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    Intel chipset 855 versus 915 performance comparisons?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by LikwidSh0k, Feb 14, 2006.

  1. LikwidSh0k

    LikwidSh0k Notebook Guru

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    Hi,

    I know these are older technologies with Duo Core around the corner, but I am comparing an Asus w3a with an older w3n.

    I found a specs comparison and any info on how the 2 compare in actual performance would be great?

    Thanks alot!
     
    LikwidSh0k, Feb 14, 2006
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  2. qwester

    qwester Notebook Virtuoso

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    check this out: http://www.mobilityguru.com/2005/01/19/sonoma/

    and the basic gains with 915 are the following:
    - faster bus speed. 533 compared to 400
    - DDR2 support. While faster, it suffers from greater latency compared to DDR.
    - Dual channel ... nothing really impressive for the P-M
    - Better integrated graphics ... this was a real good improvement (not sure if the notebooks you are looking at have dedicated or built in gfx)

    The major disadvantage of the 915 is the higher power consumption, but not by a significantly large amount.
     
    qwester, Feb 14, 2006
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  3. xAMDvsIntelx

    xAMDvsIntelx Notebook Deity

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    The 855 would be slightly slower due to its 400MHz bus speed, whereas the 915 has a higher bus speed at 533MHz. However, this leads to better battery for the 855 and slightly worse for the 915.
     
    xAMDvsIntelx, Feb 14, 2006
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  4. dr_st

    dr_st Notebook Deity

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    I think that the major advantage of the 915 is the fact that the FSB speed and RAM speed have both been boosted a bit and brought to sync. The 855 runs at 400FSB but with slower 333RAM.

    But the performance difference clock-for-clock will be small. Heat and battery life might be felt more, so the 855 might even hold some advantage over the 915.
     
    dr_st, Feb 15, 2006
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  5. LikwidSh0k

    LikwidSh0k Notebook Guru

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    The w3a is the 915 and uses an integrated graphics card whereas the w3n is the 855 with a radeon 9700, so it sounds very promising because battery life and reduced heat would be great :)

    I found a few reviews that together compare the w3n with w3v (same chipset as the w3a but with a faster 1.8 instead 1.6 gig porcessor) and the result were surprising ..

    This w3n review that gave MobileMark 2002 performance of 203.
    The same site had a w3v review with a 4200 rpm drive and got only 205.
    I was a bit skeptical but found Cnet's w3v review with a 5400 rpm drive got 226.
    Edit: Just found Cnet's w3n review with a 4200 rpm drive and got 224!

    Not sure if the drive speed is a factor in the test results but either way it is not a big difference at all. And looks to be a similar story with Duo Core based on this Sonoma and Napa comparison

    Thanks alot!
     
    LikwidSh0k, Feb 15, 2006
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