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Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

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hunterman223
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Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#1 Post by hunterman223 » Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:47 am

Trying to decide whether or not it would be worth the price to upgrade. Looking at eBay the prices are very unreasonable for such a slight performance boost. (140GBP, $230) But I am sure there must be a better price out there somewhere.

If you had a T9900, what would you sell it for? (I am not looking to buy now, hence why I placed it under this sub-forum.)
Hunter Thompson

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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Jul 29, 2011 11:55 am

I don't understand all these people who want to soup up their laptops with the fastest (and hottest, most power consuming) CPU, that is usually only available at exorbitant prices (often more than the laptop is worth...).
If you need horsepower, get a desktop! :jhem:
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#3 Post by hunterman223 » Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:29 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:I don't understand all these people who want to soup up their laptops with the fastest (and hottest, most power consuming) CPU, that is usually only available at exorbitant prices (often more than the laptop is worth...).
If you need horsepower, get a desktop! :jhem:
First, I wasn't asking for your opinion nor did I expect it be necessary that I explain myself to you. My question was fairly clear, re-read the OP. Anyways, I am not able to "get a desktop" and I don't want one, in my current situation. Or do I want another laptop.

Moving on. Please only reply if you have something constructive to say, otherwise simply don't.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#4 Post by craigmontHunter » Fri Jul 29, 2011 2:48 pm

IMHO, unless you are routinely stressing your current cpu, I don't think you will notice a diffrence between the two (my T61 with a T7100 and my desktop with a Q6700 feel the same with basic work) However, if you are stressing the system, you will notice it (my desktop is a lot faster than the laptop for av work and such) - ultimately IMHO it would not be worth the price, otherwise look for a dead system with the processor and see if you can pick it up cheaper. If you give it about another year, it will probably come down to ~150, which is still not really worth it, when you consider the price. I would reccomend either sticking it out with what you have, getting a new system with exactly what you want, or as RBS suggested, get a desktop (which will be a lot more power for the money), store it somewhere (i.e. your parent's house) and remote desktop into it when you need more power.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#5 Post by pianowizard » Fri Jul 29, 2011 3:49 pm

hunterman223 wrote:If you had a T9900, what would you sell it for? (I am not looking to buy now, hence why I placed it under this sub-forum.)
I have sold lots of computers and computer parts on Craigslist, and a few times on this forum, and my asking prices are usually 5 to 10 percent lower than the best prices on eBay.

The fastest processors (i.e. the fastest for Pentium M machines, or Core Duo machines, etc.) are always insanely expensive. The best thing to do is to be patient and check eBay periodically.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#6 Post by hunterman223 » Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:05 pm

pianowizard wrote:I have sold lots of computers and computer parts on Craigslist, and a few times on this forum, and my asking prices are usually 5 to 10 percent lower than the best prices on eBay.

The fastest processors (i.e. the fastest for Pentium M machines, or Core Duo machines, etc.) are always insanely expensive. The best thing to do is to be patient and check eBay periodically.
Thank you. When I have some spare cash I will try a WTB ad here on the forum marketplace. CPU is the last thing I plan to do as far as upgrading and messing anyways, so I'll have plenty of time to think about whether or not it's worth it, and by then the price should hopefully come down a little. :)

The T9400 is by no means a bad CPU for what I do, but I want to get as much performance out of this laptop that I can to keep it around for a few years. It really would be ideal to put a new desktop together, but than I would need to start everything from scratch as far as components, and I would also need a monitor which just amounts to a bit much for me at the moment.

Oh, just looked at ebay US, and the prices are cheaper, (as always :x ) going for sub-$200 buy it now. This should work out well for me as the majority of the TPF Marketplace is US-based, and shipping on such a small item shouldn't hurt me too much.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#7 Post by NorrisCell » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:43 pm

In my experiences, the cache makes a more significant impact on speed than clock speed for day to day tasks. That's why I held out for a T400 with a T series versus a P series. I used a P series T400 for a bit and the T series processor made a solid improvement on a lot of tasks. My T9600 in my T400 isn't a big improvement over the T9400 a friend has in his laptop. I would assume the T9900 gains would be marginal over a T9600/T9800. You may see an improvement, but I doubt it would be worth the cost
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#8 Post by ajkula66 » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:34 pm

NorrisCell wrote:
In my experiences, the cache makes a more significant impact on speed than clock speed for day to day tasks.
+1 and the some...

hunterman223 wrote:
Trying to decide whether or not it would be worth the price to upgrade.
My question to you would go along the lines of why you're interested in a CPU upgrade to begin with...

If you feel that the machine is lacking power (and judging by your signature you've pretty much maxed everything else) it may be time to move on...

If you just want to max it out for the sake of doing it...while I understand the desire perfectly well, I would still advise against the given course of action... :)
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#9 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:19 am

Another piece of unwanted advice, (this time from your own post...)
hunterman223 wrote:Looking at eBay the prices are very unreasonable for such a slight performance boost.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#10 Post by BillMorrow » Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:54 pm

IMO, finding a dead laptop with the cpu you want for LESS than the value of the cpu is kinda like spitting into the wind.. :)
which i have done more times than i like to contemplate..

i agree with RBS that the pickup in speed probably won't be worth the investment but i'm sure that you have already worked that part out to your satisfaction..

if it were me and i were juggling $$/power i would look at selling my current thinkpad and adding some cash and getting a newer thinkpad with the cpu you want.. or the speed you want..
but thats me, not you..

i swapped the core duo in my T60p with a core 2 duo and did notice a speed pickup..
and it ran cooler too..
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#11 Post by pianowizard » Mon Oct 03, 2011 4:25 pm

Back in the Pentium I, II and III days, I upgraded CPUs quite a few times and almost never noticed any performance increase unless the clock speed was at least doubled. After those experiences, I decided it's not worthwhile.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#12 Post by lead_org » Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:44 pm

I had a T9900 for testing in my T500 and T400 about 3 weeks ago, and when that CPU was installed, the fan kicked in more frequently and stayed at a higher speed then when just watching some Flash movies. So while from a benchmark perspective you may think the T9900 is a worthwhile upgrade, you should also consider this upgrade on the merit of thermal management (that is if you care about such thing).

Obviously you can get the T9900 and then sell the T9400, then the amount of financial outlay will be considerably less.
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Re: Intel C2D T9900 CPU: What's it Worth?

#13 Post by sir_synthsalot » Sat Oct 08, 2011 1:43 pm

hunterman223 wrote:Looking at eBay the prices are very unreasonable for such a slight performance boost.
True, but I think most people do it for the warm and fuzzy feeling of having your laptop maxed out. :mrgreen:
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