The laptop world is seeing double. The next evolution in
laptops is dual-core technology. Dual core laptop processors are
quickly raising the laptop experience to the next level
and dual core laptop users are benefiting from the extra boost in
performance.
Dual-core laptop means exactly what you think it means, you have
two processors or CPUs in your laptop instead of one.
Theoretically this should mean twice the performance level
for all those multi-tasking chores we call upon our laptops
to do. However, you must have ways or technology (the
platform) to utilize and handle all this extra power. There
is some catching up to do but to keep things simple,
Hyper-Threading, PCI-Express and SLI are all ways of
harnessing or using this extra power.
With the recent introduction of the new Centrino Duo Mobile
Technology, Intel has entered the multi-core arena. All this
extra dual power and Hyper-Threading will finally put some
punch into laptops and especially gaming laptops. Now almost
on par with desktop PCs, dual core laptops and notebooks can finally
hold their heads high when it comes to performance.
How quickly things change, Intel expects the Core Duo chip
will be in 230 different laptop designs in the first months
of 2006. Intel also claims this Duo chip will deliver 68%
more performance over the current Sonoma processor (many
manufacturers say this will be around 30%) and reduce
battery consumption by another 28% (Giving 5 hours for
a standard battery and 10 hours for an extended cell battery).
Still, dual-core laptop processors coupled with Hyper-Threading
technology, will and does greatly improve the multi-tasking
functions of your next laptop. The only minor hurdle, many
of today’s current video games can’t use all these multi-
applications features. But as more games come on stream
which can take full advantage of all this new technology,
expect your gaming enjoyment to increase. As with any new
technology there will probably be a lag time before all the
multi-applications can be applied to the majority of new
games hitting the market.
Some major dual core laptop makers now sporting the Intel Core Duo
include Dell with its new “entertainment” Dell Inspiron e1705
line of high end laptops. HP with its Pavilion dv1000 line of
laptops, which comes with a remote and you can play CDs and
DVDs without booting up.
Nor is Intel the only player in town with a lot of chips on
the gaming table. Intel’s main rival AMD has introduced
dual-core into its mobile Turion 64 X2 processors. Also keep
in mind, in recent head-to-head CNET Labs testing, AMD’s Athlon
64 X2 chip performed better than Intel’s desktop Dual-Core chip.
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6022_1-6410042.html
You’re probably wondering, how will all this new dual core laptop
technology be applied? And what does it mean for the average
laptop owner? What does it mean for gaming laptops?
Well, lets examine one sample notebook to see what all this next
generation technology will do for laptops. Take for example,
the Xtreme SL, a new gaming laptop designed by Rockdirect.
Rockdirect, formerly known as Rock computers, is a leading UK
laptop manufacturer who introduced some of the world’s first
dual core laptops last summer.
Rockdirect’s latest gaming offering, the Xtreme SL has specs
or features which are rather awe-inspiring, even for the non-gamer.
It comes with an AMD Turion 64 ML-44 2.4GHz processor, sporting
1MB L2 Cache and 2 Gigs of DDR 400MHz RAM. More importantly, it
has twin NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GTX 256MB graphics cards with
PCI-Express and SLI (Scalable Link Interface).
SLI lets you have two graphics cards on your laptop, working in
tangent to increase or double your graphics performance and
visual quality. Throw in a 19 inch WSXGA+ X-Glass TFT Screen
and you have a perfect example of where gaming dual core laptops are
headed with all this new technology.
For those involved in gaming, this means the ultimate gaming
experience can be best captured on a laptop with Dual-core
processors and dual graphics cards using all the latest SLI or
Hyper-Threading technology. And it is just not for gamers.
The new mobile multi-core chips are turning heads for ordinary
laptop users who want the best performance possible in their
sleek shinny new dual core laptops or notebooks.
Besides, why should gamers have all the fun, these new
technologies will greatly benefit all laptop users. It
means a sleeker, faster, and more powerful dual core laptop for
everyone. It also means longer lasting battery life for
your laptop, a much needed improvement. For the demanding
laptop user working in multi-media authoring, multi-tasking
with video editing, spread sheets, large graphics… these
dual core laptops offers a very capable alternative to the
bulky and oh-so stationary desktop PC.
This new multi-core technology offers ultimate performance
in a sleek, quiet package that buyers will find hard to resist.
It will draw even more potential customers into the laptop market,
looking for the ultimate in style, portability, and performance.
Dual core laptops may just deliver the goods.