Have you ever wondered what powers that sleek
little laptop of yours? Well, its the Central Processing Unit (CPU) and it
comes in many shapes and sizes.
If you're trying to purchase a good laptop, it
pays to understand what the different types of laptop CPUs are. This will
help you make a more informed purchase decision.
So in this article, we will learn more about
notebook CPUs and their features.
1. Overview
If you're used laptops and desktops, you should
know that laptop CPUs are very different from desktop CPUs. The key reason for
the difference? The amount of power available. On laptops, we have a limited
amount of power to run on. So it is very important that the laptop designs a CPU
that allows the system to run off the battery for as long as possible. This
involves tricks like CPU scaling where a CPU scales its power usage according to
the computing tasks at hand.
The hugely popular Intel Core 2
Duo CPU
Let's take a look at the categories of laptop computers
and their matching CPU.
2.
Budget Systems
If you look at budget laptop systems, you will see that the CPUs they use are
selected to ensure a low price point is maintained.
The kinds of CPUs used will range from older processors
to newer, low cost processors. You will find that these CPUs are more than
sufficient to do basic work like web
browsing, emailing, word processing and presenting. However, don't expect these
CPUs to handle gaming and high-end graphics applications.
Some of the CPUs in this class include:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-53 and Higher
AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-55 and Higher
Intel Core Duo T2050 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 and Lower
The AMD Turion 64 CPU
3.
Ultraportable Laptops
Ultraportable laptops are systems designed to be as light and compact as
possible. They are also powerful enough for most common business applications such as
web
browsing, emailing, word processing and presenting. They are targeted at mobile
workers who travel a lot and are willing to sacrifice computing
power and peripherals for portability.
Here are the processors usually found in ultraportables:
Intel Celeron M 900MHz Ultra Low Voltage
Intel Core 2 Solo U2100 and U2200
Intel Core 2 Duo L7200 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Duo U7500 and Higher
4.
Thin and Light Laptops
Another class of laptop is the thin and light
laptop. These are heavier than ultraportables but pack in more computer power to
tackle any kind of application. They have a good balance of performance and
portability.
The CPUs that can be found in this category of notebooks
include:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 and Higher
AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-53 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 and Higher
VIA C7-M
5. Desktop Replacements
An interesting class of laptop is the desktop replacement system.
These tend to be exactly that, replacements for bulky desktops. They can do
whatever the desktop can, but in a mobile package. These systems tend to be larger and bulkier
than your other laptops. However, they tend to have superior computing power and
will allow you to run 3D games and the like.
Some of the CPUs found in this
category include:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-55 and Higher
AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56 and Higher
Intel Core Duo T2600 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 and Higher
Intel Core 2 Extreme X7800 or X7900
Conclusion
This article should have given you some good idea
of what CPUs are available in laptop computers. If you are buying a laptop, be
sure to check out what CPU comes with it and ensure that it has sufficient
computing speed to run whatever applications you need. So until next time, good
luck and happy mobile computing!
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