can get a Core 2 Duo laptop with USD1,300 (i think) I just bought my Core Duo laptop which i now happy with, my next laptop will sure based on Turion X2 for 3D gaming. :)

[pinesol]

I happened to come across this statement by google search. Would you care to comment on it?


From: BMonroe(nospam) - view profile
Date: Sun, Aug 27 2006 7:39 pm
Email: "BMonroe(nospam)" <"BMonroe(nospam)"@cfl.rr.com>
Groups: comp.laptops, comp.sys.laptops
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Actually, there have already been some benchmarks comparing the notebook
version of Core 2 Duo (Merom; the desktop version was Conroe) with
current chips, and there is very little difference between the notebook
Core 2 Duo and the current laptop versions of Core Duo. Only about 3%
performance difference, and virtually no difference in power
consumption. I don't have the link, but it was in this newsgroup about
3 weeks ago.

[Storm PCs]

I happened to come across this statement by google search. Would you care to comment on it?

Those benchmarks are flawed IMO, although it is true that most people will see little to no practicle improvement in performance. This is also the case with desktops though. Most web-surfing IM maniacs won't be able to tell the difference between a 3300+ Sempron and an FX-62 in their browsing and word processing duties. The Core 2 Duo is not made for these people though, it's for those who want the most CPU power available in a laptop.

The fact that you may see only a 3 to 10 percent increase in video game framerates is neither here nor there. Laptops (while many of them are very capable of running games well) are not designed to be gamers, or even high powered number crunchers. The space limitations make it much harder to cool high performance hardware.

If you want to compare the Core 2 Duo with other CPUs (and have it be meaningful) you need to look at the efficiency. Most people who use their laptops on batteries notice a large performance hit compared to running on AC. I can tell you from my experience with the T7400 Meroms that there is no noticible difference in responsiveness when the multiplier shifts to 6x (from the normal 13x). The amount of power these CPUs have compared to the power they require to operate is nothing short of incredible. The Yonah is very good in this respect as well, but not in the same class as the Merom.

The benchmarks you've seen now are from less than reputable sources to say the least, and they are basically desktop benchmarks in most cases. The meaningful benchmarks will come when the machines with Meroms are officially released and compared based on criteria that is actually applicable to laptops.:dance2:

[Boogieman117]

3 days ago, ExtremeTech did a pretty good review of a Merom computer here.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2008721,00.asp

Just some of the highlights:
Prices of Yonah CPU's vs. Merom CPU's.
Core Duo (Yonah) Price (Per 1,000 Units)
T2300, 1.66GHz $241
T2400, 1.83GHz $241
T2500, 2.0GHz $294
T2600, 2.16GHz $423
T2700, 2.33GHz $637
Core2 Duo (Merom) Price (Per 1,000 Units)
T5500 1.66GHz, 2MB L2 $209
T5600 1.83GHz, 2MB L2 $241.
T7200, 2.0GHz, 4MB L2 $294
T7400, 2.13GHz, 4MB L2 $423
T7600, 2.33GHz, 4MB L2 $637



The 2 test laptops: T2600 (Yonah) and T7600 (Merom)
The ASUS Z96J

Component Model
Processor Intel Core Duo T2600 or Core2 Duo T7600
Chipset Intel Mobile 945 Chipset
Memory 1GB DDR2/667
Hard Drive 80GB Hitachi 7200RPM SATA
Display 15.4-inch, 1650x1080 wide screen
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon X1600
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2
Weight 6lbs, 12oz

http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/14/0,1425,i=145454,00.gif
http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/util_get_image/14/0,1425,i=145455,00.gif

Enjoy.

[Jeff Flowerday]

Cool, you can see that the GFX card became the bottle neck at higher resolutions. Too bad they didn't use a 7900GTX with 512 it would have been great to see those comparisons.

[Storm PCs]

Yeah, but again it is a mobile CPU, not a Nintendo.

