T400 P8600 or T9400

Hello I am concidering purchasing a T400

14.1 WXGA+ LED
ATI 3470 256mb
3GB DDR3 1067mhz SDRAM
80GB HDD 5400rpm
Bluetooth
ThinkPad 11b/g
4 cell Li-Ion

And am not sure which processor to get, the P8600 or the T9400.

From what i understand the P8600 runs 25watts with 3mbl2, the T9400 runs 35 watts with 6mbl2.

How much more battery will the P8600 get over the T9400?

 

Well to me, the cache is MUCH more important than a few extra watts. Plus Kevin's preview with the 35 watt T9600 said it wasn't hurting the battery too bad at all.

If battery is critical to you, get the P8600. If not, I'd get the bigger cache. That actually also helps with power, more info stored in the cache means less HD access (not much, but some).

Of course I really want the P9500, best of both worlds, but it's not available yet.

 

The cache makes very little performance difference. Get the P. Actually, I would get the lower end P just cause I doubt the difference is noticeable outside of benchmarks.

 

P8400 if ur priority is the mobility

 

I have the same problem. I hace the money for T9600, T9400 or P8600. And I don't know which one to pick. There's a noticeable difference between the P8600 and th T9600?

(in my case, I'll have 200 gb@7200 HDD, 4gb RAM)

 

2.4 vs 2.53ghz... not noticable. 3mb l2 is already a decent amount of cache.25w vs 35w, well if they're both under load you'll use a lot less power with the 25w processor (30% less). at idle it won't make a big difference though.

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cache-size-matter,1709-8.html

Tom's has a pretty good article on cache size. As I recommended, cache size does make a difference in non-synthetic benchmarks. Above is the Conclusion page but read the whole article.

It's up to you what works better for you. Price vs. Performance vs. Watt

 

Cache size is important but you really have to identify what you're using you laptop for. The P8400 would be plenty fast for many. I use a 2.13ghz Core 2 (the original ones at initial launch) for my desktop/workstation and it fares just fine in my photo editing, graphical work, and gaming. Also Tomshardware is not the best tech site...take their reviews/information with some salt.

 

Heh, I'm well aware of Tom's stature, but the review seems ok. Didn't see many others.

 

so load, given that everyhting is teh same. the t400 wtih the t9400 would last 30% shorter than the p8600?

 

It would be A LOT less than 30% considering that battery life isnt solely dependent on the processor. theres the screen, memory, gpu ect ect...battery life wont be that noticably different between those two for everyday computing.

 

I was personally in the same boat, but went with the T9400 instead because I was getting a 9 cell battery.

 

Awesome thanks for everyones input. I think I am going to go for the T9400.

And I am getting the 4-cell and I am going to order a 9-cell online.

 

Would it be cheaper to get the 9-cell with the system and the 4-cell separate?

I wouldn't worry about processor power vs. battery life. Kevin already said the battery life is awesome.

 

anyone know the figure on total power wattage of the T400? (like factoring in gpu memory and such?) If so we could get an exact percentage battery difference... proabably wouldnt be that big but im just curious as to the exact figure.

 

why everyone exclude the P8400? Can someone please explain why their base cpu config is P8600 isntead of P8400? the difference is 140mhz, why pay 40$ for it? Please explain, am I missing something?

 

Between those two, there really isn't much of a difference. The 140mhz is probably not worth it.

 

IS cheaper to buy 9 cell battery when you customize your laptop, and buy the 4 cell battery separate. 4 cell battery cost 120$ aprox.

 

If I had to choose between P8600 and T9400, I would pick P8600 just for the lower power consumption.

That said, I rather have T9600. It is 270 MHz (~10%) faster than T9400 and it has the same TDP. With the discount going on, it may be a worthwhile upgrade.