New Mobile processors, are they worth it?

Three new mobile processors from Intel are are due to launch around the middle of 2009. The new chips are based on Intel's 45 nanometer Centrino2 platform.

The fastest of the lot is the Core2Duo T9900 with a clock frequency of 3.06 GigaHertz and contains 6 MegaBytes of cache.
The Core2Duo P9700 comes with a clock frequency of 2.8 GigaHertz and the same 6 MegaBytes of cache but has a lower TDP (Thermal Design Power).
And finally the P8800 which is the slowest and cheapest of this lot has a clock frequency of 2.66 GigaHertz and comes with 3 MegaBytes of cache.
All the processors have a bus speed of 1066 MegaHertz. The prices are listed below.

Earlier this year Intel had launched their line of mobile processors including Q9100, Q9000, T9800, P9600, T9550 and this time they go a step faster.

Core2Duo T9900 Specifications:
Speed: 3.06 GHz
Cores: 2
Cache Size: 6 MB
Bus Speed: 1066 MHz
Power TDP: 35 W
Price: $530

Core2Duo P9700 Specifications:
Speed: 2.80 GHz
Cores: 2
Cache Size: 6 MB
Bus Speed: 1066 MHz
Power TDP: 25 W
Price: $348

Core2Duo P8800 Specifications:
Speed: 2.66 GHz
Cores: 2
Cache Size: 3 MB
Bus Speed: 1066 MHz
Power TDP: 25 W
Price: $241


Are these even worth the trouble to upgrading to when the core i7 platform will be going mobile right down the road?

 

It depends...

If you will be upgrading to mobile core i7 platform immediately, no, they are not worth upgrading.

However if you have purchased a montevina laptop recently and if you are planning to use it for 3+ years before the next upgrade than it may be worth upgrading to a T9900.


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Well i haven't bought my new notebook yet. It's going to be a desktop replacement for my current dell dimension 8200 2.8ghz P4 768MB Ram and a geforce 6800GT. I currently have 4TB of space Via networked drives that my household shares (I use about 95% of it tho).

I have a maximum limit of 4000 to spend if something comes out that is just so awesome i have to have it, that's when I'll go to my max 4000 range. I am more looking to stay in the 3000-3500 range.

It's hard waiting when you have the money in your pocket just begging you to pull the trigger, especially when you are running an old 2.8ghz penitum 4 system. Heat at least I got hyperthreading LOL.

I am torn between buying one now or waiting for the core i7 to reach a mobile platform. They say mobile core i7 will not be around till late quarter 4 09' to early quarter 1 10'. It's a tough wait.

I am trying my best to wait because I have a feeling the new mobile core i7's are going to kick some serious azz.

 

The Core i7s (Bloomfield) are exclusively desktop parts. You'll see Clarksfield (4 core w/ HT) in the mobile form, although there's no official name for them, yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Nehalem_(microarchitecture)

 

i don't know ramgen..the i7's have a high TDP of about... 125w... so thats only 5 times the amount of a p9700 or about 4.5x of a t9900... i say take the upgrade man.. cause you're NOT going to be putting the i7 in a 15.4 or even sub-compact 17... TBH, i don't think the i7 will be going "mobile" anytime soon.

 

Damn guy's I don;t know what to do. Wait for Nehalem or get a qx9300. 2010 is a long time away when the money is in ur pocket ready to be spent.

 

Best rule tends to be, buy what you need when you need it. You will never buy anything if you wait for the "next big thing"

A qx9300 system is VERY capable, while the nehelem CPU's will be better it is also 6ish months or more away.

If you were looking to buy a week or two before the nehelem stuff was released then i would say wait... but at 1/2 a year, its better to go ahead and buy what you need now.

 

With that kind of money, buy a desktop and a laptop.

 

Sager makes aa I7 laptop now. It is the NP9280. It is available for preorder now from Xoticpc. I have been looking at ti but it is too much computer for my uses. Why don't you check it out.

 

Other than the Sager NP9280 (which has a desktop CPU) you more than likely won't be able to buy a laptop that will have the notebook CPU nehalem based architecture before 2010.

 

Laptop CPUs normally dont run all the time at 100% load, even less when you are a regular user, with daily needs, such as word processing, web surfing, listening to music and HD playback. for those needs an i7 or even a qx is more than a waste of money.

Currently a Core 2 Duo is more than capable for normal and extreme usage, due to most applications can only use 2 cores at a maximum (those are few), but normally programs use only 1 thread, meaning in 1 CPU of the Dual core, therefore, a quad core, even the Q9000, is a waste.

If you are really into intense gaming, extreme number crunching processes, advanced 3D modeling and rendering, or such types of usages, then the premium for a quad core is useful. If not, then it is a waste of money IMHO.

The next generation are 32nm Arrandales. They are dual cores and support HT for up to 4 threads at the time, therefore it works as a quad core when needed and a dual core when not needed the extra threads.

 

Another thing is that if you want a true intense/extreme graphical performance, you should get a laptop with CrossFireX or SLI, because this is the main bottleneck on these kinds of usage. An i7 CPU paired with a mid-end GPU like a 9600M or a 4650HD will perform nowhere as good as a T9600 paired with a 4850HD on CrossFireX or GTX280M on SLI.

Be sure not be buy just for the fact you get an i7 only, check out the other components, such as GPU, HDD, display backlighting, resolution, etc. Again, an i7 paired with bad hardware is just a bunch of money thrown away, but a P/T series C2D with high-end hardware is a great investment.

 

serg89 speaks wisely. If you're got the money and are still on an old Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, I'd say buy now. Certainly don't wait six months for the next big thing, and really, there's not much point in waiting for the next C2D's, either. They'll probably be out in June, but no one knows when in June, and then you still have to wait for them to actually be available to buy in laptops after they are released, which may well push it into July. And they're 133 MHz faster than what you'll be getting if you buy now. That's less than 5% in the range you're looking at. A T9600 or something of that sort will be very fast as it is; no reason to quibble over a few MHz. And if you really want fast, look into the 17-inch behemoths with desktops C2D's. A 3.33 GHz Core 2 Duo E8600 will be well within your budget, and a 3.16 GHz E8500 will be $85 or so easier on the pocketbook and still faster than even the T9900. It'll drain the battery faster, of course, but in the power range you're looking at I'd guess that isn't the top priority anyway.

 

If you plan to keep it for a while, you're probably best off getting that new sager with nehalem. The key is to allocate some of that 4000 dollars for future ram/GPU upgrades. You can easily swap between generations of GPUs but you have to replace your whole laptop to fit in an entirely new generation of CPUs

 

My recommendation is for a gaming laptop, get the best possible graphic solution, a CrossFireX or SLI high-end solution, a 4970HD and GTX300M is the best that might come out somewhere near, and since CPU is fairly easy to upgrade and GPU can not be upgraded, then just getting an i7 paired with a single stand-alone GTX280M will be bottlenecked when gaming with that single GPU and possible a slow RPMed HDD.

For best performance, a dual GPU solution, SSD and a good mobile CPU with latest DDR RAM memory are going to do the trick.

 

it's just so much money to spend on a notebook I want to make sure i get it right