This review (really a preview) is the best I've seen yet, but it's still got some problems. Their numbers pretty much coincide with what I have found though. The least they could do is use consistant terminology. If you're gonna have barcharts with side-by-side comparisons and refer to the T7600 as Merom you should refer to the T2600 as Yonah, not Core Duo.:laughing:

[DoubleDown]

werent the test that showed little to no difference based on early engineering samples or something, i hear the retail chips have improved efficiency and speed.

[Samus_Aran_Phzn]

mostly power consumption was improved

[Storm PCs]

DoubleDown (http://www.notebookforums.com/member.php?u=81125) and Samus_Aran_Phzn (http://www.notebookforums.com/member.php?u=83499)...

You're both sorta right, but not really.

The newer steppings do have improvements, but they are not faster. The previews you have read are just not very well done or complete. Yes, the power consumption is improved, but they still use more power than Yonah when not on batteries. The thing is that the Merom is so powerful that even when it's on batteries it is very snappy.

Merom is a huge improvement over Yonah, which is saying a lot since Yonah was the fastest laptop CPU prior to Merom. Core 2 Duo is king, whether you are running a desktop or a laptop. AMD has some catching up to do.

[Chodorovski]

i'm so excited to se what these bad-boys can do :D

[Roger Gustavsso]

Wonder if my 8790 can take a new Core 2 Duo chip... I'm sure that would solve the heat problem. :)

I have no problem with the cpu overheating. The overheating gpu is the weak point in the 8790! Will a Core 2 Duo fit a 478 socket?

Roger Gustavsson

[RyuKenLi]

I'm parting out my AMD desktop to get a Conroe. Intel to Amd to Intel, back and forth. =(

[Xarizol]

i just got a 5673 acer core duo laptop will i be able to upgrade the proceseor to a core 2 duo? or am i stuck with the simple plain core duo processor and if i can change how much will it cost?

[Storm PCs]

i just got a 5673 acer core duo laptop will i be able to upgrade the proceseor to a core 2 duo? or am i stuck with the simple plain core duo processor and if i can change how much will it cost?

Yes you can use the Core 2 Duo (Merom). The cost depends on if you will be replacing it yourself or having a tech do it, and whether you go with a T7200, T7400 or T7600. Prices for the chips are around $300.00, $420.00 and $650.00 respectively. If you have me do it you'll pay about $40.00 plus shipping in addition to the chip price.:thumbup:

[galeener]

I read some where can't remember that the quad cores will be testing around October. Darn where did i see that.

[killaking]

yea it was engadget i cant belive intel throwing new chips out every three months damn man glade i waited awhile if this one even comes out.

[nanosonic923]

I read some where can't remember that the quad cores will be testing around October. Darn where did i see that.

This is what I saw:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/09/10/four_cores_on_the_rampage/

Never saw it on endgadget...

[Storm PCs]

Quad cores are not going to be faster than dual cores except in extreme number crunching (folding, SETI, etc...). In fact, most of the programs we run today would probably run slower. They will definitely not help video games (although a properly written chess program could be crazy).

Quad cores for a laptop is just plain stupid. Maybe some day it could make sense, but not with the technology and programs in use today.

Quad cores will be best for scientific workstations and folding/SETI type applications. For everyone else it will just be more marketing BS.

Instead of these idiots making faster CPUs (in order to drain as much $$$ from as many people as possible) I'd like them to attack the real speed problem. SLOW HARDDRIVES!!! CPUs are so fast now that getting a faster one does nothing since we still have this crappy HD technology.:reallymad

[Charles@PCTorque]

I 100% agree with you on this subject. HD's are the last remaining bottleneck in PC's. It the only techonolgy that really hasnt changed in years. Spinning platters? Sounds like a record player to me. Now that we are in terabyte territory for the everyday user, its time to get something a little bit more reliable and faster than these old school hard drives.:thumbdown

[Boogieman117]

Intel vs. AMD again, Intel wins with games:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2014654,00.asp

Read first page for hardware setup.

[Storm PCs]

These benchmarks are silly. For one, there is almost no difference at all in hi res from CPU to CPU. There is a difference in low res, but the eye sees no difference between 100 FPS and 500 FPS, so as far as games go, when playing on a high resolution, the GPU is really the only thing that counts as long as you have a dual core CPU of some kind.

