Core 2 Duo 1.83ghz vs. 2.00ghz (heat)

I'm going to be buying a laptop and I have a choice between a Core 2 Duo 1.83ghz or a Core 2 Duo 2.00ghz. Is there any difference between these two processors in terms of heat? I like my laptops as quiet and cool as can be and I didn't know if upgrading to the 2.00ghz processor would make the laptop run hotter. Sorry if this is a stupid question but I had to know!

 

Both processors have the same TDP rating, which means they will output about the same amount of heat.

 

Here is an awesome link about CPU heat/power: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_power_dissipation

 

even if there is a 1-3 degree difference i'm sure the variance in building the laptop would affect noise/heat

 

Intel used the same TDP for all the normal C2D series and even the electrical specs in the data sheet do not reveal any differences.

However, my gut feeling is that the extra 2MB of cache on the T7xxx CPUs must draw some more current although, in theory, inactive parts of the cache get disabled.

I'll offer some heat and fan activity observations from my own experience. My Samsung X60plus has the T7200 CPU and an ATI X1700 GPU. The fan runs about 80% of the time even under light load. My Samsung Q35 has the T5600 CPU and the Intel integrated GPU. Under light load the fan runs maybe 20% of the time. The fan trigger temperatures are very similar.

Unfortunately, I can't separate the power draw / heat under light load between CPU and GPU, but if you are wanting a quiet computer, integrated graphics is the way to go if you can live with the performance (in the same was as an automobile with a small engine will never drink lots of fuel hower hard you push it).

If you are worried about heat generation and fan activity under load, then I recommend that you look into undervolting the CPU. How far the CPU will undervolt varies with individual CPUs. They all come off the same silicon and are classified according to testing and market demand.

My T7200 came with the preset voltage at 2GHz as 1.187V. I've got it running stable at 1.05V at maximum speed. My T5600 came with the preset voltage at 1.83GHz as 1.25V. I've got it running stable at 1.00V at maximum speed. Dropping the voltage makes a very big change to the power / heat / fan activity under full load since power depends on V squared (I reckon about 11W on my Q35).

However, if you have got a GPU also burning lots of power the difference may not be so noticeable. So my conclusion is, if you have a dedicated GPU the heat/fan difference between 1.83GHz and 2GHz may not be evident, but if you are using an integrated GPU the difference will be more noticeable.

John

 

Your GPU and CPU almost certainly share the same heatsink, which is probably why the fan turns on so much. It also depends a lot on the design of the case, if the airflow is necessary or not. I have a 2GHz Pentium M in my Thinkpad T43 for work, and the fan runs more often on it (almost constantly) than it does with my T7400 personal laptop processor.

 

Intel's TDP isn't something I would rely on, as they do slightly invent hte figures to "look" a bit better. Having said that, they do give a good idea of what the output is like. I would assume the T7200 would output a little more heat, but if your notebook has a strong dedicated graphics card, then it is likely that the output of the processor, will not affact the fan speed at that much, because it will already be spinning to keep the graphics card cool, like Pitabred has said.

 

I'll agree with the general consensus here that you are not going to see any noticeable difference in heat between the T5600 and T7200 processors.

I think what you need to ask yourself is whether or not you need the extra power afforded by the T7200. The difference between the two will not be noticeable unless you're running applications that take minutes to process something (such as a video or picture). In that case, the T7200 will complete the task in a shorter amount of time.