What’s the performance of the Edge 11 AMD K345 like?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:01 am
Do you have a Thinkpad Edge 11 with an AMD K345 processor? If you do, how do you find the performance? I ask because I intend to buy an Edge 11 and I’m torn between the Intel i3 model and the AMD K345 model. (I live in the UK).
From what information I have gathered to date, for CPU performance there’s little doubt I would be better off with the Intel i3 model. However, unlike the AMD model, the Intel machine doesn’t offer wireless wan and being a tidy person I like the idea of it all being built-in and not relying on dongles.
Both offer the option of 4-GB RAM and a 340-MB hard drive so there will be no difference there. And as for the usual concerns over short battery life and high temperature in AMD laptops, that doesn’t appear to apply to the Edge 11. Indeed, according to this review, the battery life is better on AMD Edge 11, and in terms of temperature there’s little difference between the two: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 613.0.html
It’s also important to note that the above review compares the Intel i3 model against the previous Edge 11 AMD K325 model, not the K345. In some benchmarking stats I’ve read online (unfortunately I’ve since lost the link) the K345 processor came out 25% faster than the K325. If the CPU performance stats in the above review and these benchmarking stats I read elsewhere are accurate then the Intel i3 model would still come out on top against the K345 model but the difference between the two would surely be significantly reduced – halved even?
Cost isn’t an issue either, as once I’ve added the cost of a Gobi 2000 wireless wan card to the AMD model and the cost of a dongle to the Intel model they amount to the same.
As for my application requirements, they are pretty basic: Email, Internet & Office, video streaming from Youtube and BBC iplayer. But what I also want is for the laptop to be reasonably snappy, the last thing I want to do is regret lumbering myself with a sluggish laptop that doesn’t meet even my basic requirements when I could of had the faster Intel model, albeit without built-in wireless wan.
So if you have any first-hand experience of the Edge with an i3 or K345 processor I’d really appreciate any comments you have.
From what information I have gathered to date, for CPU performance there’s little doubt I would be better off with the Intel i3 model. However, unlike the AMD model, the Intel machine doesn’t offer wireless wan and being a tidy person I like the idea of it all being built-in and not relying on dongles.
Both offer the option of 4-GB RAM and a 340-MB hard drive so there will be no difference there. And as for the usual concerns over short battery life and high temperature in AMD laptops, that doesn’t appear to apply to the Edge 11. Indeed, according to this review, the battery life is better on AMD Edge 11, and in terms of temperature there’s little difference between the two: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 613.0.html
It’s also important to note that the above review compares the Intel i3 model against the previous Edge 11 AMD K325 model, not the K345. In some benchmarking stats I’ve read online (unfortunately I’ve since lost the link) the K345 processor came out 25% faster than the K325. If the CPU performance stats in the above review and these benchmarking stats I read elsewhere are accurate then the Intel i3 model would still come out on top against the K345 model but the difference between the two would surely be significantly reduced – halved even?
Cost isn’t an issue either, as once I’ve added the cost of a Gobi 2000 wireless wan card to the AMD model and the cost of a dongle to the Intel model they amount to the same.
As for my application requirements, they are pretty basic: Email, Internet & Office, video streaming from Youtube and BBC iplayer. But what I also want is for the laptop to be reasonably snappy, the last thing I want to do is regret lumbering myself with a sluggish laptop that doesn’t meet even my basic requirements when I could of had the faster Intel model, albeit without built-in wireless wan.
So if you have any first-hand experience of the Edge with an i3 or K345 processor I’d really appreciate any comments you have.