The Core 2 Duo really shows it's stuff in things like encoding and decoding audio and video, CD and DVD ripping and number crunching like Super Pi, etc. The Core 2 Duo is great at games but it's not any better than the AMD stuff unless you are using $1400+ worth of video cards. In other words, SLI or Crossfire. Even then you need to be running higher than 1600x1200 to see a benefit.

The Core 2 Duo laptop CPUs are a better buy actually. They are super efficient and when on batteries they are miles ahead of everything else in terms of performance vs battery life.

[Boogieman117]

These benchmarks are silly. For one, there is almost no difference at all in hi res from CPU to CPU. There is a difference in low res, but the eye sees no difference between 100 FPS and 500 FPS, so as far as games go, when playing on a high resolution, the GPU is really the only thing that counts as long as you have a dual core CPU of some kind.

The Core 2 Duo really shows it's stuff in things like encoding and decoding audio and video, CD and DVD ripping and number crunching like Super Pi, etc. The Core 2 Duo is great at games but it's not any better than the AMD stuff unless you are using $1400+ worth of video cards. In other words, SLI or Crossfire. Even then you need to be running higher than 1600x1200 to see a benefit.

The Core 2 Duo laptop CPUs are a better buy actually. They are super efficient and when on batteries they are miles ahead of everything else in terms of performance vs battery life.


I just post them as I get them. :p

[uclajd]

Hey, I run BOINC on my laptop! :D Quad cores are cool in that you can run three separate BOINC work units and have an extra core to do real work. But that has to drain a battery, not that I ever use mine.

About the HDD issue, have you seen that Samsung (http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/10/samsung-shows-off-flash-laptop-drive-at-cebit/) is making a lappy with 32GB flash drive? And some companies are going to do hybrids, part flash part HDD for things like booting and applications startup. When flash media drops in price, things will be good. Instant boot! :thumbup:

One thing I don't get about these forums is it seems all that everyone is concerned with is gaming on their laptops. Does anyone get any work done around here? :lol: But seriously folks, I travel a lot and need my laptop to run as fast as possible in things like video encoding, which is why I just bought a T7400 ES! That's a 50% increase in CPU-related tasks. And BTW gamers, the only game I ever play on my lappy is UT 2004, and that will see an improvement, since it is not GPU-limited on a 7900gs.

FWIW...

Quad cores are not going to be faster than dual cores except in extreme number crunching (folding, SETI, etc...). In fact, most of the programs we run today would probably run slower. They will definitely not help video games (although a properly written chess program could be crazy).

Quad cores for a laptop is just plain stupid. Maybe some day it could make sense, but not with the technology and programs in use today.

Quad cores will be best for scientific workstations and folding/SETI type applications. For everyone else it will just be more marketing BS.

Instead of these idiots making faster CPUs (in order to drain as much $$$ from as many people as possible) I'd like them to attack the real speed problem. SLOW HARDDRIVES!!! CPUs are so fast now that getting a faster one does nothing since we still have this crappy HD technology.:reallymad

[Storm PCs]

I was wondering the same thing. Games can be played on hi-powered laptops but even they suck compared to real gaming machines.

As far as the quad cores and BOINC are concerned, I think you'd be better off running 4 WUs on a quad core desktop and using your T7400 laptop for everything else. You're gonna love that T7400. Been running mine for a month and it's pretty amazing.

[Uriel]

anyone knows when we will be seeing a new mobile Radeon chips?

[MysticGolem]

I like this thread, great discussions, great opinions, now its time for mine.

1) Quad Core, Intel Laser CPUs and Core 2 Duo
Yes, all of this stuff is great, I personaly multitask a lot, everytime i'm doing one thing on my computer, i will also do another thing. Right now i have 8 windows open, mainly browsers, but later in the day it would increase.

I've always thought that once a cpu hit 3.0ghz, the real difference in speed will become negilible, however this is not true, due to the fact Intel wants/producing a Laser CPU in which it will wireless transmit data for ultra smooth and fast processing power.

