Which processor?

Hello all,

I am currently considering buying a Thinkpad T61 for the next four years of college... However, I am agonizing over which processor to choose.

(1) Core 2 Duo 2.5GHz (T9300/800 MHz FSB/6 MB L2 Cache)
(2) Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz (T8300/800 MHz FSB/3 MB L2 Cache)

The 2.4 GHz choice is cheaper than the 2.5 GHz by $74.10.
Is the difference between the two in terms of performance and battery life negligible? and most importantly... is the 2.5 Ghz really worth the additional $74.10?

I will be majoring in Computer Science/Engineering... would choosing the higher speed be advantageous in this case? (Compile times, etc.)
How about for simple everyday use?

Thanks in advance!

 

the T9300 will be much faster than the other because it has double cache. Since your going to major in Computer science, I think you should pay 74.10 more and get the best processor If the laptop is only for daily use, T8300 will be more than enough.

 

In benchmarks, moving from a 2 MB cache to a 4 MB gets about a 3% overall increase. It'd be the same for moving from 3 to 6. Not "much faster" if you ask me.

 

Ya honestly your only getting 100MhZ more and I have had both and the difference is well not even noticeable. I would spend that money on something like a good mouse and keyboard or other peripherals. Not worth the money. Even though the L2 cache is double it's not noticeable or worth it.

 

I have purchased two new notebooks in the last four months- a 14.1" Lenovo ThinkPad R61 and a Dell Vostro 1700, both with XP Pro. I ordered the ThinkPad with the T9300 processor, but the Vostro came from the Dell Outlet and I settled for the 2.1GHz T8100. I am a fairly demanding "power user" (but not a gamer) and I can honestly say, if I was configuring the ThinkPad today, I'd go no higher than the 2.4GHz T8300.

Also, if you plan to use this notebook on battery power regularly- definitely upgrade the battery, stick with a standard 5400rpm hard drive and, if you're intending on ordering one with discrete graphics, be sure that you're willing to sacrifice some battery life for that choice. Just my two cents.

 

Err, I don't think a major in CS necessitates a cutting edge computer. For the first two years, all you're going to be doing is learning to program in Java or C.

 

A T8100 or T8300 CPU will be enough for most tasks. For college projects, there is hardly a need for a 3-4% faster CPU.

So for now, save your money and get a large hard drive instead.

 

T8300 - maximum ram - 5400rpm hdd - high capacity battery

.. is what i would suggest.

keep in mind though, small apps that stay entirely in the cache get a nifty speed up, double the cache can make a difference there.

 

Ya I have a T8300 and it runs crysis on medium to high 30 FPS consistently. Not to mention I can run AUTO Cad along with word firefox and regular apps seamlessly.

 

For College?
I think Pentium III is sufficient.
Core 2 Duo means nothing but a fancy toy to you dude.
If you need to do numerical simulation requiring over 48 hours computing time, CPU speed makes sense, but that's for research and your PhD Thesis.

Even compiling a huge program, it takes Core 2 Duo less than 20 secs to finish.

Warning: 3D games will ruin your school life!

 

Pentium III? That's about four years ago, sorry to break the news. =)

Actually, since we're talking about a ThinkPad T61, the T8100 Core 2 Duo (2.1GHz/800MHz FSB/3MB L2 cache) is the standard processor...and they only go up from there...

 

More like 6-7 years go =P.
This reminds me of my CS major friend from 5 years go - he had a very sleek 12'" IMB Thinkpad with P3 in it actually. Didn't seem like it slowed him down much. Not suggesting anyone should get a P3 of course, but you hardly need cutting edge for CS major.

 

Assuming we're all living in the same time frame (it's July 6th, 2008 here), Pentium III is 9 years old. Introduced in early 1999.

 

My honest opinion,

Get the T8300, 1gb of ram (1 DIMM) + buy 1 stick of 2GB ram and upgrade it yourself - you'll save money this way and maximze performance, get a 160GB 5400rpm AT LEAST or even 250gb. Also, 9 cell battery really helps if you are running discrete gfx like me. I have the T61 w/ nvidia 140m gfx card and the 9-cell battery.

Battery life is approx 4.5 hrs, but if you plan on plugging it in all the time then just get the 6-cell since it will be lighter. I went ahead w/ the 9-cell b/c I'm a business student and didn't want to carry a power supply with me all the time.

I've also owned an Asus A8Jm for 2 years (it was the 1st gen of core duo processors; I still remember the 1.83ghz haha, good times). I would still be using it if the battery wasn't so miserable (only 2hr 15min), but hardware-wise it is still very competant

 

For computer science T8300 should be far more than enough, for C++ or C# even a single core processor will do.

It's not like you are re writing Windows Vista

 

I've still got a Toshiba Tecra with a 1.6GHz Pentium M (mobile version of the P4, if I'm not mistaken). It's not very often that I use it anymore, but when I do it surprises me that it doesn't feel much slower than my 2.5GHz C2D ThinkPad....at least for basic tasks- email, non-video internet content, MSO programs. Then again, it's running XP Home which helps, but it makes me realize that so many advances in the tech world aren't really earth-shattering for the average user. =)

 

Being CS major myself I feel 8300 or even 8100 is enough.

If you are planning for specialization in graphics then external graphics card would do good to you.

but if you are going to work on data intensive projects getting 9300 with 6MB cache is better. Cache makes hell lot of difference.

 

Ye, I still have a 1.5G Pentium somewhere in my house, and you are right, unless I do 1080p videos, it's absolutely fine.

Just to correct you, Pentium M isn't mobile version of P4, you do get P4 Mobile as well, I've got one of those also, and it's slow, power hungry and totally rubbish. Pentium M is based on Pentium III architecture. Actually so as Core2 (if I am not mistaken)

 

any of the processors will suffice. Infact you will probably just end of telnet'ing into the schools linux system to get most of your work done. its pretty light work unless you get into gfx

just make sure you get a 8100 or higher. my t7500 just eats battery

 

Maybe u have underestimated colleges/universities?
I'm in a uni, but i've extra activities in order to get a stay next sem. I'm in video commitee; well do i need a cutting edge performance for adobe premiere pro, after effects as well as animating programmes.

So for me it does make a difference. Had to upgrade my 1st version T61 to 4gb but uselessly oni using 3gb

 

well video work is more demanding than cs. i did not need that powerful a computer to do most of the CS work i did. (CS&E major).

Try to go for the minimum requirements your college has and you will be fine (infact those specs are usually more than you really NEED in most majors)

your college should have some sort of buying /recommendation guide

 

Just got the R61 with T8100 cpu. It feels fast enough as my desktop E6600 @ 3.2Ghz.

However, I would better go with the 7200rpm drive though..

 

Unless that small <6MB program is the *only* thing running (and it won't be considering all the stuff Windows has going on all the time), it wouldn't ever spend much time in L2 cache -RAM, yes, but not L2 cache.

I would agree, however, that from what I've read, the difference is minimal and likely not noticeable.

My 2c.

 

For CS guys, cache performance means hitting rate, yes, people normally would say the larger the better, but I tell you guys, Pentium Pro's cache was a groundbreaking design with 256K L2 only but offered Back Side Bus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backside_bus

Check it out

For General CS, Logic and Programming are what you would be trained and that's it. For Multi-Media Application or High Performance computing like FPGA related, CPU and Main Memory seem to be the first concern.

Dont even mention PS or 3DMax to CS guys, high schools boys can play these very well then. For CS graduate, you should be able to build filters, like simplest Gaussian or Median Filter by yourself, which are commonly used in Photoshops.

Intel is trying to add 3rd Lvl Cache for its new microarchitectures...rumors..