i5 540M to replace Duo T9800?

Hi

I have finally been offered my repalcement M17xR2.

I m happy with everything except the processor.

I had Duo T9800 (2.93GHz, 6MB cache) and they want to give me i5 540M (2.5GHz, 3MB cache).

Is this fair??

Any help would be appreciated

Shacs

 

Try calling them and explain,maybe there's room for a better one!

 

A high end Core 2 Duo CPU replaced with a mid range i5 doesn't sound that fair.

 

Uh yeah I'd call on that, just make sure you have some ammo to explain why those aren't the correct swap. When I had my R1 replaced I had a T9600 and ended up getting an i7-820qm.

Edit: Explain to them that you need something that is equal or better on the 2.93ghz clock rate as you use a lot of single and dual core capable apps, the only two cpu's I could see that would be a fair swap would be maybe the i7-620/640 or the i7-920/940 due to the clock rate and L3 cache.

 

The one good thing about the 540M is that it has unlocked TDP, so it can turbo boost all day long. But I'd try for a higer CPU

 

it actually sounds pretty fair to me. The 540 will be a good bit more powerful than the T9800. You're getting a pretty good cpu upgrade. Doesn't hurt to ask, but don't look at it like they're jipping you.

 

Not going to say if its 'fair' as you can only decide that.

In the past, they always looked at MHz when setting up your replacement CPU specs. Stick to this. Tell them the i5 is slower than your C2Duo (MHz) (also you are losing out on the cache).

 

^ i second that I had a t9900 and they gave me a 720qm i got jipped kinda, but now that setFSB has been workin I am fine

 

When 1 core is active on the Core 2 T9800 or on a Core i5-540M, both CPUs are designed to run at the exact same speed of 3.06 GHz. The T9800 uses Intel Dynamic Acceleration which boosts the speed when a single core is active and the Core i5 uses Turbo Boost. At the same clock rate, a Core i5 is always going to be faster than a Core 2.

When both cores are active, the T9800 is rated at 2.93 GHz and the i5-540 can turbo boost up to 2.80 GHz. The more efficient Core i architecture should have these two performing very similar.

The big advantage for the Core i5 is hyper threading. In any multi-threaded test where there are 3 or 4 main threads like 3D rendering, the Core i5-540M will walk all over a T9800. It shouldn't even be close.

Based on equivalent performance, I can understand the logic behind Dell wanting to exchange your T9800 for a Core i5-540M but based on what other users have received, it won't hurt to ask for more.