Is it worth spending £200+ on an added 1GHz of processor speed or same speed with more cores?"

Hi, I have a similar question as the guy asked in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=405894

In my case, I use my laptop for games (GTA IV, Assassin's Creed, NBA 2k10 and - in a few days - PES 2010: that's about it). I normally watch movies, listen to music, surf , blog and chat (video and voice). In terms of work I use statistical software like SPSS, Stata and Office applications. On occasion, I need to burn discs when I need it. That's about it. I'd say my decision to buy is for games primarily but I'm also looking for money value.

The Q9000 costs around £240 to 250 while the T9900 costs around £220 to 230.

I suppose the question is, "Is it worth spending £200+ on an added 1GHz of processor speed or same speed with more cores?"

I currently have a Core 2 Duo P7350 (2.0GHz, 1066MHz FSB 3MB L2 25W) which I'm quite pleased at the moment. I want to know my options and if I can "futureproof" my laptop a bit.

Thanks!

 

You could get that extra 1ghz for free.

Try setfsb, if it doesn't work I may be able to help you troubleshoot it.

Also you could pin mod the clock generator (PLL).

But 4 cores could be usefull for futureproofing.
Maybe wait a little bit, the Q9000 should drop in price as more i7s hit the market.

 

I haven't heard any of these (setfsb, PLL). Can you refer me to a guide? I'm a bit skeptical with overclocking since I don't want to fry my system so any help would be great, thanks!

I agree with waiting a bit, probably after six months, I reckon.

 

This is known as overclocking. Most likely (read: surely) it will void your warranty.

 

I OCed my acer aspire 1693's Pentium 750M from 1.86GHz to a stable 2.3GHz. Snappier all round. Used setfsb.

Probably will need to invest in an active cooling solution ie. notebook cooler to overcome the extra heat generated from OCing.

 

When I grow up I want to be Moral Hazard..

Pin mods..

FSB ocing...

Moral will you please buy and HDX 18t with a Q-9000 so I can follow your guides..

Serg agrees with.... ahl395.... as well I do..

But I want to agree with you Moral.. I do.. I really do..

As for spending more money for more cores.. (the original question by the the poster)..

I bought my first quadcore.. a Q-9000... it was a $250 (U.S.) dollar upgrade..I will never buy a dualcore again.. I work my machine sometimes.. Adobe Pro, MicroSoft Office Ultimate (with the accounting add on) putting together PDF's with a LOT! of detailed pictures..

The Quad core for me has perfromed as advertised.. http://www.hphdx.net/Forum/tabid/55/forumid/6/threadid/2145/scope/posts/Default.aspx

The addition of a notebook cooler to any and all laptops.. YES!!!!!!

I have killed all of my laptops.. I use them in my lap.. which blocks the vents / air intakes.. as well the fan trying to expel the heat.. I am a NOOB!

So after I bought the laptop I own now.. I did a little research.. and found in NBR (here) that the Pro's use them.. and to good result.. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235021

I would say that if a laptop cooler is good enough for someone who spent $5,000 to $8,000 or more dollars on a laptop.. and it works with for them.. then it is good enough for me..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5206152&postcount=6532

Heat stress in my case burns thru Graphics Cards.. no more..

I hope this helped a little..

Be well, JW

 

Q9000 is more future proof than a T9900.. also faster in games like GTA 4...

 

Depends on usages. A faster dual core will kill the slower quad core on single and dual threaded apps, on multi threaded, the quad core will eat alive the dual. It depends. As for gaming, there are still few exceptions that fully utilize the 4 cores, and I am hoping this changes.

 

I appreciate the replies, cheers!

Well, I can wait for around half a year to see what happens next. Also, I think I'll read about setfsb (I saw it somewhere but lost it - forgot to bookmark - I'll just search for it) and the other stuff to get a feel about the risks and costs of OCing (notebook cooler? I reckon this is internal?).

Thanks again!