Having a Quad core, Dual core, allows all apps to be shared across these cores, which is good. As of now it is hard to tell how much these 4x4 or Kentsfield will consume in terms of power and what they will offer in performance gains when compared to 2 cores.

In any case cpu technology will not stop...clock speeds will slowly go up, and more efficient cores will be produced. :D

2) Hard Drives, Hybrids, NAND
Yes Hard Drives are THE worst of the worst part in any computer today, I personaly hate them, but there's no real alternative at this time. Sure there are perpendicular drives, Raptor Drives and drives that are faster... but its pointless since we are dealing with the same old hard drive platform and just increasing some speed.

Yes hybrids are becoming more introduced in the market, but it only delays the inevitable, WE WANT Flash Drives!!!

I personaly don't give a dam about that notebook with 16-32gb of NAND, its not enought space nor is it worth the money.

Right now hard drives cost roughly 30 cents -50 cent per GB, NAND is more like 40+ Dollars per GB... ouch!

It is estimated that it would take a few YEARS before we even see NAND costing 1$ per GB :(

3) Laptop vs Desktop
Everyone has their own opinions, but at some point computer components will become SO dam efficient that it doesn't matter if you buy a desktop or a laptop...

Hence, people will always want a notebook for the ability to move around, and right now notebooks sales are technically on the rise and the technology is getting closer and closer to desktop performance.

Many will also replace their desktops with Laptops with External LCD and other accessories.

4) Gaming and Regular Tasks
Not everyone is interested in gaming, if you think about it, if you can't game on it, its not worth buying, since it won't be able to meet anyone's garphical needs in the future.

Gaming is now a benchmark of testing how good a laptop is.

Sure there are a high amount of gamers here, and everywhere, but there's also a lot of graphic designers and other types of designers in which they also need dedicated graphics to do their work.

Even the entire computer industry is moving away from the terrible graphics to dedicated graphics, Vista itself requires a really powerful system with unique requirements that even the average Joe doesn't understand.

All in all, yes there are people who do regular tasks too, if your laptop or desktop can ONLY do regular tasks, and you try to push it to do something like some graphic designing or some designing...well you know what happens.

But if you buy a gaming or powerfull, semi powerfull laptop/desktop, not only can you do whatever you want, you will enjoy the smoothness and speeds.

5) Batterylife
We all want more! more power, more performance...but we don't want it to come with a big cost to our batterylife.

There are 2 answers to this, buy a laptop that doesn't have a dedicated GPU and your batterylife will be higher than compared Dedicated GPU laptops. However this does not solve the increase need of more performance.

So you left with this option...TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, yes, we are in the time where we will have new computer components released with in a 10 year span that could potentially double or even triple batterylife.

You must be wondering how can this be done? New CPU's that consume less batterylife, the adoption of SATA2 in Notebooks, the use of NAND/FLash HArd Drives. More efficient Ram and more efficient GPU's with smaller dies. Lastly new battery technology, yes, No more crappy Lith-ion stuff... that explode randomly lol, we will have Foil Batteries, Fuel Cells, Virus Batteries, Sun Batteries <- this is the most valued one since it will allow wireless transmission of electricity through infrared.

Yes the Sun batteries are not solar cells, but the same concept, just think of these new Sun batteries as little micro-scopic organism who love the sun, and sunlight, when under direct sun, they emit electricity in which can be used to power ANYTHING. All you do is coat, yes spray this technology onto any device and let those organisms dance and do their thing and generate electricity. :D

However these technology ocne again takes time and will cost a lot of money to begin with, and many of these technologies have bugs to work out first before we even see them in the real world.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

[tennisplayer121]

"Sun Batteries <- this is the most valued one since it will allow wireless transmission of electricity through infrared."

I always wondered when something like this would happen. I was unaware that these were even in the "thought up" stages. Wow... something I wasn't prepared to read. Do you by chance know of any good articles that I can further read on this type of electricity?

[2010]

I like this thread, great discussions, great opinions, now its time for mine.

