T410 Questions

Hello again people. I've settled on the T410 from Lenovo, and would like some advice.

Firstly, I will be purchasing it with 4GB RAM (1DIMM PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz). Would it be alright to add another stick of the same RAM from a competing company? Or is it recommended to do a full swap so both sticks match?

Second. I will be purchasing it with the lowest end HDD I can get included, and will be hopefully putting in an SSD (128GB-160GB) and storing music/data on an external drive. Any recommendations for a high performance SSD that will work well with the T410?

And lastly. The processor. There is a 200 dollar difference in the i5 and i7 available for this model, and looking at clock speeds, they are almost identical. Would it be worth the 200 dollars to get the i7, or should I get the i5 and hold off until I can mount a new processor?

Any advice in these areas would be appreciated. I love Lenovo, and the ease of swapping parts in and out. I will let you people know when things come together, I'm hoping to do some boxing day shopping =)

 

1.- As long as the RAM specifications match, you'll be perfectly fine.

2.- The Intel X-25M SSDs perform very well and are priced very reasonably. The 80GB version was on sale at Fry's Electronics (in store) for $129 after rebate, the 120GB version normally retails for $199 but can be found for even less. Seeing as your location is Canada, I don't know what the prices are like there, but I would assume they're quite similar, at least MSRP-wise. I've been running the 80GB version in my T500 for nearly a year now, and it's working great.

3.- Unless you constantly stress your CPU to 100% on CPU-intensive tasks, the i7 will provide no noticeable benefits over the i5. Definitely not worth $200, I would argue it's not even worth $50. My advice is that if you don't have CPU-bottlenecked usage patterns, go for the cheapest i5 option. It'll pack plenty more power than you'll use.

 

1) It doesn't usually matter what manufacturer makes the RAM module as long the timings and speeds are compatible with your system. However opting for a reputable aftermarket manufacturer (i.e. Crucial Micron, Kingston, OCZ, Corsair etc.) generally gives you peace of mind of lifetime warranty should the RAM stick go bad.

2) I'm currently using the Intel X25-M G2 SSD and it has been pretty reliable and pacy. Prices have gone down for this model over the past months, probably in time for the upcoming refresh of their newer SSD lines in the new year. However also consider the OCZ Vertex II which are slightly quicker than the Intel SSD's thanks to the Sandforce controller. They're also slightly cheaper than the Intel line the last time I checked which is worth checking out for.

3) The Core i5 will provide plenty of power for the money, there have been numerous threads on this forum stating the performance difference between the Core i5 and Core i7 processors are marginal despite the higher price premium of the i7. Of course, being a ThinkPad owner you know that on certain models you can change the CPU over time should you think the Core i5 is becoming inadequate but I think the Core i5's will serve you well for a good while before this becomes an issue.

 

You can find OCZ and Crucial SSD's on Newegg.ca.

I really appreciate Hearst555's loud-and-clear message about the i5 performance. All vendors, big and small, are trying to steal our money by spreading FUD! You can save that $200 and use it toward the SSD.

 

I have 4 GB of RAM then upgrade it to 6 GB by replacing one 2 GB module under the keyboard. My configuration is 4 GB 1333 OCZ and 2 GB 1033 from Hynix/Hyundai, the original from this laptop. My system is in the sig.

Everything works fine. WEI is increase from original 5.9 (4GB) to 6.7 (6GB).

There is no noticeable lag and everything works fine, even though they came with different speed and manufacturer.
Be informed that not all memory can fit with Thinkpad system. I dont know why but previous 4 GB DDR3 Mushkin cannot detect in BIOS, hence i choose OCZ.

 

WEI is really a useless benchmark. I wouldn't put much stock into it, or any synthetic benchmarks for that matter.
To the OP, the T410 is a nice machine, I have one. For me anyway I've found the core i5 too powerful for my needs. I echo what others have said, save your money and don't bother with an i7, put your money to more useful upgrades.

 

I just upgrade my T410 with 2x4GB ddr Crucial 1333.
Intel G2 160GB ssd was my first upgrade.

Now ordering 9 cell battery.

 

Oh come now, splurge and get both the 9-cell primary and the 9-cell slice

Also my 4GB is actually limiting my 8-threaded LZMA2 compress in 7-zip on ultra settings, and under $100 is pretty tempting for a 8GB upgrade. Though I already splurged on the 2GB aftermarket in January...