Upgrading a T901, Results!

Here's another core benchmark set on Server 2003 x86, powered by the 2720QM CPU.

The results are worst with this CPU, curiously enough!

I am going to try two different CPUs next...I am switching generations altogether to see if that has any effect on the thermals.

i7-740QM (which is what I have on hand for immediate use/testing - if it does well I can try the more powerful members of the first generation), and i7-3920XM (I see that the i7-3940XM has already come out!)

Actually come to think of it - the first generation i7's don't have integrated graphics. So that may not fly (but still worth a shot in my opinion).

And the third generation may not work at all on the system of course. So both these alternatives are already long shots.

But will let you know what happens

 

Wow, you did great work! I think one way to do less throttling is improving of cooling system..no doubt if your tests were doing on laptop with something like thermaltake for notebook results would much better

 

Neither of those two CPUs (first gen/third gen) worked. The third gen was kind of hopeful at start - but the numlock sign would just blink upon boot and no display was available. The first gen did nothing at all whatsoever; even the fan was not spinning.

I'm expecting a 2820QM currently. And in the meanwhile, running on the best performing 2630QM. Maybe this one is the least under-clocking because it runs the RAM at lower than 1600MHz? Another idea to cool the system therefore might be to just use slower 1333MHz RAM instead of 1600MHz RAM.

 

Well, it's done. The sweetest spot has been found; indeed it is the 2820QM CPU.

The full set of benchmarks are attached. I find it interesting that on Server 2003 x86, possibly due to sloppy drivers affecting thermal management, the CPU still underclocks itself to 1.4GHz when stressed by wPrime on all cores, still running for about half the time at 1.8GHz. The same stress test on 7 x64 has the CPU running consistently at 1.8GHz, which is just wonderful. I suppose this is further evidence that this CPU is barely accommodated by the T901 - and any faster one results in more severe loss of speeds; with any slower one resulting in lost potential.

Thanks all for following the ride

Here's the Server 2003 x86 Batch:

 

Here's the first selections from the Windows 7 x64 Batch:

 

And here's the remainder of the Windows 7 x64 Batch:

 

if you cant swap out the processor I'm definitely going for the 901, one question though, can you confirm if the 901 and 902 screens are swappable with one another? and if it's a completely compatible (ie. the screens electronically are compatible but the 902 doesn't mount to the 901, or stuff like that)

eith way thank you for all of the info; it makes life a lot easier to make an informed decision

 

I don't think anything is swappable, actually.

Fujitsu completely re-did the entire design. In most respects, I have to say the new design is actually nicer. Its thinner and lighter, for one. But this means your T901 accessories won't work:

- Optical bay battery is slimmer
- Optical bay hard drive caddy is slimmer (2.5" drives still fit though)
- Main battery is not just a "brick" but an elongated affair with a fragile looking, thin center (if you've seen one you know what I mean)

I don't have a problem with the T902. In fact, if the CPU had been upgradeable, I might have made it my primary. I have spent all this time (and money) researching the ideal 8 core CPU for the T901 and I am very pleased with the results.

I finally have an extreme tablet

I plan to use the T902 as an "experimental" Windows 8 machine for now. I don't think highly of all the touch UI, but it won't hurt to take it out for a spin (and see if it grows on me).

By the way, the default drivers for the T901 are kind of buggy. The Renesas 3 USB driver causes failures of disk clone operations using Paragon Disk Manager 11; when updated with a more recent driver it all works.

You're very welcome for all the info - please enjoy

 

Any recommendations for RAM on the T902?

I'm wondering if I can use 1.5v RAM and whether to go with CL11 or CL9 RAM.

Any advice?

I think I might just step back and order a T901 soon...

 

Hi mimarsinan,

Was wondering if a 9.5mm HD fits into the new hard drive caddy of the T902?

Thanks!

 

Yes, but barely.

Sorry, I don't know about the RAM at all.

Which one did you end up getting - the T901 or the T902?

 

Got the T902, not happy - returning it and got a T901 on the way...

 

Happy with the T901?

