P7908u CPU input wanted

I've read through numerous threads concerning upgrades to this machine, and it seems as time went on more people ended up with the QX9XXX series quads vs. the T9900 or similar dual cores.

I am interested in upgrading mine, and want would like to get what will keep it viable the longest amount of time. The machine is used mostly for streaming and folding at home, and is always sitting atop a Zalman NC-2000 at half speed.

I know the quad will do much better for FAH, but I am concerned going to 44w for the QX9300 vs. the 35W for the T9900, as these are the two CPU's I'm looking at. Seems the T9900 is the best bet here because it only represents a 10w increase over the P8700 that's in it. For those of you that made the jump to the quads, was there a lot of work needed to keep the system cool? Mine is still as it was from the factory, and due to this I am guessing that even some AC 5 will help, at least somewhat.

What I want to avoid is risking machine/motherboard failure because of heat related issues, and also any risky mods that may be required to get it to accept a quad.

Thanks

 

I put the T9900 in my p7805 u and it didn't really decrease overall life or increase heat noticeably. It also successfully undervolted from 1.21V to 1v flat and was very efficient. Although really, the quad would last longer, but for single threaded apps the dual core is better.

Use a cooling pad and keep the lid open and you wont have to worry about heat failures even when pushing the hardware to %100. The standard power brick will get very hot with the quad though, it already gets real toasty with the T9900, even undervolted.


Either CPU that you get will make you very happy. The T9900 is quite a leap in its own compared to the 8700.

 

Yep, the lid is always open when the unit is on. I had read about issues with the power brick on the quads, some posts indicating the stock brick couldn't power it in some instances. That being the case, or having an insanely hot power brick would seem to tip in favor of the 9900.

Thanks for your reply.

 

FAH will tax the cooling system except at lower clocks and with the CPU under volted. You will be lucky to run 2.66 GHz at 1.05 vcore on a quad. The quad though properly set up will provide more grunt multithreading.

The T9900 or x9100 will provide more desktop snap. It is a better general use CPU, the C2D that is. The quad is only the better choice where you know the CPU is loaded over 50% of the time often. That being said you could easily run FAH on 2 threads and keep the other two just for yourself. This would allow you to keep your same or better FAH output but now have a reasonably responsive system.

 

I pretty much ruled out the x9100 due to the TDP, I would just opt for a qx9300 and run it stock at 2.53, 44 vs. 45 TDP respectively vs. 35 with the T9900. With only a .5 B to C ratio the T9900 is more attractive than the X9100 IMO. Am I missing something here?

I've been running F@H SMP on this machine for going on two years now, and with the P8700 CPU the unit stays plenty cool, and the fans are rarely audible. I didn't start running F@H until I put the laptop cooler under it though, and I'm sure that's a tremendous help. Seems like the power brick is pretty much dictating staying away from quads.

 

TDP is max designed spec, not what it runs at all the time. What a stepping E0 T9900 a x9100 will use up power wise for the same clock generally. The quads though will take the heat and shoot it off two dies causing all kinds of cooling issues. Pre TS though I would have only put in the T9900 as there was no overclock possibility.

 

I know what you mean about the TDP, I just look at it as a reference point. I really just want the best boost in performance that I can get while running at stock speeds. My wife uses this much more than I do, in fact I got it so she would get accustomed to working with computers, and I'd never hear the end of it if anything bad happened to it.

If I did want to OC, it appears a E0 stepping x9100 is the one to have.
Thanks for your input!

 

T9900 it is, while the q9300 will run 2.53 GHz it will overheat and throttle down often when pressed. A T9900 or x9100 E0 should at stock be able to even run prime95, without undervolting, and still not throttle from the heat. So in the end the C2D is the better choice.

 

Also in a similar boat with my P7811. Choices are:

x9100 c0 - ~$150; runs 15% hotter than e0
x9100 e0 - ~$180; only engineering samples available
T9900 e0 - ~$225; pricey
T9600 e0 - ~$100; 2.8GHz

I am leaning towards the T9600 of which I might be able to snag the boxed version.