The next big processor

[RCBH928]

Windows laptops also can have coolers built in to them, whereas Mac laptops do not (because it'd spoil the form factor).

I guess if you want to get a 12 pound laptop.. But who wants that? Uber "gaming" laptops never made much sense to me. Might as well get a desktop at that point seeing as most of those gaming laptops are hardly portable.

I've got a gaming laptop I purchased off a coworker on the cheap for LAN parties, which it's excellent for. Also, since when is 12 pounds an unbearable burden?

I do not have problem with that if the laptop will give me Desktop gaming experience while the internals are cool not crazy hot. If Desktop still superior, then why am I carrying 12pounds around? Plus gaming laptops are more expensive than a Desktop..

[MrPopo]

its not like the i7 will save your Word document faster than core2duo (or will it ?)

The bottleneck there is most likely the transfer and write speed of your HDD.

I also heard graphic cards are being used to do computer processing too(non-graphic) which should give extreme speeds too. Its funny how no one ever thought of this in earlier generations. That could have helped a lot in '98 with the voodoo cards.

Graphics cards are purpose built for doing graphical applications. Think of it like the CPU is a swiss army knife; it has every tool you can think of, but they're all of average quality. The graphics card is a specialized tool, so while it isn't as versitile as the CPU, at the job it was designed for it blows the CPU out of the water.

[bmoc]

Also, as far as AMD and ATI, I am not too sure of this it always seemed to me like while they are comparable to intel and Nvidia , I see no reasons to favor them or pick them over intel or Nvidia. Even if intel+Nvidia are a little bit more expensive the price difference is not significant.

In other words, not sure what AMD or ATI will give me that intel or NVidia won't match or surpass. But I think there was a short time period when AMD was a bit cheaper and better than intel, I think around 2006?

I could be wrong but from the way you worded this, it seems you think that you have to pair Intel with Nvidia and AMD with ATI (which is now owned by AMD). It is perfectly fine to pair an Intel processor with an AMD graphics card and vice versa. I believe there some boost in performance in pairing some AMD processors and some AMD graphics cards but I don't think it is substantial enough keep you from considering an Intel processor.

As far as the graphics cards themselves go, AMD and Nvidia are actually pretty neck and neck. There is constant back and forth as to which is better in certain price brackets. Tom's Hardware has a monthly article about just that called "Best Graphics Cards For The Money". You should definitely give that a look when making your choice. It also never hurts to check other review sites to see if they agree.

[ice445]

Also, as far as AMD and ATI, I am not too sure of this it always seemed to me like while they are comparable to intel and Nvidia , I see no reasons to favor them or pick them over intel or Nvidia. Even if intel+Nvidia are a little bit more expensive the price difference is not significant.

In other words, not sure what AMD or ATI will give me that intel or NVidia won't match or surpass. But I think there was a short time period when AMD was a bit cheaper and better than intel, I think around 2006?

I could be wrong but from the way you worded this, it seems you think that you have to pair Intel with Nvidia and AMD with ATI (which is now owned by AMD). It is perfectly fine to pair an Intel processor with an AMD graphics card and vice versa. I believe there some boost in performance in pairing some AMD processors and some AMD graphics cards but I don't think it is substantial enough keep you from considering an Intel processor.

As far as the graphics cards themselves go, AMD and Nvidia are actually pretty neck and neck. There is constant back and forth as to which is better in certain price brackets. Tom's Hardware has a monthly article about just that called "Best Graphics Cards For The Money". You should definitely give that a look when making your choice. It also never hurts to check other review sites to see if they agree.

There's no performance bonus from running an AMD GPU with an AMD processor.

[bmoc]

There's no performance bonus from running an AMD GPU with an AMD processor.

You might be right. I was thinking of their platform designations Scorpius, Virgo, etc. I can't find any documentation that they provide any boost whatsoever. Seems that is a name they give it when you combine certain technologies made by AMD. I should have read up on that more before posting.