Thinkpads Forum

(Posted in T4x forums, too)

What, precisely, is the speed difference between the following two processor chipsets?:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8100 (2.1GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)

versus


Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T2370 processor (1.6GHz 533MHz 1MBL2)

In other words, how much faster, really, is the first?

I'm not using any intensive programs. Just the usual suspects.

Both are new systems, and both will have 1GB RAM and will be loaded with XP rather than Vista.

Is the 8100 10% faster, 20%, 30%...?

Sorry for what may be a naive question in advance. Price difference amounts to $263.


Thanks a million.

Ignore this. The newer Pentiums are now based off Core 2

About 50% faster. Just add the 30% clockspeed difference plus 20% for being the latest chip (the Pentium is a slower version of the old original Core 1).

But the big question is, how useful is that to you. I would say "not very". The "usual suspects" don't use the CPU much, and so you won't feel the 50% difference much.

aaa wrote:About 50% faster. Just add the 30% clockspeed difference plus 20% for being the latest chip (the Pentium is a slower version of the old original Core 1).

But the big question is, how useful is that to you. I would say "not very". The "usual suspects" don't use the CPU much, and so you won't feel the 50% difference much.

Seriously? 50%???

Wow. I would've thought maybe 20% at most. Thanks.

you might feel about 20% of that if anything. The Core 2 Duo is faster by up to 10% at the same clock speed so add that plus the frequency increase, you'll notice it for sure. They are more power efficient too but you would only notice if you got one in the same clock speeds. You could get a extra 30-50mins according to Anandtech if they were the same clock speeds.

(unless you are talking about desktop CPUs? Which machine are you talking about because you can't upgrade your 533mhz FSB T60 to a 800mhz one, you can only use the 533mhz one also)

SHoTTa35 wrote:you might feel about 20% of that if anything. The Core 2 Duo is faster by up to 10% at the same clock speed so add that plus the frequency increase, you'll notice it for sure. They are more power efficient too but you would only notice if you got one in the same clock speeds. You could get a extra 30-50mins according to Anandtech if they were the same clock speeds.

(unless you are talking about desktop CPUs? Which machine are you talking about because you can't upgrade your 533mhz FSB T60 to a 800mhz one, you can only use the 533mhz one also)

No, it's going to be a laptop (between an R61i and a T61). The T2370 is a 533MHZ FSB, and the Core 2 Duo T8100 is 800MHz FSB, obviously.

If this guys his stuff, he says 10%, at most:

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/showthread.php?p=95383


This is uber confusing.

Either processor that you go with, I'd install another gig of RAM. (at a minimum) You will notice serious performance gains and increased stability.

The Core Duo is getting old. Core 2 Duo is the minimum way to go.

I'd also consider a processor with a minimum of 4MB L2 Cache.

To clear up some mis-information here:

The T2370 is a Core 2 derivative chip, it is NOT a predecessor to the Core Duo (which, in turn, is a predecessor to the Core 2 Duo).

Confusing? Yes.

Why? Intel had built such significant brand name in the Pentium (original, 2, 3, 4), that they felt they could still capitalize off of that. So lots of chips out now, are actually Core 2 Duo CPUs, but they have less cache, and Intel markets them as Dual Core Pentiums.

So what is the REAL difference(s) between the T8100 and the T2370?

T2370
http://processorfinder.intel.com/detail ... Spec=SLA4J

T8100
http://processorfinder.intel.com/detail ... Spec=SLAP9

Please note that BOTH chips are the M0 stepping, indicating that they are both the EXACT same design, with the following differences:
800MHz vs 533MHz FSB
3MB vs. 1MB cache
45nm vs 65nm (the T8100 will run cooler)
2.1GHz vs. 1.73GHz
T8100 includes Virtualization technology (only useful if you know what it is - seriously)

The MAIN differences that influence speed "felt" by the user will be the clock speed and the cache. FSB is really not that big of an issue (it's a selling point, that's about it).

Hmm, didn't know the newer Pentium Dual-cores were based off of Core 2 now. Which would make the difference more than 30% (dunno how big of a difference cache makes).

But again, the question is whether you will feel this difference.Name a task you do regularly that makes you wait more than a second while using 100% CPU. Not while loading something from the disk, which happens all the time.
If you can think of something, then it's probably worth it. And when you name a specific task you can look up how big a difference cache makes for it's speed (the effect of cache varies from program to program).