Mobile Platform Wars: AMD vs. Intel

Test Setup

We've previously reviewed the HP dv6500t, which will be representing Intel's Core 2 Duo for this article. Again, this is not strictly an apples-to-apples comparison between products, as there are various differences besides the choice of platform. The HP dv6500t is a consumer laptop and it comes in a 15.4" chassis. Besides the slightly larger chassis and a flashier exterior, HP allows users to customize the consumer laptops. The 6515b on the other hand is a business laptop, and there are specific preconfigured models that are available for purchase. The model HP shipped us included a TL-60 processor and 2x512MB RAM, but we strongly feel that any modern notebook should come with at least 2GB of memory so we made that upgrade. Once both laptops are similarly equipped, prices end up being roughly the same.

The HP 6510b represents a better price/platform comparison, as it comes with a similar chassis and features, and again the prices end up being nearly the same. We were unable to get a 6510b for this article, but other than the change in chassis the performance should be nearly the same as the dv6500t. Here are the details of the two test laptops.

HP dv6500t Test System
Processor	Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz 4MB Shared L2, 800FSB)
Chipset	Intel GM965 + ICH8-ME
Memory	2x1024MB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 (Nanya NT1GT64U8HB0BN-3C)
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100 (Vista 15.6 Drivers)
Display	15.4" WXGA (1280x800) AU Optronics AUO 2174 (Jan 2005)
Hard Drive	200GB 4200RPM (Toshiba MK2035GSS)
Optical Drive	GSA-4084N 8X DVDR LightScribe
Networking/Communications	Intel 4965AGN (802.11A/B/G/Draft-N) Mini PCI WiFi
Audio	Realtek HDA
Battery	6-Cell 47WHr
Operating System	Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit

HP 6515b Test System
Processor	AMD Turion X2 TL-66 (2.3GHz 2x512K L2) AMD Turion X2 TL-60 (2.0GHz 2x512K L2)
Chipset	ATI RS690M/SB600
Memory	2x1024MB DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 (Qimonda 64T128021HDK3SB)
Graphics	ATI Radeon X1250
Display	14.0" WXGA (1280x800) LG Philips LP141WX1 (Jan 2005)
Hard Drive	160GB 5400RPM (Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00)
Optical Drive	GSA-4084N 8X DVDR LightScribe
Networking/Communications	Broadcom 4321AG (802.11A/B/G/Draft-N) Mini PCI WiFi
Audio	Analog Devices AD1981HD
Battery	6-Cell 55WHr
Operating System	Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit

The dv6500t comes with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300, which provides a clock for clock comparison to the Turion X2 TL-60. The batteries included with each laptop aren't quite the same size, as the 6515b comes with a larger 55WHr compared to the 47WHr on the dv6500t. We also need to be careful when talking about battery life and power requirements as the 15.4" display on the dv6500t may require a bit more power than the 14" display on the 6515b.