X201 vs X201s, a few thoughts

Hi All-

Trying to decide between the X201 and X201s and have a few questions. First, it appears the the s model has higher resolution and is thus more desirable. But are there any other display differences that I need to know about?

More importantly, what I'm really pondering is the processor issue. I know the i7m's are power hogs compared to the i5's, although I'm not sure this applies to the i7 LM models (which are tuned for efficiency). However, in looking at the specs, it looks like the i5-520/540m has more burst power (higher turbo mode Ghz), the graphics processor is tuned for a higher speed, same cores/threads, and I'm guessing that the power consumption is very similar between the two, or the i5 might even be lower. Has anybody seen any benchmarks between the i7LM and the i5m models? The bottom line is that if the power consumption is equal between the two, I think the i5 is a more desirable processor. Imo, the 1MB increase in L3 cache for the i7 models is almost irrelevant. Here's an interesting article in the i7/i5m processors for those who haven't seen it: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Intel-Core-i3-i5-i7-Processors-Arrandale.25085.0.html

Are there any other key differences between the X201 and X201s models I should know about?

Thanks for the insights!

g-

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=470182&highlight=x201
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=469963&highlight=x201

 

Hi.



Not certain where you found out i7's were "Power Hogs"
From my experience with a X201 with a i7-620M normal voltage processor on battery power, its not the "Power Hog" some have claimed it to be.

All you need to do is step down the processor when on battery in your power settings.
When its stepped down it consumes much less power.
Bringing it to much lower wattage, while still giving more than adequate proformance for most tasks.

Not certain why anyone would get a low wattage processor of any type
(i3, i5, or i7) when steping down normal voltage processor on power settings gives you nearly the same power saving effect.

And further, with a normal wattage processor, you get the strongest
proformance within its chip class when plugged in, which I think in most cases happens quite often.

In my use, I am plugged in at least 3/4-4/5 of the time, why would I want a weaker processor during those times?

To me its a no-brainer.

 

Thanks. But do we know for sure that the i7-LM really uses less power than the i5? I'll bet the power usage is very similar. Too bad the X201 doesn't have a WXGA+ screen. And too bad the X201s doesn't have a Webcam.

g-

 

Just to be clear, in the US, the x201 comes with the i5 processors and the x201s comes with the i7-LM processors. I'm not sure what you are stating is a "no brainer." If you look at the data below, the i5's have a higher "turbo" speed than the i7-LM's, so if the i7's are more power efficient then it's an interesting trade-off, but the they use the same power, then the i5 appears to be a better compromise.

Core i5-520M 2.40 GHz 2.93 Ghz 512KB/3MB 35W yes $225.-
Core i5-520UM 1.06 GHz 1.86 Ghz 512KB/3MB 18W yes $241.-
Core i5-540M 2.53 GHz 3.06 Ghz 512KB/3MB 35W yes $257.-
Core i7-620M 2.66 GHz 3.33 GHz 512KB/4MB 35W yes $332.-
Core i7-620LM 2.00 GHz 2.8 GHz 512KB/4MB 25W yes $300.-
Core i7-640LM 2.13 GHz 2.93 GHz 512KB/4MB 25W yes $332.-

 

geyoung, a few points:

x201: comes with i5 and i7 normal voltage processors (35W)
x201s: comes with i7 low voltage processors (25W)

I'm not sure what you're trying to say: "so if the i7's are more power efficient then it's an interesting trade-off, but the they use the same power, then the i5 appears to be a better compromise."

Which i7 processor are you referring to?

 

Sorry, I mean the:
Intel Core i5-540M Processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L3, 1066MHz FSB) in the X201 and the:
Intel Core i7-640LM Processor (2.13GHz, 4MB L3, 1066MHz FSB) in the X201s.

My point is that if both processors use the same power, then the i5 is really a better option.

Thx, g-

 

They dont use the same power. One is a 35W package the other is a 25W package.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-...e.25085.0.html

TDP doesn't really tell the whole story, according to this article at least....

 

Can u point out the part in the article that doesn't tell the whole story? I read the whole thing and everything makes sense.

i5-540M (X201) and i7-640LM (X201s) do not use the same power. I think you are comparing between i5-540M and i7-620M (both in X201), then according to the article, the i5 is a better option because of the lower power consumption and negligible performance difference.

 

I am not debating the fact that at full power ( A.C. or not ) an i7 uses more than an i5 ( normal voltage or not )

What I am trying to say is that with a very, very simple setting change in your Battery settings, you can bring the i7 down to a much lower wattage range, basiclly turning it into a lower wattage processor affording you better battery life.

THe best of both worlds.

Nick

 

I think you're over estimating how much power you save in high P-States. Yes running the i7 at low frequency will help, but that doesn't change the fact it's idle wattage is much higher than the i5 (from the linked website).

And additionally, P-States (varying CPU frequencies) doesn't have as great as an affect on battery life as how much time your able to spend in CPU idle states (C-States).

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_reduce_power_consumption#CPU

 

My point it that unless you know -for sure- that the i7-640LM uses less power than the i5-540M, it's hard to state that the i7-640LM is a better processor. In the linked article, the non LM version of the i7-640 uses nearly 30% more power in all states than the i5-540m. This makes me wonder just how efficient the i7-640LM really is. It would need to be more power frugal than the i5-540M by a significant margin to make up for the fact that in fact it's a less powerful processor.

Additionally, the GPU max frequency on the i7-640LM is lower than the i5-540m so the graphics performance will be weaker with the i7-640LM. I'm not too crazy about that fact.

g-

 

it should be -for sure- that the i7-640LM uses less power because it is in the tech specs. 25W versus 35W.

 

Once again, that suspect link is quoted.
Which is a shame, because its really scaring a lot of people off in my option a more robust, cutting edge, take no prisoners mobile CPU.

Here is my take on that link on a past thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=469437

As a "real world " x201 i7-620M user I can tell you with the processor set on low-not lowest- just low in my Power settings while on battery and wireless on transmitting data, screen set to 7 or 8 I can and do get 5 to 5.30 hrs on my 6 cell.

All this on a "Big, Bad", "Power Hog" , "30% more power using at all levels"
i7-620M

 

Real world is good data. Thanks. g-

 

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