Mine is slowly "burning out". The sweet-spot CPU which I had meticulously researched, or the motherboard, is slowly dying. Right now the CPU underclocks itself to 1GHz when under stress, and runs at 1.4GHz only when there should be ample room to activate Turbo Boost, or at the very least run at the stock 2.3GHz speed.

I suppose this explains why Fujitsu does not sell this system with an 8 core part Still, for the few months where it did work reasonably fast, the Extreme Tablet project was really fun.

 

Have you cleaned the heatsink from collected dust?

 

It's got a removable dust filter, which does collect some dust, and is probably designed to keep the heat sink itself dust-free.

However it might be worthwhile to actually tear down the system again, and check the current state of the fans, etc.

Although, I am pretty sure the issue is caused by running a 45W part on a 35W specced system.

It is definitely heating related though - using the system in cold weather outdoors results in a great performance boost.

Do you think the mobo/CPU is gradually dying, or that the issue is just really about dust? The tear down is a lot of work...

 

Mine's been working fine with a 2720QM for like 5 months now. It's possible I haven't pushed it as far as you, but I put it through some pretty strenuous stuff and performance was consistent. Some issue with your cooling system seems most likely.

 

i love this whole thread. In ignorance, I installed two 8 GB 1600 RAM modules with the stock i5, and then installed Windows 7 x64.

I kept getting the BSD, but it passed the built-in memory test. Finally, I ran a more sophisticated memory test that boots itself off a USB drive. It found errors that tended to cluster on both sides of the 8 GB boundary.

So here's my question. If I'm sticking with the i5 (or maybe, eventually, one of the i7s that Fujitsu explicitly supports) what pair of 8 GB 1333 RAM modules would you recommend for compatibility and reliability.

Thanks.

 

Hi. I'm going to replace the stock CPU with i7-2720QM too. Does it ever work fine?

 

That's great to hear. Have you checked the system under 100% CPU load for extended durations of time, say 30 minutes, with a monitor like TMonitor to see if anything is actually losing speed?

 

To be honest in my experience every quad core (8 with HT) CPU I tried was resulting in under-clocking of some sort or the other when under stress. This is why I eventually ended up settling on the slowest quad core CPU with an 8 MB cache, it seemed to offer the sweetest spot of performance.

However there's already another report that the quad core CPU with a 6 MB cache might be doing better - the same CPU you're asking about. I don't recall the details of my testing this CPU, but would be well worth a shot!

 

Thank you for your attention!
I read the whole thread, so I know about your experience with 6M cached quadcores.
I hoped that Seggybop's trying was ever stable, but I shall anyway try because I'll have a 2720qm for free.
What kind of test do you suggest me to execute?

 

Hi, sorry that I didn't see this sooner. I still haven't had any problems with the 2720qm (or 16gb ram, for that matter).
I've run Orthos and Prime95 for extended periods to test it, without any throttling. I haven't noticed any slowdowns during rendering or other intense processing either. Everything seems to be working as expected. ymmv, of course, but it seems good.

 

I'd suggest wPrime with 8 threads in 1024M mode to see how stable it goes?

Also keep a copy of the latest version of TMonitor running at the same time, so you can check the status of each of your CPU cores.

Best way to detect under-clocking and dynamic overclocking!

 

Wow, that's really great! I wonder why my system throttles down so much. I did open it up recently again, not much dust inside at all..

 

Hi . .. I saw this thread .. And hm didnt want to start a new one.. Since this is a somehow old tabplet pc.. But even thou hope someone can hear me xD and give me an advice..
I work mostly in photoshop ..corel painter..doing art .. Freelancing and stuff like that ..
T 901and t902 are a very good alternatives to cintiq companion.
A few week ago I bought a t902 from ebay seller.. Short sotry ..I had to ship it back because of some failures and malfunctions..
Now I have the chance to buy a used ,but in good condition t901. ..but with i5 ..
My question is .. Is it worth buy a cuadcore cpu and go through all that ? From what I read.. The cpu starts to heat up.. And in some cases(?). It shortens the cpu life ? ..
Or even if I put into the t901 a cuad core and faster cpu and 16 gb ram ,..t902 with an i5 will be better and faster option?
Thanks