P8700 vs T9550: Worth it?

Just a simple question, is it worth it in your opinion to pay about $75 more to go from a P8700 to a T9550? I see only that there's a .13 GHz difference, and the P8700 has a 3MB L2 Cache, whilest the T9550 has a 6MB L2 Cache and also takes up 10 more watts?

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53 GHz "Montevina" w/ 3MB L2 On-Die Cache (P8700) - 1066MHz FSB 25 Watt

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz "Montevina" w/ 6MB L2 On-Die Cache (T9550) - 1066MHz FSB 35 Watt

Thanks a ton!

 

Definitely not. You will not notice any real-world performance improvements with the T9550, but you will notice slightly increased temperatures and less battery life b/c of the increased wattage. The P8700 is a much wiser choice.

 

Agreed; the P8700 is a very powerful processor as it is and the T9550 hardly adds any performance. An extra 130MHz will have no effect, and double the cache only helps in certain situations, and even then only by about 3-5%.
Think about it like this - if it takes the P8700 one hour to complete a task, it would take the T9550 56 minutes.

 

Excellent advice then, I'll stick with the P8700 for sure then.
Thank you both very much.

What would be an actually beneficial CPU upgrade after a bit, something like a T9800, T9900, Extreme Series? perhaps a Quad Core some day?

 

Forgive my baby question; are the P series and T series socket compatible? Can I replace a T7250 with "any" socket LG A775 (assuming thermal and FSB requirements are met)?

 

To make a long story short, no. You can't. Socket P and Socket T are completely and utterly incompatible.

 

What notebook are we talking about here, and what are you planning on using it for?

 

ricer, you may also be making a simple mistake by thinking that the T Series are not P Socket procs. The P and T series are both P Socket procs.

 

NP5797

Primary use for gaming, entertainment, desktop replacement.

 

Oh okay, then a Core 2 Quad will be the only upgrade that makes sense for you.

 

It seems that these processor upgrades with the same close series is quite common, maybe we should post a FAQ about these types of upgrades..

 

You don't need a powerful CPU for any of these tasks. Games will be limited by the GPU more often than not.

 

I picked the t9550 over the p8700 for my dv4t. I want max performance, don't care how little it is

 

No, not worth it. Even if they were the same price, I'd stick with my P8700, since it has a lower power consumption (TDP 25W), and therefore, will run cooler than a T-series processor.

 

I have a T9550. is there a CPU that IS worth upgrading to?

 

If you are using it for work and cost is not an issue, yes, else no.

 

Don't consider it.

 

hi,sorry for late!
i saw the benchmark tests and i highly recommend the T9900, forget the xtreme series, value/price ratio is very low
by the way about previous question the others are right
joy it!

 

there are major differences between desktop and laptop processor and sockets. socket p is the laptop's and before it socket m , and socket LGA775 is a desktop one, there are very differences (specially pin layout) so forget it. P and T series are dual core laptop processor with 25w and 35w TDP (Thermal Design power) , but E series are desktop processors and mainly 56w TDP.
there are differences about 2 and 4 core processors to support too.
any question? i'm here

 

respectively we don't have socket T, look the other replies. question?

 

core 2 quad will not support by laptop that is working with core 2 duo, believe me, forget it, i tried every way and found out that there is problem with circuit design (unlike the desktop that are not different!)
also i shoud say that cpu is much important that gpu, it is CPU that must extract performance from GPU, i have p7805u and with a weak p8400 CPU u can't use GeForce 9800M GTS like it deserved! for nowadays game computing a 2.53 GHz is enough, but if u have not problem with price of T9900 i highly recommend it.

 

plz don't quad post...

 

T9550>P8700:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-2-Duo-Notebook-Processor.7322.0.html

 

agreed extra speed and cache help!

 

to answer your question both P and T series processors will fit into the same P socket, however your chipset also has to support the cpu. If it's an older Santa Rosa chipset then it's limited to 800 Mhz FSB, and will support T series up to 9500 and no P series. If it's a newer Montevina chipset it will support all P and T series CPUs.