Absolutely, positively need a quad-core laptop? Acer's got the new Aspire 8930G
Let's be completely honest. You probably don't need a quad-core CPU in your laptop. But just in case you're one of those guys who needs to feel like you're keeping up with the desktop crew, Acer's gone and crammed a new Intel Core 2 Quad Mobile Processor Q9000 into the new Aspire 8930G laptop.
The company says, "utilizing four processing cores, 12MB of shared L2 cache, 1066 MHz Front Side Bus and clock speed rates up to 2.53 GHz, the Aspire 8930G-7665 brings unprecedented swiftness and realism to 3D games, which extreme users demand."
We say, we were already fans of the previous version, the Aspire 8920, which was one of the very first 18-inch laptops we got our hands on. The new model is only $1,799 with the Q9000, Blu-ray, and an Nvidia GeForce 9700 GPU, which means we'll probably like it, too -- despite the fact that pretty much no one really needs a quad-core laptop.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan.
"The Q9000 processor is listed at $348, significantly less expensive than the existing QX9300 mobile quad-core processor, which is listed at $1,038, and the Q9100, listed at $851. Both of these processors, however, have 12MB of cache memory, twice the amount of the cheaper Q9000, which integrates 6MB of cache. Generally, the more cache memory, the faster the processor."
12MB? 6MB? Which one is it, Dan? Brooke Crothers, a fellow cnet employee, seems to think differently.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10129536-64.html?subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&part=sphere
Gotta love the loose tongues a cnet. I don't even know which one of you is wrong, because I can't be bothered to look it up myself.
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by jlt0x
January 3, 2009 1:25 PM PST
- I would like to know how a quad core laptop would handle other memory-intensive applications like Word, Excel, IE, AutoCAD, & RSMeans...simultaneously? I know all you guys like 3D gaming, and that's ok, but how does these muscle machines handle serious workloads? And can they provide me with reliable power on a daily basis for at least 2-3 years?
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