P9500 vs T9400 (e6400 vs M2400)

I'm considering to buy an e6400 or M2400.

I use my laptop about 10-14 hours daily (job and home/university), so it’s very important for me that the laptop will be cool and quiet. The tasks which I do are: programming (C++, PHP...) with Eclipse and other IDEs, UML programs, databases, surfing a lot... I don't use CAD or similar, only a bit a photoshop.

I got the same price for e6400 with P9500 and for m2400 with T9400.

I know that one difference between P9500 and T9400 is the power consumption. There are more differences? What is better for my tasks? T9400 are more powerful?

Thank you a lot!!

 

As you can see here, they have all specs equal except for the power consumption. For the tasks you describe, I assume that sometimes (esp. at university) battery life is important. The P9500 is better suited for that, not only does it draw less power, but it is far more underclockable (if you're into that).

 

I've found:

P9500: http://ark.intel.com/cpu.aspx?groupId=35566
T9400: http://ark.intel.com/cpu.aspx?groupId=35562

Both have 6M Cache, 2.53 GHz and 1066 MHz FSB, but P9500 25W and T9400 35W.

By the way, what is "Mfg Avail"?

P9500: 2+ Yrs
T9400: 7+ Yrs

Thank you!

 

No, the T9400 is not more powerful. In terms of performance, the two processors are completely identical (2.53 GHz, 6MB cache, 1066 FSB). The P9500 simply requires less energy to operate properly.

If everything else is the same, definitely go with the P9500. It almost certainly runs cooler and your battery will last longer. That said, the reason the E6400 offers that processor for the same price is that its graphics card is not that powerful. If you don't use CAD and you don't play games, it probably doesn't matter to you.

P.S. The US Dell site is currently offering the P9500 and P9600 for the same price. This is almost certainly either a mistake or a really crazy promotion that they don't point out, but it is worth checking if it is true where you are buying it as well.

 

I'll second the P9500 and P-Series processors in general. If you have the Intel GPU (even more reason to go with the E6400), you can probably do idle and light load without the fan running at all. I'm not totally sure about the manufacturer availability, but it probably has to do with how long Intel will keep the chips in stock? Though seven years seems an awful long time for any processor...

 

If I choose e6400, it will has QUADRO NVS 160M. Otherwise, M2400 has QUADRO FX 370.

 

I would advise against the Quadro if you don't need it. That being said, the NVS 160M will still run cooler than the FX 370; it just won't run as cool as the X4500. The bigger problem with either discrete GPU is that the stock thermal solution isn't great.

 

The P9500 and P9600 have the same price. Intel released a new series of processors in December that have better specs but same price of their couterparts released in July. e.g. T9550 vs. T9400 and T9800 vs. T9600

 

I have the E6400 with the P9500 processor. Even with my nVIDIA dedicated graphics card and 7200rpm hard drive, the fan isn't on half the time....and when it is running, it's almost impossible to hear. The keyboard, wristrest and touchpad are always cool to the touch, too. And i get at least 4.5 hours out of the 6-cell battery.