Upgrade From T2600 to T7400 CPU in M1710

I have read reviews on the newer Core 2 Duo seems the 4 meg cash really shines on that chip over the Core Duo. They say the pins are compatible. So has anyone tried the newer CPU in a M1710 that came with the t2600 yet?

Only gotcha maybe memory speed.

Thoughts

 

I replaced my T2500 with a T7600. See the 17 Feb update in my review, linked in my sig.

 

T2600 is only 10% slower than T7400.

 

Its quite an expenive upgrade, and it depends on the applications you use. For example, you will a 10% increase if your main tasks are to video edit or encode, or anything else that is processor dependant. Something like gaming will not be improved, as it is limited by the graphics card are not the processor.

 

The difference is not even 10%, check this article; according to that, the overall performance gain is 3.5% (out of 20 benchmarks). A 10% lead is only shown for DivX encoding, some of other encoding applications also show close to 8% gains but most game, and standard apps are below 5%. That article has compared desktop Core 2 processors, but same applies for mobile counterpart as well.

Therefore the processor upgrade you are suggesting is pretty much pointless considering the negligible performance gain, risk of loosing warranty and the money you spend. If you already don’t have (which is unlikely since you have a M1710) 2GB of RAM or a 7200 RPM HDD then spend your money on those.

 

Thanks all for your quick thought on this thread!

Yes I agree bang for the buck is just not there. I have 2 gig ram 100gig 7200 rpm drive and the Go 7900 GTX video. I'm very happy with my M1710!!
I almost bought the M9700 AW. But that unit has aged already.

For what I use my M1710 for is gaming (COH) I will sit tight for now.
I just need to fix the strange video in the game but that will be another thread.

 

Just for the sake of accuracy, and IF I read that article correctly, it is comparing Core 2 Duo to Core 2 Duo Extreme (and desktop cpus at that), not comparing Core Duo (such as a T2600) to Core 2 Duo (such as a T7400).

IMO the nice thing about dropping any mobile Core 2 Duo Socket M into any mobile Core Duo is that you can get an upgrade and "some" performance increase without buying a new laptop. "Cost efficiency" is debatable. I could still be doing most of what I do on my previous Pentium M and saved the enitre cost of my laptop. For the "ultimate" worthwhile cpu upgrade on the M1710, I'd sit tight and wait for the release of the T7600G as a separate part. It's a big if and maybe that they'll ever do that, but after Santa Rosa comes available you would think, hope, pray they would release old inventory. The T7600G can be BIOS OC'd to a stable, everyday 2.83Ghz, without burning up your laptop. I'm satisfied with my cpu upgrade and I'm looking forward to an HDD upgrade to a 160GB 7.2K when they soon become available (and have a price drop). Then down the road will be the upgrade to 4GB RAM and Vista Ultimate (when Vista gets smoothed out). It just never ends!!!

 

Thanks for pointing that out, I was actually thinking more along the cache size (because there are so many threads here asking about the 4MB Vs 2MB difference). The fact that this is a 2MB Core Duo Vs 4MB Core 2 Duo totally slipped my mind .

In that case the average difference will be higher than 3.5% maybe close to 10%. But still the upgrade is not worth unless you are after 64bit capability.

 

It wouldnt be worth it in my opinion, you would see little if any difference in day to day tasks, 90% of average use doesnt even come close to maxing out todays cpus, and most benchmarks dont give a good real world analysis, they are synthetic tests, the T-2600 still has a ton of life left in it, with the setup you have, you should be golden for quite some time.

 

Agreed. Only the power hungry need apply. (I shoulda' kept that Pentium M another year.) For the technically curious HERE is an apples to apples comparison of a laptop T2600 to T7600. Careful, they use benchmarks!