T500 2x faster graphics than T400?

In notebookreview.com's review here: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4569

They list the T400's 3DMark06 at: 2,575 and the T500's at: 4,371!!

That's a huge improvement. Is the T500's ATI Radeon 3650 256MB GDDR3 really THAT much better than the ATI Radeon 3470 256MB GDDR3? Same vram and only a few notches up in model # shouldn't mean 2x the speed right?

Is it possible that the T500 was running the benchmark at a smaller resolution and that's why it got such better scores.. hmm. How can you explain this performance difference?

 

The T500's ATI 3650 is much much more powerful, as the benchmarks and real-life experience show. Take a look at plasma's great GPU in-game playable settings chart, and you can see how big the differences are. Probably not 2x, but definitely major.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and NotebookReview benchmarks all laptops at WXGA resolution (1280x800 on 16:10 displays or 1280x768 on 16:9 displays), so resolution is not a differentiating factor.

 

That increase in performance looks like it's also responsible for a major increase in temps according to the T500 review. I wonder if those temps were taken with video card switched to ATI or Intel.

 

The temperatures in the review are after gaming and benchmarking, on the ATI card. My T500 is very cool on Intel integrated graphics. It does heat up while gaming, but overall still very cool.

 

It's not just "a few notches up in model number." Graphics chipsets don't work that way. There's a huge difference between the 3470 and 3650. The RAM type and amount tells you nothing about performance. If it were possible, you could load a 3470 with 2GB and it would still be slower than the 3650.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon#Product_naming_scheme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_Graphics_Processing_Units#Mobility_Radeon_Series

 

Going a little off topic now but, any idea how much more heat is generated by the 2.80ghz T9600 vs. the 2.53ghz T9400?

 

Should be the same. Both have a TDP of 35W.
Actually, if anything, the T9600 would theoretically run cooler, since it can finish its "work" faster, and go back to idle (less power draw, less heat), as compared to the T9400.
I would recommend the P8400 over the T9400.

 

Why's that? T9400 has 6MB cache vs 3MB of the P series. How about the P9600 2.4ghz?

 

Past 3MB of L2 cache, performance difference is really very negligible. Unless you're using your computer for tasks that would constantly use 100% CPU, or if you don't mind a bit of extra heat and battery usage, then the T-series is not worth getting.

The P9600 is good, but there's no point paying a price premium for 3MB more L2 cache and a bit more clock speed over the P8600 for most users.

General Pro/Cons:
T-series
Pro
Better performance due to higher clock and more L2 cache
Con
Costs more
More heat generated
Higher power draw (lower battery life)
P-series
Pro
Cheaper
Runs cooler
Lower power draw (longer battery life)
Con
A bit slower, although this difference is minimized even more by the P9xxx processors, which have a full 6MB of L2 cache - of course, this costs more

 

I would be most happy to go with a P9500 in the T400 but unfortunately I don't see that as an option anywhere. In fact I do not see the P9* series as an option on leveno's site for the T400. Are T400 P9*'s available anywhere?

 

actually they are available throught state purchasing contracts. I bet it will be available soon again for everybody.

 

Wow lucky state employees. They even get the nice looking buying interface instead of the 1990s slop of links that is the lenovo outlet and educational discount site.

 

Honestly, the difference in day to day usage between a slower clocked CPU w/ less cache is negligible. <0.3GHz speed difference is only significant if you are stressing the CPU w/ calculations. And the power consumption isn't that much difference either, as most people don't stress their laptop much on battery. If you do calculations, graphics work, or things like that, upgrade your CPU, if not then go for the cheapest CPU and save your money, since you won't notice a difference.