Intel T5470 vs. T7300... how big is the difference??

I am very interested in the R61 deals floating around, but I have a big question about processors. Can I be happy if I go with the T5470 chipset (1.6GHz 800MHz 2MBL2), or is it worth a whopping $275 to get the T7300 (2.0GHz 800MHz 4MBL2)? I personally can't imagine I'm going to see much difference... I mostly do internet surfing, some casual gaming, and organizing photos.

I currently have a Toshiba Satellite 2435 with 2.4 Ghz Pentium 4 (5 years old), would I be pleased enough with a 1.6 GHz dual core like the T5470? Your input please, thanks!

 

Probably pretty big. We're talking not only a 2mb cache difference, but also a 400mhz one.

But in regards to your question, the T5470 would blow away the 2.4 Ghz Pentium 4 like a pr0n star.

 

I'm going to disagree as for the difference between the T5470 and T7300 here and quote myself...

Either way as Playmaker pointed out, any Core 2 Duo would still run circles around a Northwood P4.

 

well, Intel CPU use Speedstep technology, if you don't use the computer for heavy tasks, then the cpu will always run at the lowest speed, say 1ghz. So doesnt matter if you got that 2Ghz or 1.6Ghz, you'll be fine for browsing the net, copying files, downloading, ms word.....
the Core 2 Duo cpu will eat your old P4 for breakfast, lunch and dinner in term of performance, battery life, and heat dispense.

 

Hey, thanks ALL for your responses... I went with the T5470 and went ahead with an R61 purchase today. Looks like it's near-identical to the T61, and I got the 14.1 WXGA+ screen w/ camera, NVIDIA 140m (128mb) card, 512 ram (will upgrade), 100GB 7200rpm HDD, CD-RW, and 7-cell for $794.06 with tax and shipped! Can't wait! Oh wait, except I will since est. ship date is 9/13/07, haha

 

not too shabby of a price, congratulations on the purchase, and I hope you didnt pay for it with a discover card! visa/MC/amex all provide an additional 1 yr warranty(in most cases)

 

wow...there goes any hope i had of getting a thinkpad on this deal haha. i leave for college on 9/1 and i refuse to be without a computer for 2 weeks.

 

Usually it's better to buy user upgradeable parts like HDD, RAM, Optical Drive and the Battery later on as you can find them cheaper elsewhere online.

 

Yes I paid with Visa, but I never heard of this--do you have some kind of link? thanks

 

CPU is just as easy to upgrade as memory i would think... (as long as its the same platform, which in this case it is)

All you need is some thrmal paste to replace the old one handy.


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Yea, but you have to remove more things from your laptop and CPU upgrades are not very cost effective.

 

I actually think they are the most cost effective.....

1) you get the most bang for the money now. (And the 5470 is not too shabby... it's not like its crap, which would be another case, it's actually a nice CPU for general use)
2) In the future the latest and greatest current CPU will be dirt cheap.

Really the only reason to get the 7200 for example is if you truly think you need the 5-10% cpu crunching power.
Another thing is the 5470 lacks the intel virtualization technology.




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Do you know what processor you would be able to upgrade the system with?

 

True in so far as your laptop is disposable. If not, you're going to suffer dearly in an upgrade when your laptop becomes obsolete much faster. Why will you suffer? Read response to number 2.

You think so? Let's say someone 3 years ago had your same mindset and purchased the cheapest of Dothan processors to go with their brand new ThinkPad T42, the Pentium M 725. Does now in 2007 sound like a good idea to upgrade? With your mindset, yes. Ok then, let's cruise over to pricewatch.com to find the cheapest available top-of-line Dothan processor. Ah....ballz. The Pentium M 770 costs $200. How ever will I offset that cost? Well, gonna sell my 725 on eBay then!! WOO-HOO MONKEY!!

DAMMIT. A recent eBay completed listing shows that the 725 only sold for $40 including shipping and handling!! This means that I'm hypothetically going to have to plunk down a net $160 for an upgrade to the top-of-the-line Pentium M. I could've paid almost the same price 3 years ago to get the 770 on my laptop! To add insult to injury, the Pentium M 770 is still outdated by three years!! God, I'm such an idiot!!!

You're making the mistake of assuming that CPU prices and age of CPU technology have a linear inverse relationship when it isn't that simple. It's true that CPU prices keep falling, but over time, they fall at a slower and slower rate. This is why CPU upgrades are bad: by the time you want to upgrade, you're going to pay a sizable amount because even if the new CPU is technically cheaper to purchase than before, nobody wants you old crappy CPU and you're going to lose money from selling it. In the end, the difference between the new CPU cost and old CPU revenue will be similar to the price of making that upgrade when you bought the laptop back in the day. Even if the previous statement isn't true and the cost of upgrade now is better than the cost of getting the better CPU from the get-go, by waiting until now to upgrade to the top-of-the-line processor of 3 years ago, you're already behind. As you can see, the Pentium M 770 isn't dual-core, isn't 64-bit, doesn't have SSSE3, XD Bit, Virtualization, TPM, etc., etc. If that was confusing, please let me know.

 

True all that, but just how many of OP's programs will have any difficulty with a Pentium M 725 ?

 

It will if you run Azureus, AIM, Firefox, iTunes, and all these pretty assorted background tasks. Does that sound unrealistic? I do it all the time. Dual cores help plenty. Besides, the point was that CPU upgrades are bad, and if the hypothetical dude bought a 770 or at least a 750 at the time, he could go maybe even 4 more years without having to waste money on a stupid upgrade. In 2011 he can just dump the laptop and get a new one. ThinkPad T70p FTW!!!

 

With a good graphics card the T5470 should not be much of a bottleneck.

 

Don't even think about.
Save your money for something more usefull, like additional memory or a faster and cooler running harddrive.

 

So why'd you get a T7200 on your laptop then?

 

I'm done playing with it.
It's going back, today.

 

Why ? (and which one ?)

 

Is there something I must do to get the extra 1 yr warranty?

 

Call me crazy, but I am all about throwing down some fatter coin for a quicker CPU. The 2.4GHz chip didn't seem like a very good value to me, but I was plenty-fine with pulling the trigger on a T7500.

I suppose it doesn't help that I was originally considering a MacBook Pro, and decided to "save money" by speccing out a ThinkPad T61 with (most of) the same shít inside it.

 

The one in my sig.
Why? I've decided to skip the current gen machines and wait for the next big thing. (LED backlighted screens with Penryn/Montevina).

 

dang, where did you get that r61 deal? I've been watching ebay and only find 1280x800, no web cam deals for under 800.

 

T7300 runs faster and cooler than T5470.(T7300 has a larger chip size than T5470 which helps to lower thermal resistance in heat dissipation).