Is upgrade from T5300 to T2500 worth it?

I have a T5300 in my Dell E1505. It is my main work computer since my other computer is dead at the moment, and it is generally unreliable.

My T5300 is a 1.73 GHz Core 2 duo (533MHz FSB), with every multiplier running at 0.950Volts (for some reason Cpu-z picks up the voltage as 1.063V)

Here is a cpu-z page:


I found a great deal on a T2500 which is a 2.0Ghz core duo processor.
It has a 667Mhz FSB, whereas mine has a 533Mhz FSB.
I have Pc5300 memory in my E1505, so if I were to upgrade my memory FSB would increase from 533 to 667Mhz as well.

I do not know very much about the T2500, so if anyone can chime in, it would be greatly appreciated.

My main questions are these:
1) is the cpu upgrade actually going to give me more cpu power (core 2 duo to core duo)
2) does the T2500 have virtualization technology
3) can the T2500 run all multipliers at their lowest voltage (0.950v)
4) will it decrease my rendering times with V-ray and 3ds max?

I primarily use my computer for CAD, so the more cpu power the better. Renderings use 100% cpu power and can take excess of 45 minutes with the T5300.

Any help would be great. If someone could post a cpu-z shot of their T2500 and a sis sandra bench of the T2500 (with MIPS and Mflops) that would be great.

K-TRON

 

Use CPU-Z v1.41 to get the correct voltage readings.

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Every CPU chip is different
4) Will see an improvement as compared to the T5300

Merom was 64-bit compliant, 4MB max cache and had a couple of extra Intel features, apart from that there was no difference in merom and yonah.

The T2500 would perform the same as my OCed T5200 (@667MHz).

See if you can find a deal on a T2700/T7400.

Benchmark List

 

1) I think so.
2) Yes, according to this article.
3) As Andy says.
4) No idea.

 

why would you want to downgrade to a core duo?? get a t7200 FTW

 

Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 spec
Intel® Core™2 Duo Mobile Processor T5300 spc

1) it should (faster clock and FSB with same amount of cache)
2) Yes (look at the spec)
3) Intel spec lists VID range for T2500 as 1.1625V - 1.30V. So I’m guessing maybe not ??
4) I dont think so.

But T2500 is a Core Duo without EM64T therefore no 64bit support.

 

Wait.

Core 2 Duo "upgrade" to Core Duo???

No?? That doesn't make any sense at all.

Actually, the T2500 has better specs (faster clock speed, FSB) than the Core 2 Duo. I don't get it.

 

I was baffled at first too, but when you look at the specs, T2300 has a faster CPU clock, FSB clock and a better thermal spec; except for 64bit support, it seems the better processor (at least on paper).

 

Agree, get a T7200.

 

alright thanks guys. The problem is I cant sell my original T5300 cause I need it in case my dell dies. I have over 4 years warranty remaining, so I was looking for something faster.
The T2500 has a faster core and bus speed, but even then the passmark thing ANDY posted says the T5300 is a better cpu.
For $40 i do not see any loss with getting the chip.
I cant find any T2600, T2700, T7200, T7400, T7600 processors for cheap anywhere. I really want a T7600 but I do not want to dish out $350 for one.

I think I will jump on the deal, and see if any comparisons can be made. the cpu is only $40, so I could probably use it for something else at a later time, if its not faster.

I am still looking for T2500 cpu-z and sis sandra benchies if anyone has them

also
if it has EM64T, doesnt that mean it has 64 bit capability?


K-TRON

 

How did you manage that? I was under the impression that 4 years was the max.

 

haha,
I have a 6 year on site with weekend service warranty on my E1505. I can pull strings allright. My neighbor knows Michael Dell personally, and does million of $$$ of business with his company
But I asked if I could get an upgrade, and I cannot, I already got my freebie.

lucky 4444 post

this is not the point though, and please do not ask me for freebies.

K-TRON

 

No intention to, just found it very surprising considering the E1505's have been out for a while and you still had 4+ years left on your warranty.

 

Wow!

