AMD Processor TL-60 vs. TK-57

[lawtyger]

I will be buying an HP laptop today and have narrowed it down to two HP computers. The main difference between the two is:

(1) One has the AMD TK-57 Athlon 64X 2 Dual-Core chip and the other has the AMD Turion TL-60 64 X2 Dual-Core Chip; and

(2) The computer with the TK-57 has 512kB on die level 2 while the laptop with the TL-60 has1024 at die level 2

The computer will be used for basic home stuff (internet searching, word processing, etc.). The laptop will be running Vista with 2 GB Ram to start.

Unfortunately, I've got to make a decision in a couple hours because the new computer is a swap out for a damage Gateway under an extended protection program. Thus, I trying to get a sense of the difference between these two chips and how they would run with Vista or affect battery life. Of course, the TL-60 laptops going to cost me a little more out of my pocket whereas the TX-57 laptop will basically be swapped out.

Any fast advice or education would be great.

Thanks! Chris

 

[Didou]

The TK as opposed to the TL has more cache. The model number also suggest that the 60 runs at a higher operating frequency (probably ensuring a slightly smaller battery life).

If you want more info about the different Turion 64 X2 processors, you can have a look at the Wikipedia page.

ps. I don't think there's such a thing as a TX-57 CPU, it's most likely the TK-57.

 

[lawtyger]

Yes, typo on the TX - I meant TK-57. Also, I realize the cache size difference as I posted that in my post.

I guess what I was getting at was more of whether there was a price point benefit of getting into the newer Turion verses the Athlon chip and whether the extra cache effected the running of Vista to the degree that more RAM when running Vista helps.

Basically the price difference is $150.00 between the computers (but that also includes a 250 GB hard drive (instead of 160) and a webcam both of which I don't necessarily need).

 

[Didou]

The extra cache does not make a huge difference but it's still good to have. The extra CPU frequency is always useful if you intend to run certain intensive applications such as multimedia encoding &/or photo editing. For basic tasks such as web browsing, emailing & other office applications I would go for the TK-57 as it would allow the battery to last longer. If both laptops have 2GB of ram, the choice just comes down to which applications you intend to run on the machine.

ps. unless you intend to carry your entire music/movie/picture/games libraries around with you, a 160GB hard drive should be more than enough.

 

[lawtyger]

Got the HP with the TK-57 Anthlon chip.

The laptop is really just for internet surfing, and my wife taking notes at class. We don't really use an intensive third party programs and don't play games. The only "program" I was concerned with was Windows Vista but hopefully the Athlon processor works almost as good as the Turion running that OS.

Didn't need the 250 hard drive. . . as you said, 160 is sufficient, and all music pictures are stored on the desktop computer with an extra hard drive.

Hopefully I made the right choice. The one thing I know is I didn't need the extra hard drive and didn't need the web cam so it is nice to have the extra money in my pocket.

 

[Didou]

The Turion is an Athlon64 running on a different type of socket (one meant for mobile parts only). There's no significant architectural change between the two & they both support the same features (SSE, 3Dnow!, PowerNow!, ADM64, etc.).

 

[lawtyger]

thanks, that's good technical information and makes me feel a little better given my lack of need for some of the other options the more expensive laptop had.