As our comprehensive tests have shown, a notebook like the Megabook 635 is both stable and works well, even though it's built around mobile CPUs such as the Turion 64 or the Mobile Sempron from AMD, in tandem with a chipset from a third-party vendor like ATI. From a look and feel perspective, in fact, the behavior this system is hard to differentiate form one equipped instead with a Pentium M and Intel's 915PM chipset.
All claims to the contrary notwithstanding, for an AMD notebook based on the Turion 64 Mobile Technology, wireless networking is just as simple and worry-free as it is on a Centrino device.
From a battery life perspective, the Turion 64 was clearly inferior to the competition based on Intel technology. But then only when the CPU is lightly loaded, as when running a typical set of Office applications. When applications put more demand on the CPU, the difference in battery life among these systems narrows noticeably. And if the CPU and graphics components are purposely maxed out, as when gaming, the tables turn completely as our results showed, and the Intel system falls behind. In this last usage scenario the lion's share of power consumption in a notebook goes to the PCIe-attached 3D graphics chip and video RAM, and not to the CPU.
When looking at partial load factors in a system Intel claims pointedly that its large 2 MB L2 cache is good for more than mere performance, but also that how power management applies to this cache is as important as its size. Whereas the Turion 64 feeds power to its entire 1 MB L2 cache on a permanent basis, under light loads only 1/64 of the L2 cache remains active, so only 32 kbytes need constant power. This leads directly to lower power consumption and current use.
Yet another consequence of the Turion 64 CPU's power consumption is also worth mentioning in this context. Its admittedly fast memory controller is integrated into the CPU kernel supports only DDR RAM. In contrast to DDR2 memory (which requires 1.8V) DDR requires higher input voltage (2.5V). And higher input voltages mean more power consumption, which shortens battery life.
Those results that relate to power usage are quite clear. The majority of performance benchmarks in our tests could be called in Intel's favor.
But as a sort of secret pointer toward AMDs Mobile Sempron also emerges from these tests. In contrast to Intel's Celeron M, this processor (like the Turion 64) also supports a highly capable energy saving technology, Powernow. For a mobile PC intended primarily for use as a portable traveling machine and Internet access tool, it's simply the best option for an affordable, long-running mobile platform.
How well Turion 64 notebooks or, perhaps more accurately, notebooks with Turion 64 Mobile Technology, can compete against Intel's Centrino armada for market share remains to be seen. But where mobile technology features are concerned, AMD and its technology partner Intel can go head-to-head. Nor can we dispute Intel's performance lead, but it's not THE deciding purchase criterion for notebooks, either. But when it comes to battery life, AMD and its partners simply must extend themselves further and improve their capabilities.