P-7808 Question

Anyone here have this laptop yet? I was wondering if this one also supports raid. I have been searching but cannot find the answer to this question. I would assume it still should have the two HDD bays. But the raid support I am curious about.

I am going to sell my 7805 to get one of these. But I am really hoping there is raid.

It's a shame that i'll need to sell this lappy though as I really need the quad core support, and will have to sacrifice my 1920x1200 screen and my upgraded t9400 processor I already put in this laptop.

 

As far as I know raid is supported.. I dont think its really worth the 1700.00 though. I have the P7807u and I had to RMA it back due to a bad MB.

 

It wouldn't be really, except that I tax my system to the maximum CPU usage right now and having a quad core would eliminate this issue. I run many apps at the same time that two cores can't keep up with. Too bad I can't just put a quad core in this model. But from what I read, there just isn't a way to do so. No BIOS support, and if there was the heatsink isn't designed to support a quad anyway.

Thanks for the response about raid. I figured it would be there, just wanted to make sure.

 

The problem with quads right now is that very few applications are optimized for it. I can't even think of one that is supported.

 

That is true. However, the advantage for me is that, whilst running multiple programs, each program will run on a core. For instance, I have 4 programs running on 2 cores (2 progs per core). Theoretically taking each core value (2.5ghz) and splitting it up between the two programs running on it. (1.25ghz per prog..ok well this isn't exactly what's going on, it's more like the 2 progs are saturating each core because there isn't enough processing power to handle what's going on). If I have a quad core running @ 2.0ghz. Each program has a dedicated core for that prog (enough processing power to handle the workload). I do this on my desktop right now. I just need to be able to do the same thing on my laptop. Make sense?

 

I have a very thick head from getting screwed by overpromise and the underwhelming delivery of the cpu clocking industry (witness the difficult transition from 32 to 64 bit).

Can you explain?

Do you know for sure that you're utilizing all four? Benchmarks?

Again, I'm in the same boat as you. I create VMs for development, and I just simply hate being sold another batch of snake oil-

 

Yes, I monitor all cores while running the progs. And I can clearly tell by going into task manager that I have the affinity set to each core, as well as the load on each core indicating that indeed I am using the cores that have been assigned to the tasks at hand. I've been utilizing quad core CPU's for awhile now like this. This is the advantage that, at least "I", have with these CPU's.

I think the confusion lies in the fact that most consider quad cores "overrated" or simply consider them as "hype" because many programs do not utilize all cores when running. That is a single program using a portion of all the cores to perform that particular task inherently.

But yet many individuals do not realize that you can indeed utilize all cores (independently) "IF" you use multiple applications (heavy on CPU cycles) at the same time. The Vista OS actually does a good job at auto distributing CPU intensive tasks to all cores equally (well as equal as it can get). And if it doesn't, one can go into the task manager and assign the core usage manually with the "Set Affinity" option. Then you can simply assign whichever core you want that particular application to use.

Hope that clarifies things.

 

It certainly does- Thanks!

 

There was a time I could have used the quad core. As it is today I rarely see 50% usage per core on the dual core. If I were to do more HD video editing it might be worth it but for now I don 't, maybe when I retire and have more free time.........

 

The newest BIOS supports RAID as I have my computer in RAID 0

 

Is your sig old? It says you have a 7805 not a 7808

 

Also, whats the BIOS ver in your 7808? That and your motherboard ID's. I'd be interested to see if its the same rev as the 05's

 

Agreed. I would like to know this too.

 

We owners of the 7805 need the 7808 BIOS for Quad support. Can you get it and upload or post link to it?

 

Or at least post the version number lol. I'd assume anyone from here who went and got a 7807 or 7808 would do that in their first post saying they had it.

 

This is absolutely, positively not what's going on. You're misunderstanding multiple cores on modern Windows-based OSes completely.

 

Sorry, but you're going to need to do some reading on Windows kernels (and kernels in general).

In principle, your thinking is dead on, but it's far from what's happening in reality.

 

Well aaronjb, care to shed some light? Maybe some links would help us all out.

 

I agree on this. And let me add that, I find for the most part that most are quick to point out ignorance without following up with the exact logic that makes them correct while making the other person incorrect. This is quite irritating at times. Simply stating that "You are wrong and you need to do your homework", or something of that nature, is really not doing anyone any favors, as it doesn't bring any added value to the thread. I do not mean this in an abrasive way, just stating my thoughts on the matter.

On a side note, I was explaining as simply as I could where "I" get benefits from multiple cores on a processor. I never professed to be an expert at how operating systems worked amongst any other computer part/component. I was merely explaining the benefits I get from real life experiments I have made with my systems. And I stated what I perceived to be the process at hand. Whether my theories are completely sound as to what is happening isn't really relevant here, as the result is still the same as far as the benefits I reap from my system as well as the point I was trying to make.

Additionally, after reading the responses from aaronjb (and no offense), I fail to see what I was saying about my experiences of how I am using the OS is just not correct. So, are my eyes deceiving me? Is what I am seeing on the screen a lie? Are the performance benefits I am experiencing all in my head and are not really happening? When the cores of a processor go under full load, and I see 99% - 100% saturation, is this not why I get dips in performance in my applications? Sorry bud, but your stating what I said is absolutely false is completely unsubstantiated at this point.

Oh and aaronjb,I really would not mind doing some reading on Kernels and the internal workings of "Windows-based OSes". I do like learning new things, and otherwise I would have taken the initiative to go out and read on these topics you are talking about. But at this point since you were so quick to slam what I said (because this is how it came across), I will leave it up to you to provide some relevant reading on the subject. This way I (and others reading this thread) will be sure to understand exactly what point you are trying to make.

 

Nice response. And as you see, nothing from aaronjb, yet. He only has 29 posts as of this writing so he may be busy hunting our links. Who knows...

 

Hey thanks. I was hoping it wasn't too long winded. To tell you the truth, I doubt any response from him will be with links or relative information. It will probably just be more of the same from the first posts he made. So it's probably a good thing a followup post wasn't made.

 

Yeah, it's easy to say "you're wrong" and don't argue telling what's right...