 

I just ran SIS sandra on my T5300 and it scores:
CPU Arithmetic
Dhrystone ALU = 15728 MIPS
Whetstone iSSE3 = 10933 MFLOPS

Integer x4 iSSE2 = 93078 it/s
Floating Point x4 iSSE2 = 51139 it/s

I came across this thread on Hardforum:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1021645

The guy said the T2500 scored:
CPU Arithmetic
Dhrystone ALU = 18079 MIPS
Whetstone iSSE3 = 7255 MFLOPS

Integer x4 iSSE2 = 37833 it/s
Floating Point x4 iSSE2 = 41930 it/s


So it appears the Core 2 duo architecture is far superior to the core duo architecture. My T5300 completely owns the T2500.

I think I will still buy it cause its a great deal, what do you guys think?
Its only $40

K-TRON

 

I wouldn't. I think the difference in speed will be neglegible myself. And aren't the C2D's more efficient than the Core Duos?

I think your better off getting 4gb of ram or something like that with your money.

Greg

 

The core 2 duo is more efficient, but the deal is really good. As far as power goes, its definitely weaker, but I may be able to trade or sell it to fund a T7xxx merom

I tried upgrading my system to 4gb of memory, but the Bios only supports 2gb of memory.

K-TRON

 

SetFSB will do you some good.

 

Yes, but T2500 doesn't have EM64T, so no 64bit capability.

Edit: I found Gophn's thread - Measure your Dual/Multi Core Notebook CPU Speed - Bye Bye to SuperPI - T2500 get better results than T5600, T5500 and T5200(no T5300 there though) with wPrime. Just to let you know, I have no idea if wPrime benchmarks are better than the benchmarks you've found.

 

okay, I will have to run wprime to compare.
Sissandra is usually right though. But I will test anyways.
Thanks for the suggestion

K-TRON

 

900 versus 842 is hardly a difference. I dont know how passmark works, cause sisandra shows the T5300 is a much faster cpu.
I guess the only way to know for sure is to buy it and test the time it takes o render each file, and compare from their.

K-TRON

 

There are two T2500s listed. One seems to be wrong.
970 (T2500) vs 842 (T5300) is a good difference.

(T2400 is 892)

If I am right, I ran SiSandra benchies with my [email protected], which had the same specs as the T2500, and OCed T5200 got a similar WPrime result as the T2500 in Gophn's thread.

BTW, try running the same versions of PCMark (04), and SiSandra (2005 Lite) used by the user in the thread that you linked, to compare results.

 

I did use the same version of SisSandra. I think that I can trust the people at hardforum, since Sandra is a pretty reliable benchmark. I am really too busy to test right now, so i think I will just by the cpu and call it a day. Than list real benchies later.

K-TRON

 

Okay, I received the T2500 and I installed it this morning.
By no means i the T2500 anywhere near as fast as my T5300.
I ran Sisandra between my T5300 and the T2500, and the T5300 beats it by huge margins on every test other than memory bandwidth (T2500 has 667Mhz FSB, T5300 has 533Mhz FSB)


I just ran SIS sandra on my Dell E1505 and it scores:
T5300 = Blue , T2500 = Red
CPU Arithmetic
Dhrystone ALU = 15786 MIPS 13526 MIPS
Whetstone iSSE3 = 10920 MFLOPS 9974 MFLOPS

Integer x8 iSSE3 = 94390 it/s 31088 it/s
Floating Point x4 iSSE2 = 50964 it/s 42290 it/s

Ram Bandwidth INTALU = 3324 mb/sec 3979 mb/sec
Ram Bandwidth FLOATFPU = 3232 mb/sec 3981 mb/sec

I dont know how the guy on hardforum got his T2500 benchmarks from Sisandra, but he obviously lied about them, cause my T2500 scores worse than his, and my test bed is the same between the T2500 and T5300.

So passmark is definietly wrong.
I ran a real life benchmark, which is a V-RAY render.
It took my T5300 43 minutes 18 seconds and the T2500 took 59 minutes 3 seconds.

So basically the Merom core is much more efficient per clock than the Yonah core the T2500 is based on.

I will be getting a T7400 in a week or so, so I will run tests their. I know the T7400 is a great cpu, so my rendering times will definitely decrease with it.

K-TRON

 

Wow this is some HUGE difference! I did not expect to be THAT much!

Thanks for the benchmarking @K-TRON

 

I thought I should also add that the size of the core/die (not sure of terminology) is much larger on the Merom than on the Yonah. (For those that do not know: T5300 = Merom, T2500 = Yonah)

The T5300 is on the left in both images, and the T2500 is on the right.