 

For gaming, I'd go with the faster Dual cores. There is little market incentive for parallelism, and it will continue. It will likely take a combined effort from Intel and Microsoft to break the stagnant development at the consumer level.

 

Or the new i7s have the best of both worlds, fast dual core and fast quad core, depending on application... plus the 720QM is fairly cheap.

 

It depends if the OP already has the laptop or is buying, the budget available (i7 is a tad more expensive than C2D/Q). Since a C2D is fairly cheaper and still have a great performance, it is a great way to go.

 

I don't think this processor is suitable for my laptop, thanks though!

 

I need some help getting information on SetFSB, I've been searching for an hour and I'm still a bit confused on how to get on with it.

 

Try contacting moral_hazard via PM.
You could also check his thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=393027

 

Oh I totally forgot you were upgrading. Reading over your list of applications, the quad core will be much better since they can take advantage of the extra cores.

 

Will do, thanks Serg!

No probs I reckon, I'd get a quad core but I'll wait for the prices to drop - hoping that supply won't run out

 

Sure no problem. Anything else we can help you with?

 

Sorry for the slow reply.

Get setfsb from here:
http://www13.plala.or.jp/setfsb/

Then you want to find what clock generator you have. You could either take your notebook apart, look for a small chip that has something written on it like "ICS*****" or "SLG****" or "RTM*****".


Or you could try using every clock generator available in setfsb.
1. Select a clock generator.
2. click "getfsb".
3. if the program reads your frequency correctly, move the top slider a tiny bit.
4. press "setfsb".

Download cpuz.
Use cpuz to check if the CPU is overclocked.
If not, try another clock generator in setfsb.

The best way to find your clock generator is to take the notebook apart.

If you do take it apart, and you can't find the clock generator (PLL) then please take photos of your motherboard and I will try to point it out to you.

If setfsb doesn't work please let me know, I can help you get it supported if we can find the datasheet for the PLL.

Software overclocking should not cause any damage if you keep the temp low.

But it could be a waste of time, maybe you should get the quad core.

 

You should easily get a Q9000 for less than 200 pounds if you look on ebay.. in fact you might get a Q9100 for 200 pounds.

 

Sorry, I was away for the weekend

I'll read around first and see if I understand some of the stuff. I might also try undervolting.

Brilliant! I agree that it might take too much of my time though But I'll give it a go, cheers!!!

Honestly, I'm very skeptical about buying stuff on eBay but thanks for the tip mate!

 

By the way, if Q9000 would work on my laptop, would the Q9100 or Q9200 work as well? I'm thinking this because the Q1 and Q2 have the same FSB as the T9900 and Q9000. My current processor is a P7350 by the way.

 

Yes, if the Q9000 works, all the quad core C2Qs will work on it. What laptop do you have?

 

I've got an Acer 7738G with the P7350 processor, there's a 7738G with a Q9000. I asked CWolf about compatibility and he says he's confident enough that the Q9000 would work since it's probably the same motherboard and chassis.

 

Oh boy. Be sure to double check. I have a G51vx-RX05. There is another model of G51, the G51vx-A1, which supports quads. So I decided to attempt a quad installation. No go.

Make sure the motherboard revisions are the same, since that's the one detail that killed off my master plan.

 

The dual and quad core debate is a very large one that has been going on for a while. There aren't that many applications out there that will put quad cores to use, but those that do will go much faster on a quad core. For example, GTA4 runs faster on the Q9000 2.0GHz than it will on even a dual core extreme X9100 3.06GHz.

Which processor you wish to go for comes down to one thing: What programs do you use?

My personal opinion about quad cores is that the 2.0GHz clock speed in mine is still fast enough to run most single or dual threaded apps as they are usually older, whereas will run newer apps and games faster as they normally support quads.

I'm still of the opinion that fewer games will run better on a faster clocked duo above 2.0GHz than on a quad, as nearly all games won't be bottlenecked by 2.0GHz anyway and a lot of those that would, I find, run great on the quad (like Crysis).