x201 with a I5 480M

Looking to buy another x201.

I noticed that there is now a x201 with a I5-480M processor option. After combing the web for few hours, there appears to be very little information regarding this newer processor. The price from Lenovo looks really good for this option. However, I'm not sure I want to be the 1st x201 480m tester. Anyone else have this processor in a x201? How is it compare to other I5's?

 

i believe the only difference is a lower turbo boost clock, and consequently a lower maximum graphics core clock as well. Notebook check says its faster than the fastest C2D's.

 

The 480M is a progressive update to the first-generation Core i5 that was released late last year. Clocked at 2.66GHz and supporting turbo boost to 2.93GHz, the 480M offers 5% performance improvement over the 460M. Other manufacturers are also using this CPU, like Dell in its XPS 15.

I'm not sure if a typical user will palpably perceive that 5% improvement and feel grateful for a blessed computing life. But I'm quite sure the CPU won't have any major bugs in its ALU or multi-level caches or whatever.

I doubt that you will be the "first X201 i5-480M" tester.

 

I had it on order when posted. Now that it has been in hand a few days, (about a week) the i5 480M appears just as fast and functional as my I5 560M. (After installing the memory up to 8GB that is) About the same start up times and program start times.
The battery life is a little better, but might just be that it's a wee bit newer. The Wireless card is a definite difference in signal strength. (went with the N-1000, Mistake)
Still, should make a nice Lappy. Now who to assign it to: Employee, Wife, or Daughter?

 

i5-480M one thing it does not have that i5-5XXM's (520/540/560/580) have is AES instructions.

 

We knew that going into it. All that I could find that utilizes these instructions are listed:
* 7-Zip 9.1
* Cryptography API: Next Generation (CNG) (requires Windows 7) [7]
* Crypto++ 5.6.1
* CyaSSL - an open source SSL/TLS implementation supporting AES
* DiskCryptor 0.9
* DiskSec 1.85
* Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP)
* Linux Cryptographic API and all software using the API
* FreeBSD's OpenCrypto API
* OpenBSD since 4.8 [8])
* OpenSSL 1.0.0 (requires Patches[9])
* Oracle Database 11g Release 2 Patchset 1 (11.2.0.2) Transparent Data Encryption [10]
* Parallels Desktop for Mac 6
* Solaris (starting with Solaris 10 8/10) through the Solaris Cryptographic Framework [11] and all software using that framework (like OpenSSL, SSH, Java,...)
* The Bat! 4.3
* TrueCrypt 7.0
* VMware Workstation 7.1
* McAfee Endpoint Encryption for PC 6.x
* PGP Whole Disk Encryption 10.1.0+
* Groupware TeamWox 1266
* Bitlocker in CBC mode
* Truecrypt in XTS mode (XEX mode)

There was not one program in the list that we current use. I assume there might be more in the future.
If you are using a few of these programs, this might not be the processor for you.

 

I use X201 with i5-520m. i thinkpad x201 with different i5 is quite similar. x201 with i5 is good because it has a turbo boost that help laptop to quickly and save laptop by itself. now, x201 might be with i5-560m if I am right.

 

I would add Bitlocker on Win 7 Ultimate to this list, you benefit from the AES instructions.

The L7500 processor in my X61 (no AES) runs about 60% during disk benchmarks. The i5-520M (with AES) in my T510 runs about 5%. Both machines use Bitlocker.

 

Truecrypt can use hardware acceleration too (and it's multiplatform!)

 

I am not so sure about bitlocker taking advantage of AES NI.

I couldnt find any official word in any microsoft or intel whitepaper documentation that specifically states bitlocker utilizes the AES instructions set. The only mention of bitlocker is when it is named as an example of typical FDE software. Sure you can find mainstream articles from tomhardware or anandtech comparing encryption performance with bitlocker, but they are also comparing different generations of processors that on raw processing power is already better, so its not exactly a scientific experiment.

 

BitLocker Drive Encryption is a full disk encryption feature included with the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows 7 desktop operating systems, as well as the Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 server platforms. It is designed to protect data by providing encryption for entire volumes. By default it uses the AES encryption algorithm in CBC mode with a 128 bit key, combined with the Elephant diffuser for additional disk encryption specific security not provided by AES.[1][2]

Truecrypt does only is XTS mode. (XEX mode)

 

I know bitlocker is based on AES encryption (closed source too btw). But the intel AES NI requires specific processor command callss to utilize their specialized encryption processing capability.

Just because something is encrypted using the AES standard doesnt mean the AES-NI equipped processor automatically takes care of it faster. If it isnt designed specifically to utilize the commands, to the processor, it will be no different to any other processing task and it wont reap the benefits of AES NI. Which is why the software manufacturer has to perfectly aware of AES NI and engineer the software specifically to use the special feature on these processors.

I am still not sure bitlocker has implemented this, although according to some intel whitepapers in 2010, they are in the process of doing so. Still, I take the bitlocker and AES-NI benchmarks from mainstream articles like tomhardware or anandtech with a grain of salt because they are comparing very different processors, especially when microsoft themselves to my knowledge has not stated any word whether bitlocker take advantage of AES-NI.