All You Wanted To Know
About The Intel Centrino


Are you confused by the term "Intel Centrino"? Yeah, I thought you would be. The problem is that Intel keeps coming up with these obscure technological terms that no one understands.

 

The purpose of this article is to help unravel some of the mystery behind the term "Centrino" so you better understand how it applies to the world of laptops.

You will need to learn about the different processor cores used in the Intel Centrino platform, as well as the chipset platforms and the wireless cards supported. Armed with this knowledge, you will be better equiped to make a wise purchase decision.
 
1. Overview

The Intel Centrino platform is now commonplace amongst the latest laptops in the market. It is a "platform", meaning that it is a computing infrastructure upon which all laptops components (e.g. the CPU, graphics card, RAM) are installed and interoperate.
 

The various forms of the Intel Centrino CPU


2. Different Processor Cores

Different processor cores are used in the Intel Centrino platform. The earlier, first two generations of the Pentium M processor core were called "Banias" and "Dothan". These used an 855 mobile chipset. The latest, third generation Pentium M processor core is called Sonoma and is based on the 915 mobile chipset.


3. Performance Of The Processor Cores

Without getting too technical about it, you should know that the Banias is the least efficient of the three processor cores. The Dothan is the most energy efficient of the three. The Sonoma core, on the other hand, is a simply a speed upgrade of the Dothan. Note that Sonoma based Centrino notebooks have worse battery life than ones based on Dothans, simply because Sonomas are not as energy efficient as Dothans.


What an Intel Centrino CPU looks like


4. Different Chipset Platforms

There are essentially two chipsets used in Centrino based laptops. The first is the older 855/865 chipset which is used by the Bania and Dothan cores. While they provide decent graphics performance, they will not be able to run the most modern 3D games.

The 915 chipset used by the Sonoma core, however, is much better - it has a superior graphics processing unit based on Extreme Graphics 2 - and it will play most modern 3D games.


5. Different Intel Wireless Cards

The wireless cards supported by the Intel Centrino platform also differ. They are spelt out below:

  • 2100B - 802.11b 11Mbps only
  • 2200BG - 802.11b (11Mbps) and 802.11g (54Mbps)
  • 2915ABG - 802.11a (11Mbps), 802.11b (11Mbps) 802.11g (54Mbps), support for future technologies


Conclusion

I hope the above article has given you some good insight into the Intel Centrino platform and the different processor cores, chipsets and wireless components that come with it. Be sure that you ask the manufacturer or salesman what components you are getting in the platform before plonking out cash. Until next time, best wishes to you and happy computing!


Create A Mirror Image Of Your Laptop

If you're worried that your laptop will get filled with virus or malware, the best thing to do is to create a mirror image of your new laptop after its initial use or directly after a reinstallation. That way, you'll always have a clean copy of Windows with your frequently used programs, configured the way you want. Among the best mirroring packages is the $50 Acronis True Image, which is simple to use and can be customized to fit your requirements.

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