Differences between Pentium and Celron CPU's?
- Thread starter KenM
- Start date
Intel calls their budget CPUs Celerons. There are three* different current CPUs that Intel calls Celerons these days.
By far the most common of these is 'Northwood'-based Celeron. It's basically a Pentium 4 with 128K of level-2 cache (really fast memory that's used instead of your system RAM whenever possible) instead of the 512K that 'Northwood'-based Pentium 4s have, and a 400MHz 'front side bus', rather than the 533MHz or 800 MHz of a Pentium 4 (so the CPU communicates with the rest of the system at a lower speed). The problem with this is that the Pentium 4 architecture is really dependent on memory bandwidth, so small amounts of cache and slow bus speeds are really bad. Even the fastest Northwood-based Celerons (2.8 GHz) aren't as fast as the slowest Northwood-based Pentium 4s. This Celeron is one that you should never buy, unless it's in a very cheap system that will never be used for gaming or any other demanding applications.
Intel has just released a new Celeron, called the Celeron D, which is based on the 'Prescott' core. It's nowhere near as crippled as the 'Northwood' Celeron, as it's got 256K of level 2 cache and 533 MHz front side bus; the Prescott-based Pentium 4 'E' has 1MB of level 2 cache and an 800 MHz front side bus. This chip actually is a decent low-end CPU (a Pentium 4 E clocked at the same speed as a Celeron D is significantly faster, but nowhere near to the same degree), but it's really new. You still don't want to use it in a high-end gaming box, though.
And in some notebooks, you'll see Intel's Celeron M CPU. This one is based on the Pentium M (the CPU in any notebook with a Centrino label). Since the Pentium M is an excellent notebook CPU, Celeron M based notebooks aren't half bad either. Like all Celerons, the Celeron M has less level 2 cache than its 'big brother', but in the case of the Celeron M, it's got half the cache of the Pentium M, rather than one quarter, runs at the same front side bus speed, and the Pentium M design is nowhere near as dependendent on memory bandwidth as the Pentium 4 design (so the difference in cache matters far less). The main problem with these is that they tend to be clocked somewhat slower than their Pentium M based cousins.
* Technically, there are four. The Xbox CPU is an older, Pentium III-based Celeron. But I think that's the only way you can easily get that version of the Celeron anymore.
By far the most common of these is 'Northwood'-based Celeron. It's basically a Pentium 4 with 128K of level-2 cache (really fast memory that's used instead of your system RAM whenever possible) instead of the 512K that 'Northwood'-based Pentium 4s have, and a 400MHz 'front side bus', rather than the 533MHz or 800 MHz of a Pentium 4 (so the CPU communicates with the rest of the system at a lower speed). The problem with this is that the Pentium 4 architecture is really dependent on memory bandwidth, so small amounts of cache and slow bus speeds are really bad. Even the fastest Northwood-based Celerons (2.8 GHz) aren't as fast as the slowest Northwood-based Pentium 4s. This Celeron is one that you should never buy, unless it's in a very cheap system that will never be used for gaming or any other demanding applications.
Intel has just released a new Celeron, called the Celeron D, which is based on the 'Prescott' core. It's nowhere near as crippled as the 'Northwood' Celeron, as it's got 256K of level 2 cache and 533 MHz front side bus; the Prescott-based Pentium 4 'E' has 1MB of level 2 cache and an 800 MHz front side bus. This chip actually is a decent low-end CPU (a Pentium 4 E clocked at the same speed as a Celeron D is significantly faster, but nowhere near to the same degree), but it's really new. You still don't want to use it in a high-end gaming box, though.
And in some notebooks, you'll see Intel's Celeron M CPU. This one is based on the Pentium M (the CPU in any notebook with a Centrino label). Since the Pentium M is an excellent notebook CPU, Celeron M based notebooks aren't half bad either. Like all Celerons, the Celeron M has less level 2 cache than its 'big brother', but in the case of the Celeron M, it's got half the cache of the Pentium M, rather than one quarter, runs at the same front side bus speed, and the Pentium M design is nowhere near as dependendent on memory bandwidth as the Pentium 4 design (so the difference in cache matters far less). The main problem with these is that they tend to be clocked somewhat slower than their Pentium M based cousins.
* Technically, there are four. The Xbox CPU is an older, Pentium III-based Celeron. But I think that's the only way you can easily get that version of the Celeron anymore.
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One other thing to consider. Many games these days are heavily dependent on the graphics card for 3D rendering assistance. With the very recent exception of some high end laptops, the graphics cards in laptops have been far less powerful than those in desktop systems. Especially if this is a low end laptop, it is unlikely to have any sort of a decent graphics card built in.
XCorvis
First Post
Celerons are less powerful and slower than equivalent Pentiums. However, they are cheaper and generally consume less power, leading to longer battery life in laptops.
If it's a new laptop, it should be a Celeron M. It's OK for most stuff, but not so great for gaming. If you're concerned about gaming, make sure there's a good video card in there too.
If it's a new laptop, it should be a Celeron M. It's OK for most stuff, but not so great for gaming. If you're concerned about gaming, make sure there's a good video card in there too.
Krieg
First Post
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600mojo1701 said:
Nvidia GeForce FX Go5600
...are the starting point for decent gaming in a laptop.
FWIW I disagree with XCorvis's recomendation of the Celeron M. The Celeron M is nothing more than a slower clocked Pentium M w/half the L2 cache. If you are planning on running anything that is proc intensive (and that includes video and ripping .mp3 in addition to games) I wouldn't touch the Cel Ms.
This is the laptop she is looking at: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...50000&productCategoryId=cat01176&type=product
Best Buy has a package deal on it this week. You also get an extra 256 RAM at no cost. I know my mom won't be interested in gaming on it, but I am, in case any of my friends come over.
Best Buy has a package deal on it this week. You also get an extra 256 RAM at no cost. I know my mom won't be interested in gaming on it, but I am, in case any of my friends come over.
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Err... don't even try to run any current games on that notebook. A 2.8 GHz Northwood-based Celeron (a Celeron M would be clocked much slower; a Celeron D would show a model number as well as a clock speed) and a Radeon 7000 IGP (and generally speaking, you can't upgrade video on a notebook) add up to very poor gaming performance. On the other hand, for $750, it's a pretty good deal at that price (even given that the thing weighs almost 8 pounds), so if your Mom's not gaming or doing anything else that's all that demanding, it might be worth buying anyway.
Unless I've missed some major upgrades in integrated graphics and notebook chipsets (possible; I'm a long way from an expert on the notebook market), any dedicated video solution is probably better than any integrated video solution (which will use 'shared' memory). Also worth noting is that more video memory has diminishing returns (going from 32MB to 64MB will help far more than going from 64MB to 128MB, or 128MB to 256MB), and the video chipset often matters more than the amount of video memory.