1) Quad Core, Intel Laser CPUs and Core 2 Duo
Yes, all of this stuff is great, I personaly multitask a lot, everytime i'm doing one thing on my computer, i will also do another thing. Right now i have 8 windows open, mainly browsers, but later in the day it would increase.

I've always thought that once a cpu hit 3.0ghz, the real difference in speed will become negilible, however this is not true, due to the fact Intel wants/producing a Laser CPU in which it will wireless transmit data for ultra smooth and fast processing power.

Having a Quad core, Dual core, allows all apps to be shared across these cores, which is good. As of now it is hard to tell how much these 4x4 or Kentsfield will consume in terms of power and what they will offer in performance gains when compared to 2 cores.

In any case cpu technology will not stop...clock speeds will slowly go up, and more efficient cores will be produced. :D

2) Hard Drives, Hybrids, NAND
Yes Hard Drives are THE worst of the worst part in any computer today, I personaly hate them, but there's no real alternative at this time. Sure there are perpendicular drives, Raptor Drives and drives that are faster... but its pointless since we are dealing with the same old hard drive platform and just increasing some speed.

Yes hybrids are becoming more introduced in the market, but it only delays the inevitable, WE WANT Flash Drives!!!

I personaly don't give a dam about that notebook with 16-32gb of NAND, its not enought space nor is it worth the money.

Right now hard drives cost roughly 30 cents -50 cent per GB, NAND is more like 40+ Dollars per GB... ouch!

It is estimated that it would take a few YEARS before we even see NAND costing 1$ per GB :(

3) Laptop vs Desktop
Everyone has their own opinions, but at some point computer components will become SO dam efficient that it doesn't matter if you buy a desktop or a laptop...

Hence, people will always want a notebook for the ability to move around, and right now notebooks sales are technically on the rise and the technology is getting closer and closer to desktop performance.

Many will also replace their desktops with Laptops with External LCD and other accessories.

4) Gaming and Regular Tasks
Not everyone is interested in gaming, if you think about it, if you can't game on it, its not worth buying, since it won't be able to meet anyone's garphical needs in the future.

Gaming is now a benchmark of testing how good a laptop is.

Sure there are a high amount of gamers here, and everywhere, but there's also a lot of graphic designers and other types of designers in which they also need dedicated graphics to do their work.

Even the entire computer industry is moving away from the terrible graphics to dedicated graphics, Vista itself requires a really powerful system with unique requirements that even the average Joe doesn't understand.

All in all, yes there are people who do regular tasks too, if your laptop or desktop can ONLY do regular tasks, and you try to push it to do something like some graphic designing or some designing...well you know what happens.

But if you buy a gaming or powerfull, semi powerfull laptop/desktop, not only can you do whatever you want, you will enjoy the smoothness and speeds.

5) Batterylife
We all want more! more power, more performance...but we don't want it to come with a big cost to our batterylife.

There are 2 answers to this, buy a laptop that doesn't have a dedicated GPU and your batterylife will be higher than compared Dedicated GPU laptops. However this does not solve the increase need of more performance.

So you left with this option...TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, yes, we are in the time where we will have new computer components released with in a 10 year span that could potentially double or even triple batterylife.

You must be wondering how can this be done? New CPU's that consume less batterylife, the adoption of SATA2 in Notebooks, the use of NAND/FLash HArd Drives. More efficient Ram and more efficient GPU's with smaller dies. Lastly new battery technology, yes, No more crappy Lith-ion stuff... that explode randomly lol, we will have Foil Batteries, Fuel Cells, Virus Batteries, Sun Batteries <- this is the most valued one since it will allow wireless transmission of electricity through infrared.

Yes the Sun batteries are not solar cells, but the same concept, just think of these new Sun batteries as little micro-scopic organism who love the sun, and sunlight, when under direct sun, they emit electricity in which can be used to power ANYTHING. All you do is coat, yes spray this technology onto any device and let those organisms dance and do their thing and generate electricity. :D

However these technology ocne again takes time and will cost a lot of money to begin with, and many of these technologies have bugs to work out first before we even see them in the real world.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

Interesting post! I read something new!

