| The laptop world is seeing double. The next evolution | | | | Dual-Core chip. |
| inlaptops is dual-core technology. Dual-core processors | | | | You're probably wondering, how will all this new |
| arequickly raising the laptop experience to the next | | | | laptoptechnology be applied? And what does it mean |
| leveland laptop users are benefiting from the extra | | | | for the averagelaptop owner? What does it mean |
| boost inperformance. | | | | for gaming laptops? |
| Dual-core means exactly what you think it means, | | | | Well, lets examine one sample notebook to see what |
| you havetwo processors or CPUs in your laptop | | | | all this nextgeneration technology will do for laptops. |
| instead of one. | | | | Take for example,the Xtreme SL, a new gaming |
| Theoretically this should mean twice the performance | | | | laptop designed by Rockdirect. |
| levelfor all those multi-tasking chores we call upon our | | | | Rockdirect, formerly known as Rock computers, is a |
| laptopsto do. However, you must have ways or | | | | leading UKlaptop manufacturer who introduced some |
| technology (theplatform) to utilize and handle all this | | | | of the world's firstdual core laptops last summer |
| extra power. Thereis some catching up to do but to | | | | (2005). |
| keep things simple, | | | | Rockdirect's latest gaming offering, the Xtreme SL |
| Hyper-Threading, PCI-Express and SLI are all ways | | | | has specsor features which are rather awe-inspiring, |
| ofharnessing or using this extra power. | | | | even for the non-gamer. |
| With the recent introduction of the new Centrino | | | | It comes with an AMD Turion 64 ML-44 2.4GHz |
| Duo Mobile | | | | processor, sporting |
| Technology, Intel has entered the multi-core arena. All | | | | 1MB L2 Cache and 2 Gigs of DDR 400MHz RAM. |
| thisextra dual power and Hyper-Threading will finally | | | | More importantly, ithas twin NVIDIA GeForce Go |
| put somepunch into laptops and especially gaming | | | | 7800 GTX 256MB graphics cards with |
| laptops. Now almoston par with desktop PCs, laptops | | | | PCI-Express and SLI (Scalable Link Interface). |
| and notebooks can finallyhold their heads high when it | | | | SLI lets you have two graphics cards on your laptop, |
| comes to performance. This isn'tyour last year's | | | | working intangent to increase or double your graphics |
| laptop! | | | | performance andvisual quality. Throw in a 19 inch |
| How quickly things change, Intel expects the Core | | | | WSXGA+ X-Glass TFT Screenand you have a |
| Duo chipwill be in 230 different laptop designs in the | | | | perfect example of where gaming laptops areheaded |
| first monthsof 2006. Intel also claims this Duo chip will | | | | with all this new technology. |
| deliver 68%more performance over the current | | | | For those involved in gaming, this means the ultimate |
| Sonoma processor (manymanufacturers say this will | | | | gamingexperience can be best captured on a laptop |
| be around 30%) and reducebattery consumption by | | | | with Dual-coreprocessors and dual graphics cards |
| another 28% (Giving 5 hours fora standard battery | | | | using all the latest SLI or |
| and 10 hours for an extended cell battery). | | | | Hyper-Threading technology. And it is just not for |
| Still, dual-core processors coupled with | | | | gamers. |
| Hyper-Threadingtechnology, will and does greatly | | | | The new mobile multi-core chips are turning heads for |
| improve the multi-taskingfunctions of your next | | | | ordinarylaptop users who want the best performance |
| laptop. The only minor hurdle, manyof today's current | | | | possible in theirsleek shinny new laptops or |
| video games can't use all these multi-applications | | | | notebooks. |
| features. But as more games come on streamwhich | | | | Besides, why should gamers have all the fun, these |
| can take full advantage of all this new | | | | newtechnologies will greatly benefit all laptop users. |
| technology,expect your gaming enjoyment to | | | | Itmeans a sleeker, faster, and more powerful laptop |
| increase. As with any newtechnology there will | | | | foreveryone. It also means longer lasting battery life |
| probably be a lag time before all themulti-applications | | | | foryour laptop, a much needed improvement. For the |
| can be applied to the majority of newgames hitting | | | | demandinglaptop user working in multi-media |
| the market. | | | | authoring, multi-taskingwith video editing, spread |
| Some major laptop makers now sporting the Intel | | | | sheets, large graphics... thesedual core laptops offers |
| Core Duoinclude Dell with its new "entertainment" Dell | | | | a very capable alternative to thebulky and oh-so |
| Inspiron e1705line of high end laptops. HP with its | | | | stationary desktop PC. |
| Pavilion dv1000 line oflaptops, which comes with a | | | | This new multi-core technology offers ultimate |
| remote and you can play CDs and | | | | performancein a sleek, quiet package that buyers will |
| DVDs without booting up. | | | | find hard to resist. |
| Nor is Intel the only player in town with a lot of chips | | | | It will draw even more potential customers into the |
| onthe gaming table. Intel's main rival AMD has | | | | laptop market,looking for the ultimate in style, |
| introduceddual-core into its mobile Turion 64 X2 | | | | portability, and performance. |
| processors. Also keepin mind, in recent head-to-head | | | | Dual-core laptops may just deliver the goods. |
| CNET Labs testing, AMD's Athlon | | | | This surely is not your last year's laptop. |
| 64 X2 chip performed better than Intel's desktop | | | | |