X40 vs X31

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insomniac · #1 Post by **insomniac** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 4:14 pm

Is there a noticeable speed difference between a 1.2Ghz X40 and a 1.6Ghz X31? The X31 can accept 7200rpm drives which I would think would make a difference. But does it feel faster in general use? I've owned several Pentium M notebooks (such as the HP nc6000 and Latitude D600 - both 1.6 banias) that loaded and generally felt much faster than my 1.2ghz X40. I know part of it is all that ThinkVantage Utilities crap that IBM loads on (I'll admit a lot of those tools are actually useful but they significatly slow down start-up time) but I'm just wondering perhaps it was because the X40 is just an inherently slower machine. Will an equivalently spec'ed X31 be as fast as the other full size laptops?

It's not a RAM issue since I have as much or more RAM in the X40 than I've ever had in any other notebook I've owned.

leesiulung · #2 Post by **leesiulung** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:12 pm

It is probably due to all those apps and the significantly slower hard drive. Even at the same rotation speed (4200rpm) they might differ in seek time due to the smaller size.

Also, I believe the 1.2GHz has 1mb cache which is the same as the X31. So not only are you running it with a slower speed of up too 0.5GHz but possibly with a slower hard drive. Now I am not sure about the memory bus...

But the biggest bottleneck in computers today is the mechanical hard drive.

edit: btw, I forgot to mention. Try doing a clean install, my X31 runs significantly faster after a clean install with the software I wanted from IBM, i.e. Access Connection, Rapid Restore etc... Also defragmentation is also a good idea. Third party is usually noticeably better than MS.

Riddil · #3 Post by **Riddil** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 12:20 pm

The 1.6 GHz is a monster step up from the 1.1 and 1.2 GHz X40's. But....

X40's are catching up. There are already 1.4 GHz X40's for sale, and 1.4 versus 1.6 isn't any great difference. And I'm sure the X40's will keep getting faster as time goes on.

As for the HDD speed difference... honestly HDD RPM is totally overrated. The key is to make sure you have enough RAM. Never have less than 512, and go for 1GB if can afford it. What you'll notice is that when you're using the computer with plenty of RAM the HDD is only hit when you launch an app, open a file, or save a file. So 95% of the time what's actually dictating speed of the system is CPU power and speed of your RAM.

But if you don't have enough RAM and you're constantly hitting the page file on the HDD then it would be a big hit to performance. (Not to mention you're shortening the life of your HDD).

Don't sweat HDD RPM. Key in on CPU muscle, speed of the RAM, and quantity of RAM.

insomniac · #4 Post by **insomniac** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:13 pm

leesiulung wrote:edit: btw, I forgot to mention. Try doing a clean install, my X31 runs significantly faster after a clean install with the software I wanted from IBM, i.e. Access Connection, Rapid Restore etc... Also defragmentation is also a good idea. Third party is usually noticeably better than MS.

What's the best way to clean install on a ThinkPad? Being that they don't ship with physical discs now. I'm assuming the restore partition will just take me right back to where I am with all the IBM stuff installed. Do I need to get a disc to do this?

Also, I'm not all too concerned with processor speed. I'm just more concerned with general snappiness of the system and boot-up speed. I agree that RAM is huge here but I'm already running 768MB which I think is sufficient. I'm not saying the X40 is slow or sluggish in this regard. It's just not quite up to par with fullsize Pentium M based notebooks I've owned.

Thinker · #5 Post by **Thinker** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 2:34 pm

insomniac wrote: What's the best way to clean install on a ThinkPad? Being that they don't ship with physical discs now. I'm assuming the restore partition will just take me right back to where I am with all the IBM stuff installed.

Be very careful. I restored to factory contents in my X31, and RecordNow and some other utilities didn't get copied. It seems that they install some software in the factory that is not in the recovery partition.

alcuin · #6 Post by **alcuin** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:18 pm

Thinker wrote: Be very careful. I restored to factory contents in my X31, and RecordNow and some other utilities didn't get copied. It seems that they install some software in the factory that is not in the recovery partition.

Strangest thing. I had the exact opposite issue; my X40 didn't seem to have dvd playback or cd recording software on it. I did a factory restore, and then they came back!

Regards,
-e

#7 Post by **aamsel** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:51 pm

I totally disagree.
Upgrading a notebook hard drive is the single biggest "bang for the buck". I had an older 800MHz PIII last year, and put a 7200rpm Hitachi in it...it was like a totally different notebook, HUGELY faster!!
Now, I would agree that plenty of RAM is beneficial as well, but for most people 512MB is all they need in XP, provided that they don't run multiple applications at once on a regular basis.

Andrew
Austin, TX

Riddil wrote:...As for the HDD speed difference... honestly HDD RPM is totally overrated. The key is to make sure you have enough RAM. Never have less than 512, and go for 1GB if can afford it. What you'll notice is that when you're using the computer with plenty of RAM the HDD is only hit when you launch an app, open a file, or save a file. So 95% of the time what's actually dictating speed of the system is CPU power and speed of your RAM....

X40 vs X31

X40 vs X31

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