T42 vs T60 (9000 vs GMA950)

I have the choice of "upgrading" my work laptop. I typically don't play games on it that much, but will from time to time. Especially when on business trips and no access to my home PC.

I could swap out my current Thinkpad T42 for a T60. At first I was excited, but after looking at the specs I'm not sure if it would be a better machine. I searched around for info on Mobility Radeon 9000 vs Intel GMA950, but couldn't find much. My hunch is that the Mobility Radeon 9000 should make me want to keep the T42, but I'm not sure... any advice you could offer would be great.

T42 14"
VID: Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB
CPU: Pentium M 1.6GHz
RAM: 1GB
HDD: 80GB
OPTICAL: DVD-ROM/CDRW

T60 14"
VID: Intel GMA950
CPU: Intel Core Solo T1300 1.66GHz (dang, not the duo version)
RAM: 1GB
HDD: 60GB
OPTICAL: DVDRW/CDRW

So the T60 has one extra USB port (3), Bluetooth and a DVD Burner. None of which are important to me. The DVD Burner would be nice for backing up files, but I can live without it if it means I can't play any games on those long trips!

The resolution on the T40 is 1024x768 native res, while the T60 is 1400x1050 which is a little small for me.

So which one would you choose? Thanks in advance!

 

T60 without any doubt. The 9000 is a better card but the faster DDR and CPU will make that up.

I would go for the T60. It also has a better screen. But thats still my choise.

Charlie

 

I've been able to play World of WarCraft, BattleField 2, Need for Speed underground 2 and LotR Battle for Middle Earth II on my T40.

Will the T60 with it's GMA950 play those?

 

Unfortunately it won't play them with anything but the lowest settings, if at all. The GMA950 was never designed to do 3D and I would not recommend it to anyone wanting to do that sort of thing.

I would suggest completing the FAQ and posting a new thread in the What Should I Buy section if you would like some recommendations.

 

GMA950 will not play BF2. If you plan doing any gaming, even of the slightly older type, I'd just opt for the T42.

 

No it wont, u can have the fastest cpu in the world and fastest ram in the world it will not make up the difference between a dedicated and integrated gpu. Plus the cpu is barely any faster than his old on, and most likely the ram is the same 533mhz speed

OP, if ur looking for gaming then the old 9000 will do much better than the 950 integrated, but if ur looking for an overall better machine then the t60 will be the choice

 

I'm pretty sure the T1300 has a 667MHz FSB since Core Solos are exactly the same as Core Duos only with 1 core disabled. It's only the Txx50 Core Duos and Core Solos that have 533MHz FSBs.

In regards to the 9000 vs GMA 950 issue and the lack of benchmarks, the only thing I could suggest is looking at Mac Mini comparisons between the old G4 versions which used the 9200 and the Intel versions that use the GMA 950. In general the GMA 950 should be fine at reasonable resolutions (probably not the native 1400x1050 resolution though) for WoW and Need for Speed Underground 2 since they are both DX7 generation games. That LOTR may get a bit hazy since it's DX8 generation (the GMA 900 is the minimum requirement), but BF2 is out of the question.

 

Okay, that settles it then. I didn't post in the what to buy area because it's not my choice. They are simply swapping out some laptops in the office and I had the option to "upgrade". I ran a CPU benchmark and the Core Solo is only about 5% or so "better". Basically the clock speed and a couple system enhancements. With my T42 I can play BF2, granted not at high settings, but for my casual hotel gaming it does the trick!

Bonus, I swapped out the DVD-Burner from the T60 to the T42. So the only thing I'm losing out on is Bluetooth (no biggie) and a barely noticible (in office applications) system speed. Thanks folks!

 

Ok great to hear that you have made a choice. Congrats with your notebook.

Charlie