Intel T5300 vs. T5500

Hi, I'm about to purchase a latop but I'm not sure which CPU should I be getting. I can choose between the two CPUs;

T5500

CPU Speed:
PCG:
Bus Speed:
Bus/Core Ratio:
L2 Cache Size:
L2 Cache Speed:

1.66 GHz
667 MHz
10
2 MB
1.66 GHz

or T5300

CPU Speed:
PCG:
Bus Speed:
Bus/Core Ratio:
L2 Cache Size:
L2 Cache Speed:

1.73 GHz
533 MHz
13
2 MB
1.73 GHz

What do you guys think, which one is faster? Same price so I'm really confused.

 

Considering one's faster clock wise, and the other is faster front side bus-wise, it doesn't make much of a difference when it comes down to it.

They wouldn't be different in real life usage, and would probably get a similar score in benchmarks.

I suggest the T5500, only because it has the higher front side bus, which will allow you to have 667MHz RAM.

 

So with the T5300 I only will be able to have 533Mhz rams?

 

That is correct.

 

You would be able to have 667MHz RAM with either of those chips. Support for the 667MHz comes from the chipset, not the processor.

 

Yet the 667MHz would be rather useless due to the fact the processor can only write to the RAM via FSB at 533MHz.

 

Yeah, I know, I just didn't want him to think that it wouldn't work in his machine or something. And it could still help if he had an integrated graphics chip.

 

True. I didn't explain it as well as I could have.

Late night posting = has downsides.

 

IGP still limited by FSB yes/no?
I would get faster FSB because of the RAM speed.

 

Yes, faster RAM is quite helpful to integrated graphics, from what I've seen.

 

As Comander Cody (nice avatar/theme) said, there's hardly going to be a difference between these processors. Both should perform very similarly even in demanding applications. The T5300-equipped laptop should be noticeably less expensive.

 

Chaz, I hate to as I could never dig out of 100 neg Rep. But do you think faster FSB and faster RAM matters? And even more if the RAM was the same does FSB matter? What do you think cause I don't know.

 

It all depends on the situation you're in. For most everyday uses, the speed of the RAM doesn't affect performance so much as the latency does, because usually we're reading small amounts from the RAM, so with a lower latency we can access those small amounts faster. For reading larger files (usually several hundred megabytes or more) the speed of the RAM really starts to play an important role, with noticeably increased read/write times for slower RAM. Also, in general, if you have an IGP, the faster your RAM and FSB are, the better your graphics card will perform.

 

Thanks odin243 but I know all that basic stuff, I would like your opinion also. Some of what you say means slower is better but we all know that is wrong. Also the IGP should only be affected by RAM speed not FSB (which I know are related). If I am wrong please teach me.

 

Some people say that 533MHz RAM is indeed better than 667MHz RAM, due to the lower CAS latentcy. In some cases, that is true. And IGP's can be affected by both RAM speed (for textures) and FSB speed (for software rendering). Newer IGP's are less affected by FSB speed, I believe.

 

Thank you for the response.