Dual Core vs. Core 2 Duo vs. AMD Turion, What are their differences?

**attyallanlatras** · October 13th, 2009 08:14 AM

I'm buying a laptop...but I have the following considerations:

What's the difference between dual core, core 2 duo and AMD Turion as processor?

Is it true that the AMD Turion easily gets hot?

TIA...

**Jun aka Pekto** · October 13th, 2009 09:33 AM

My Toshiba Satellite A-215-s4757 has a 1.8ghz Turion X2 cpu. It warms up rather than get hot when gaming. It's mainly for light work and email/web surfing. So, I'm fine with it.

**Mile2** · October 13th, 2009 09:59 AM

We have local stores here that has blogs for each laptop they are selling, with comparison and detailed explanation on key points to consider when buying laptop.

Here's one good site to explore http://www.cooltoyzph.com/catalog.ph...ol=price%20asc

Click each laptop and you'll find all the information you will need to make a wise decision before purchase.

Few months back, I was like you searching for best value for money laptop, so I set my own criteria.

1. I trim down my selection to Intel Core 2 and AMD Turion.

2. Which model has larger L2 Cache.

3. If I do occasional gaming, then I should get a laptop with separate Video memory.

4. which laptop has larger Memory (DDR2 or DDR3).

5. Overall weight and battery mode operating hours.

In the end, I got the MSI EX401 Core 2 with separate Video card/memory for P29000 from PCHub Park Square

**james00112233** · October 13th, 2009 10:40 AM

Originally Posted by Mile2

Here's one good site to explore http://www.cooltoyzph.com/catalog.ph...ol=price%20asc

Good site..

For me I prefer Core 2.

**Jun aka Pekto** · October 13th, 2009 04:07 PM

The Core 2 Duo definitely outperforms the Turion X2 both in performance and battery life.

My 2-year old Toshiba has a battery life of only 2.5 hours on conservative usage. But, it was dirt-cheap when I bought it and I only use it a hotel or something where it's plugged in. When I bought it, it was $200-$300 cheaper than a similarly spec'd Core 2 Duo.

**attyallanlatras** · October 13th, 2009 08:33 PM

to Mile2:

How's your MSI laptop. Is it good? I'm in Cebu and I have seen MSI EX 460 and the specs are quite interesting...Is MSI a reliable brand?

BTW, thanks for the inputs....very informative...

Originally Posted by Mile2

We have local stores here that has blogs for each laptop they are selling, with comparison and detailed explanation on key points to consider when buying laptop.

Here's one good site to explore http://www.cooltoyzph.com/catalog.ph...ol=price%20asc

Click each laptop and you'll find all the information you will need to make a wise decision before purchase.

Few months back, I was like you searching for best value for money laptop, so I set my own criteria.

1. I trim down my selection to Intel Core 2 and AMD Turion.

2. Which model has larger L2 Cache.

3. If I do occasional gaming, then I should get a laptop with separate Video memory.

4. which laptop has larger Memory (DDR2 or DDR3).

5. Overall weight and battery mode operating hours.

In the end, I got the MSI EX401 Core 2 with separate Video card/memory for P29000 from PCHub Park Square

**Mile2** · October 13th, 2009 11:23 PM

MSI is reliable, anyway almost all brand of new laptops have one year warranty.

My kids use their laptops from morning till evening without AC and still runs cooler than our previous HP Dual Core. Built in camera also has good resolution and works very well on video conferencing.

My office mate got the Turion X2 and it really operates very hot, well as they say it is normal with AMD.

The MSI 460 would be the best choice since it has the latest ATI Radeon HD4330 video with 512MB DDR2 memory.

**jut703** · October 13th, 2009 11:54 PM

Here's the general low-down on those 3 processors:

Pentium Dual-Core: low-end to mid-range product of Intel. Good for most notebook applications. Unless you do lots of movie editing, photoshop, or video conversions, this is usually enough.

Core 2 Duo: Intel's current mid-range to high-end mobile processor. An C2D is often 5-10k more expensive than a similarly speced PDC. If you are a power user, or if you have a dedicated mobile graphics card that allows you to play games, the extra power will be worth it. Oh, and the sticker's nicer too.

AMD Turion: Divided into the ordinary Turion X2 and the Turion Ultra. To avoid confusion just remember that Ultra > X2. Clock for clock, Turions are inferior to Core 2 Duos, and are within close distance to PDCs. However, it has been proven that Intel mobile processors are much better at power management than AMD. The catch here is that all AMD processors come with AMD (ATI) on-board graphics at the very least. And in the graphics department, ATI kicks Intel butt bigtime.

So the only real reason to consider an AMD laptop is if it is cheaper than a similarly performing (gaming not included) Intel laptop (which happens some times) or if you plan to do light gaming on your laptop (It is almost certain that on-board MHD4500 (Intel) vs on-board HD3200 (AMD), it is the AMD that performs better).

So my tip is, if you're on a tight budget but want to play games every once in a while, get a good-value AMD laptop. Also, if the price of a similarly performing Intel is within 2k of the Turion-based notebook, get the Turion because it at least has better graphics. Deal with worse battery life, though.

If you have money to burn, get a Core 2 Duo laptop. If you want games, then get a Core 2 Duo laptop with a dedicated video card.

**Jun aka Pekto** · October 14th, 2009 04:01 AM

Originally Posted by Mile2

My office mate got the Turion X2 and it really operates very hot, well as they say it is normal with AMD.

Not all cooling systems are created equal. I seemed to have lucked out with my Toshiba. Even when converting my dvd movies to PSP format,my laptop feels warm rather than hot. Of course, it's only 1.8ghz. That may be why.