T42p - 1.7Ghz vs 2.1Ghz

T4x series specific matters only
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lachlanj
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Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:30 am

T42p - 1.7Ghz vs 2.1Ghz

#1 Post by lachlanj » Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:47 am

Hi,

I am looking to buy a T42p at the moment. I was just wondering if anyone here knows if there is a signifigant performance difference between the 1.7Ghz model and the 2.0/2.1Ghz models?

I know the later would be faster but how much faster? Is it worth the extra money? Below is a comparison, as you can see the price difference is huge (£788).

The later model also has a finger print reader, but I don't need it really. The 2.1ghz would need to be super fast for me to pay the extra money for it.

Lachlan

UC2HSUK
Intel PM 1.7GHz,
15"High Resolution screen (1600 x 1200),
1GB Memory,
60Gb disk drive,
DVD Recorder
£2244 Inc VAT & Del

UC2Q1UK
Intel 765 (2.1GHZ) 15" FlexView Display (1600 x 1200) TFT screen,
1GB Memory,
60Gb disk drive,
DVD Recordable,
ESS Fingerprint Reader
£3032 Inc VAT & Del

WilsonF
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#2 Post by WilsonF » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:57 am

Depends on what you do with it. If you mostly write and compile code or render video on the road, you would notice the difference. If you primarily run office apps (even large databases), view DVDs, edit photos and run other graphic apps in Adobe apps, and play a few games, IMO you wouldn't notice the difference in performance enought to justify the additional price. IMO unless you're going to be using your TP for many processor-intensive applications on the road, invest in an additional 512 MB or 1GB of memory or the 7200 rpm rather than 5400 rpm HDD instead of the higher processor speed.
Wilson
Since 1993, TP 720, 760, 760 CD, 770, A22p, T22, X23 (still fully functional), T40p, T42p, T43 (this and subsequent systems all still in use), T60p, X60T, T61p, X61T, T500 (switchable graphics), X201T, X220

lachlanj
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Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:30 am

#3 Post by lachlanj » Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:37 am

Hi,

Thanks for your opinion. I will be using it for software development, most of which will be done using microsoft visual studio .net, or possibly some java ide's too which are fairly memory hungry.

Taking that into account do you think its worth going to the 2.1ghz? Or do you think more ram & a faster HD would be just as good? I am thinking that my dev tools would run better with extra memory rather than a faster processor but I suppose its hard to say.

Also do you think there would be a big difference between 1gb and 2gb of ram? I would have thought that even the most memory hungry programs would run fine with 1gb.

I would be interested to hear other peoples opinions for the T42p that are using it for software development purposes.

Thanks, Lachlan

lfeagan
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#4 Post by lfeagan » Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:47 am

Ugh, Visual Studio.... more RAM + better hdd would definitely be the best option, though pretty much all the T42p are going to have the Hitachi 7K60. I think there may be some with an 5K80 though. I run VS.net (curses I spit at thee) on my 1.8 and the upgrade to 1024M definitely helped performance considerably.
Image
T61p (6459CTO)|T9500|15.4" WUXGA-4GB|200GB FDE|256MB nVidia FX570M|Atheros|Cingular WWAN|openSuSE 11.0
T42p (2373GVU)|PentiumM 1.8GHz|2GB|100GB|ATI FireGL T2|Atheros|openSuSE 10.3
WaterField Designs Cargo + Sleeve

lachlanj
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Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:30 am

#5 Post by lachlanj » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:27 am

Thanks for that info. I think I won't worry about the 2.1ghz since probably not worth the extra money as I suspected. I will most likely go for a 1.7ghz or 1.8ghz model with a 7200 rpm HD. I might also see if I can get the 1024MB in one slot in case I want to add more.

Lachlan

Kenn
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Location: NY, USA

#6 Post by Kenn » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:38 pm

lfeagan wrote:Ugh, Visual Studio.... more RAM + better hdd would definitely be the best option, though pretty much all the T42p are going to have the Hitachi 7K60. I think there may be some with an 5K80 though. I run VS.net (curses I spit at thee) on my 1.8 and the upgrade to 1024M definitely helped performance considerably.
Agreed. The realworld performance difference between the 1.8 and 2.0 is not worth the ~$1400 (sorry for the $ conversing) difference. For that price, you could have gotten two 1.6GHz Dells laptops :wink:

Another 512MB-1GB of RAM would be very helpful and noticeable for software development though.
IBM ThinkPad T42p (2373-7XU): 1.8GHz/1024MB, 15" UXGA, DVD-RW, 80GB, 2200b/g.
T42 (2374-3VU): 1.7GHz/512MB, 14.1"SXGA+, DVD-RW, 80GB, 2200b/g.

hairy
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Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 5:32 am
Location: Scotland

#7 Post by hairy » Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:27 pm

lachlanj-

I have the UC2HSUK model (2373-HSG) and I run mostly visualisation apps like autodesk, 3ds max7, adobe cs and sketchup.
Although I am not an intense user of 3ds max, my TP handles it just fine!

The HD is 7200rpm and the RAM is 1gig on a single slot as standard on the UC2HSUK, so thats 2 issues you wont need to worry about! :-)

I bought mine 2 months ago from hemini.co.uk, whom I got to price-match from technoworld.com, so it may be worthwhile having a look at these places.
Hemini restricts access to their pricelist to account holders only so you may have to log-in.

lachlanj
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 4:30 am

#8 Post by lachlanj » Mon Dec 06, 2004 4:27 am

Thanks for that info, much appreciated!

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