Also when I was running cpu rightmark, the T2500 cannot run at 0.950Volts like my T5300 can, so there is definitely a greater voltage tolerance in the Merom chips.
Also note the T5300 is from 2006, and the T2500 is from 2004.

Once I get my T7400 I will post its performance too.

K-TRON

 

Well, that's largely because the T2500 is basically two Pentium Ms stapled together, while the T5300 is on a newer architecture.

 

Well that sucks. Are you going to be able to sell the T2500?

 

Yes alot of power

 

Clockspeeds and FSB are just marketing terms. CPU architecture is more important. Core2 >>> Core1.

Heck, my Pentium 4 was 4.0+ GHz and was overclocked to over 1 GHz FSB. The Pentium 4 still got owned by a stock mid-range Core 2 Duo.

 

1- K-TRON just to know is your OS and 3DS MAX installed in your laptop 64bit or 32bit?
2- What are your undervolting values?
mine for the T2500 are 0.95v for multiplier 6x to 10x, 0.9875v for 11x and 1.375v for 12x.

 

My operating system is 32 bit.
I did not have a chance to undervolt my T2500.
I tried setting all to 0.950, and my system restarted.
I had only a few hours to test, because after the last post I went to the post office to trade my T2500 with $75 for a T7400.

K-TRON

 

K-TRON, how much was the T7400? Why not upgrade to T7600, Did you find any T7600, how much? Used or brand new?

 

I paid $40 for the T2500 and $75 for more for the T7400, so it cost me $115, plus $15 for overnight shipping, so it cost me $130 for the T7400.
A friend owes me for doing a ton of computer work for him, so we are going to trade his T7600G for my T7400.
Great deal. A t7600 with unlocked multipliers for $130

K-TRON

 

That a SUPER GREAT DEAL!!! I paid a little more than twice for mine, but its brand new..... I think you can say the upgrade from T5300 to T7600 is now worth it.

 

I have neglected to update this in a while.
I have had my T7400 for ~2 months now.
The T7400 is definitely a nice upgrade from the T5300.

I just ran SIS Sandra on my Dell E1505 and it scores:
T2500 = Red, T5300 = Blue, and T7400 = Green
CPU Arithmetic
Dhrystone ALU = 13526 MIPS 15786MIPS 19592 MIPS
Whetstone iSSE3 = 9974 MFLOPS 10920 MFLOPS 13688 MFLOPS

Integer x8 iSSE3 = 31088 it/s 94390 it/s 116091 it/s
Floating Point x4 iSSE2 = 42290 it/s 50964 it/s 63812it/s

Ram Bandwidth INTALU = 3979 mb/sec 3324 mb/sec 4960 mb/sec
Ram Bandwidth FLOATFPU = 3981 mb/sec 3232 mb/sec 5037 mb/sec

I ran a real life benchmark, which is a V-RAY render.
It took my T2500 59 minutes and 3 seconds to completion
It took my T5300 43 minutes 18 seconds to completion
It took my T7400 31 minutes and 21 seconds to completion

As you can see the core 2 duo processors are much faster per clock cycle than the core duo chips are.
Please note that the T5300 can undervolt to 0.950V on all multipliers. The T7400 can undervolt to 0.950V from the 6x to the 10x multi. The 11th multiplier needs 1.000V, the 12th multiplier needs 1.0250V, and the 13th multiplier needs 1.0375V
Even though the T7400 has a higher power usage, it actually runs cooler.
This is because the T7400 has a larger die size, which means that their is more surface area in contact with the heatsink, resulting in lower temperatures.
I must say that over the weeks, the highest the T7400 has ran is 132F
The T5300 would peak around 145F.
The T2500 would run approximately 160F

Here are images of the cpu's side by side.
The T5300 is on the left, the T2500 is on the right:


The T5300 is on the left, the T7400 is on the right:


K-TRON

 

Hello again...

What is the room temperature when you got the peak temps of the cpus?... must have been very cold.

And I thought you were trading your T7400 for a T7600, but you end up keeping the T7400 instead?

 

I have not seen my friend in a while, so I just kept the T7400 for now.
I have I8kFANGUI installed on my laptop, so the fans are locked on full. I always have the fans on full, hence the low temperatures.

room temperature is around 65F-70F

5400th post

K-TRON