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Ramses de Norre

Member

From: Leuven - Belgium

Registered: 2007-03-27

Posts: 1,289

Buying new laptop, advice needed for cpu

I'm thinking of buying a dell vostro 1510 and I've got a couple of choices for the cpu, I'm not sure how great the difference between the models is and how the better performance compares to the higher price though.

The three options in consideration are Intel Core 2 Duo: * T5670 (1,80 GHz, 2 MB L2-cache, 800 MHz FSB)
                                                                                 * T5870 (2,00 GHz, 2 MB L2-cache, 800 MHz FSB)   €70,18 extra (~ $105)
                                                                                 * T8100 (2,10 GHz, 3 MB L2-cache, 800 MHz FSB)   €121,00 extra (~ $180)

The third one is actually already too expensive, I'd only take it if it is _really_ worth the extra money, the second one is certainly affordable but if the gained performance isn't too big I'd rather take the cheaper one.

I wont demand much of the machine, the only heavy tasks it will get, are Maple and Matlab simulations and a bit of compiling (LaTeX and the occasional package).

What do you guys think? I don't know enough about the current state of Intel cpu's to decide on myself...

PS: the machine's got 2 GB (not MB:o) RAM, FYI.

Last edited by Ramses de Norre (2008-08-12 18:50:08)

Lord Illidan

Member

From: Malta

Registered: 2007-10-25

Posts: 248

Re: Buying new laptop, advice needed for cpu

You definitely mean 2 GB RAM, in this day and age
Personally, I'd take the cheapest one. i have a 1.66 Ghz Core 2 Duo T5500, and it does quite well in compiling packages. I don't do LaTeX, Maple or Matlab though. I do know that cache is pretty important, but there isn't too much of a variant.

What processor do you have now, and how do the tasks you do now work on it?

vogt

Member

From: Toronto, Canada

Registered: 2006-11-25

Posts: 389

Re: Buying new laptop, advice needed for cpu

Even a T2370 @ 1.73GHz is just fine for latex and math problems (in haskell here). It is however crippled for testing live cds etc, since it has no hardware virtualization (no kvm) available in other new cpus.

Most of the time it runs at 800MHz, which is still fast enough for those things, if you are sane in your algorithms and datasets, and if you can convince latex to compile a single chapter at a time, instead of the whole book.

The T8100 will probably consume less power, since it uses smaller transistors (45nm, right?).

Ramses de Norre

Member

From: Leuven - Belgium

Registered: 2007-03-27

Posts: 1,289

Re: Buying new laptop, advice needed for cpu

You definitely mean 2 GB RAM, in this day and age

I changed that

What processor do you have now, and how do the tasks you do now work on it?

My desktop with and athlon64 3700+ at 2.2GHz can handle those tasks, but sometimes I'm waiting a little longer than I'd like. The laptop shouldn't be a replacement however. Is that cheapest cpu comparable with the one I have? (or faster?)

.:B:.

Forum Fellow

Registered: 2006-11-26

Posts: 5,819

Website

Re: Buying new laptop, advice needed for cpu

Clock per clock the Core 2 Duos are faster than the K8/K10 (K10 are the dualcores). Even with less cache etc.

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