T42.... is the 2MB L2 Cache worth it?

[warreng24]

Greetings All!

I am looking at the T42 2378DUU and the T42 2378FTU, both seem to be identical except processor-wise. The DUU has the 1.5GHz with 1MB of L2 Cache. The FTU has the 1.7GHz with 2MB of L2 Cache.

I am guessing that the DUU has the first generation Pentium M and the FTU has the 2nd generation Pentium M? I'm mainly concerned with power draw here. I'm guessing that the DUU will be a bit more power conservative? Or would it be wise to get the FTU? Anyone's 2 cents would be appreciated.

Thank you much in advance.
-Warren

[ssdaytona]

I think it's wiser to upgrade to the faster CPU. The power draw really doesn't change much since the CPU speed will be adaptive. i.e., my 1.8GHz cpus runs at 400-600MHz, just like a 2.0G cpu.


Also, you may want to take a look at the 2378FVU. It comes with a better sceen resolution and video card.

[taphil]

The higher clock will do more than the 2MB L2 cache alone. The clock difference gives you 13% speed increase (scales linearly, I believe), and on top of that the 2MB cache will give you ~5% increase compared to a 1.7GHz Banias with 1MB cache.

[level]

I can't speak for the T42, but I think it depends on what type of applications you are running. I've got a T41, 1.4 GHz, 1 Mb L2 cache, and the first thing I noticed when I got it was that as far as doing certain video processing, it only took about 20% more time than my 2.54 GHz, 512 MHz L2 cache, P4 machine. Both have the same amount of ram. But again for video it depended on what applications I was using. The comparison above was based on a program that was highly optimized for speed.

For me the higher L2 cache would be very enticing. Of course a faster processor can always help.

[dr.b]

Dothans need less power under full load, but more in idle mode.