Intel QX9300 with HDX18t

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at buying another HDX18t, but with the QX9300 CPU. Is it worth the buy in your opinion? It's a great CPU to overclock, but all the DHX18t users knows that you dont have any options in the BIOS to overclock it with, so not sure if it's even possible to overclock on the HDX18t...

 

Should be able to PLL overclock but the unlocked multiplier is useless. Unfortunatly the Q9100 is expensive over the Q9000 and the Q9000 is fail at 2Ghz for single and dual threaded tasks.

However the Q9000 coupled to 130M or whatever middle end gaming card they now offer will play GTA4 better than a T9900 will. Day to day tasks if your looking for QX9300 kind of power i dont even think anything in HP's lineup should be on your list.

Day to day tasks outside of gaming that is physics heavy a decent dual is going to do you more for your money. Ive got a few games now that need a quad to be enjoyed.

 

Maybe I should just pick the lowest CPU on the list when customizing my HDX18t, and then buy the QX9300 from ebay for $450 and just install it that would be the most cost effective way to go! But I wonder how easy it is to install the CPU... I'll open up my current HDX to see if it's even possible...

 

Are the HDX's socketed? I cant remember i know the dragon was. Some of the lower end models are soldered but then again i just saw one of the lower DV's having a socket the 5 or something i forget. I rarely visit the hp side anymore.

If its socketed most hps require a signifigant tear down, where as us asus, msi, and some other laptop owners just pop the bottom off and remove the heat sink. I think the M17x's is under the keyboard which pops right out, but i also forget on that one.

 

I just need to open it up and have a look, it it's fixed then that plan simply wont work...

I currently have the T9950 2.67Ghz 6MB Cache. I read that the performance on the QX9300 isn't that much greater, it's slower because of the Mhz, but it has twice the Cache, and 2 extra cores. I guess unless the application uses quad core, I wont really see a difference will I?

 

I think you mean T9550 and yeah single threaded apps will run slower, dual threaded apps will run slower as well. There are apps that are multi threaded and in theory would run better on a quad than a dual core. But if they are not using more than 2 threads at a time todo its work then its going to be slower than a faster clocked dual of the same archetecture.

Note that the i5/i7 Mobile archetecture will be faster than current at lower clock rates. But C2D to C2Q comparisons for single and dual threaded apps are valid. Compression software like 7zip and good encryption software among other things will benifit from a quad. Games like GTA4, Saints Row 2, and world in conflict are quad musts.

I would rather have a quad but there more expensive and in day to day computing arent as useful.