[Patrick B]

You must be wondering how can this be done? New CPU's that consume less batterylife, the adoption of SATA2 in Notebooks, the use of NAND/FLash HArd Drives. More efficient Ram and more efficient GPU's with smaller dies. Lastly new battery technology, yes, No more crappy Lith-ion stuff... that explode randomly lol, we will have Foil Batteries, Fuel Cells, Virus Batteries, Sun Batteries <- this is the most valued one since it will allow wireless transmission of electricity through infrared.

Yes the Sun batteries are not solar cells, but the same concept, just think of these new Sun batteries as little micro-scopic organism who love the sun, and sunlight, when under direct sun, they emit electricity in which can be used to power ANYTHING. All you do is coat, yes spray this technology onto any device and let those organisms dance and do their thing and generate electricity. :D

MysticGolem


Hmm....and I have a bridge for sale, readily viewable between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

"Wireless transmission of electricity through infrared". I think someone is reaching for the stars on that one. Tesla made claims (and filed a patent) back in 1940 about this, and was never able to prove his claims of "wireless transmission of electricity".

Now, it's important to note the difference between wireless transmission of *electricity* vs the wireless transmission of electromagnetic energy (RF, if you will).

As to the value of quad core CPUs to a laptop, I think the industry is going to choose a different direction. Multi-core CPUs will eventually take the place of discrete graphics chipsets, with all physics, visual and general processing taking place on the CPU, with various cores taking on various roles (some of which may be tuned specifically to particular functions). At some point, with multiple cores available to the system, it will only make sense to build that logic into the CPU.

This is a key reason why AMD picked up ATI, for example. We may be 5 years away from this happening, but it will happen.


Patrick

[tennisplayer121]

Does anyone have any more information on those sun batteries that Mystic mentioned?

[Atomicfog]

From http://www.physorg.com/news76344249.html (Google is your friend)


A research team in Sydney has created molecules that mimic those in plants which harvest light and power life on Earth.


“A leaf is an amazingly cheap and efficient solar cell,” says Dr Deanna D’Alessandro, a postdoctoral researcher in the Molecular Electronics Group at the University of Sydney. “The best leaves can harvest 30 to 40 percent of the light falling on them. The best solar cells we can build are between 15 and 20 percent efficient, and expensive to make.”

“We’ve recreated some of the key systems that plants use in photosynthesis,” says Deanna.

Bacteria and green plants use photosynthesis to convert light energy into usable chemical energy. Wheel-shaped arrays of molecules called porphyrins collect light and transfer it to the hub where chemical reactions use the light energy to convert carbon dioxide into energy-rich sugar and oxygen.

“This process, which occurs in about 40 trillionths of a second is fundamental to photosynthesis and is at the base of the food chain for almost all life on Earth,” says Deanna.

“We have been able to construct synthetic porphyrins. More than 100 of them can be assembled around a tree-like core called a dendrimer to mimic the wheel-shaped arrangement in natural photosynthetic systems.”

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These molecules designed by the team are about 1 billionth the size of a soccer ball. But the large number of porphyrins in a single molecule means that a significant amount of light can be captured and converted to electrical energy – just like in nature.

“Since they are so efficient at storing energy, we think they could also be used as batteries – replacing the metal-based batteries that our high technology devices depend on today,” Deanna says.

“Our preliminary results are very promising. We are still in the early stages of building practical solar energy devices using our molecules,” said Deanna. “The challenge is immense, but is crucial to providing alternative energy solutions for Australia and the world.”

Now they’ve made the molecules, the team along with their Japanese collaborators at Osaka University are working to combine them in the equivalent of a plant cell. Then, over the next five years they will attempt to scale up the technology to commercial scale solar panels.

Source: Science in Public

Also, another interesting bacteria-type energy:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2003-09-07-bacteria-battery_x.htm

[tennisplayer121]

well... everything I searched in google yielded no results.

[FriedToast]

well... everything I searched in google yielded no results.

Time to hone your Google-fu, young Grasshoppa.

[juneblaize]

great