X301 SU9400 1.4GHz vs SU9600 1.6GHz

[JeffCullen]

Hello X-ers,

I am thinking of going hunting for a used X301 to compliment my two heavyweights.

It appears that used 1.4GHz models are relatively easy to come by compared to the 1.6GHz models.

Honestly, I don't really do anything that requires a lot of performance, but at the same time I detest waiting for my computer... to that end, I'm wondering whether the 1.6GHz machine is noticeably "zippier" just launching apps and futzing around on the internet. Either is going to have plenty of battery life for my needs, so I'm not bothered about any additional power consumption... are there any other drawbacks to the 1.6GHz model?

In any case, I'd definitely be dropping in 8GB of RAM and would investigate whether a more modern SSD would make things zipper...

Thanks for any input!

edit: forgot to mention I would like to be able to watch 720p x264 video... would be nice if the machine doesn't kill itself trying to do this... Task Manager reports that this uses about 10% CPU on my T9900 (when using CoreAVC), so hopefully it'll be no problem!

[ZaZ]

I believe all X300 and X301 came with SSDs. Some later had the SSD swapped for a platter drive, but it was not sold that way. Unless you're pushing the CPU frequently, the SSD is more likely to make the system seem faster than the CPU. The SSD in the X301 is the 1.8" variety, which limit your options to upgrade.

[JeffCullen]

SSD for sure...... I imagine the best thing that'd fit is an Intel 320. I wonder if that's appreciably faster than whatever these machines came with...

I'll max out the RAM as well.

[ZaZ]

I wonder if that's appreciably faster than whatever these machines came with...

In my experience, that would be a no. The benefit of a SSD is the latency, how fast data can be found and read. Since the latency for all SSDs is .1ms, they're all fast. The throughput, how much data can pass through the controller in a given moment in time, which is often used as benchmark for SSDs, has little effect on day to day usage because typical tasks like Office, Media and Internet don't put much of load on the controller.

[JeffCullen]

Interesting point! Thanks.

In any case, I guess maximum transfer speed isn't much of an issue on these SATA-II machines...

Hrm, just occurred to me that probably the most intense thing I do on my computers is watch 720p x264 video... can these things hack it??

[mklym]

Jeff,

I have a couple of the 1.4GHz X301 models. I watch 720p videos, mainly motorsports, on them in full screen with no problems. I will pull one out, fire it up, throw on a vid and check the cpu usage. Will post results later.

EDIT: I am watching a video of the BBC highlights of the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix. Codec is H264-MPEG-4 AVC, resolution is 1280x720, frame rate is 25, AC3 audio codec@48000Hz w/bitrate of 192 kb/s. The cpu usage is running between 35-45% with dips to 28% and spikes to 52%. Video and audio playback is smooth with no problems.

Hope this answers your question about 720p video viewing.

[JeffCullen]

Awesome! Many thanks for your post.

[mklym]

You are welcome. I hope you enjoy the one you buy as much as I enjoy mine.

[91011]

The majority of x301 machines did come with a SSD, mostly Samsung 64 & 128gb drives, but the Lenovo firmware was never updated to support TRIM.
The Samsung firmware was updated but putting it on a Lenovo drive is a very involved process and not always successful – sometimes fatal.
There was also a 160gb drive available and would guess it was an Intel x-18 G1.

But some versions did come with a Toshiba 5400rpm HDD.
The x301 from the Microsoft Store blowout sale (2777-MSU for ~$900) had that drive.

I’m sure you’re aware the x301 uses a hard to find and increasingly expensive 1.8” drive.

Enjoy, it's still my favorite all around Thinkpad.

[JeffCullen]

Yup, I'm aware of the 1.8" thing. I can easily get an Intel 320 1.8" SSD. The 80GB version isn't ridiculously priced and is probably more than I'd ever need on such a machine.

edit: mklym -- I can't say I'm up to speed on modern F1, but I am quite fascinated by engine design and EFI, so I found this video on the development of the Ford/Cosworth TEC turbocharged V6 most interesting!

[hki]

My x301 that I bought second hand came with Toshiba THNSNC128GAMJ. Not sure if it was swapped by the previous owner or it came like this from Lenovo. Performance is good enough for me. I had in an earlier laptop a Corsair HDD that was basically the 1st gen Samsung and this Toshiba is quite a bit faster.

Here is the Crystal diskmark benchmark of the disk:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.2 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 209.018 MB/s
Sequential Write : 144.987 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 172.842 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 92.862 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 14.380 MB/s [ 3510.6 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 34.583 MB/s [ 8443.2 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 22.155 MB/s [ 5408.9 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 75.517 MB/s [ 18436.7 IOPS]

Test : 100 MB [C: 57.5% (68.4/118.9 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2013/03/31 13:25:30
OS : Windows 8 [6.2 Build 9200] (x64)

[u751920]

I can't comment on the difference between 1.4Ghz and 1.6Ghz, I just remember the old maxim of buying the fastest you can afford or in your case you can find. So with that in mind I bought the 1.6Ghz - then upgraded to 8GB ram and a 256GB SSD (Samsung). I also installed a dual micro sd card reader in the space for the WUSB so I can install 2x32GB Micro SD cards when I need the extra space.

I have no problem watching 720p videos but to be honest if I'm watching a video I'm not doing anything else. For light use ie, word processing, Outlook, Excel, surfing the net and reading ebooks on - I think this is the perfect companion. I got an X201 first but the screen size was a tiny bit too small so the 13.1" makes a big difference.

The only other thing I did to mine was add the bay battery - but again the amount of time I'm away from an A/C socket is very small. Not sure I can think of any drawbacks that have not already been mentioned eg screen - which I have not found to be a problem.

This has been a very good purchase for me. I'm sure if your needs are as stated then either model will be satisfying.

Good Luck

[JeffCullen]

Thanks for your input, u751920. I generally operate under the same maxim, especially when buying used. I tell myself I'm "saving money" by buying the best used thing I can and then maxing it out if it isn't already. However, in this case 1.6GHz for sale models seem somewhat more elusive...

[u751920]

As the CPU cannot be changed it is sensible to buy the most powerful one possible.

One annoying issue I have run into is that drivers don't get updated for the X301. So when I upgraded the SSD I decided to download a copy of windows 7 from MS and then install it via a USB and then download all the drivers from Lenovo - a very simple procedure. However I found that my WWAN card (F3507g) is dropping out after a minute of connectivity and there is no up to date driver for it. As I made recovery disks from the first SSD I guess I will at some stage find the driver it came with and install that one. Although a minor inconvienience at the moment it will need rectifying.

The only other thing I might consider if I was in your position is a tablet. I have my eye on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 but can't quite justify the current price tag - but we shall see.

[JeffCullen]

I am just not a tablet sort of guy... I really like a good keyboard (he says whilst lovingly glancing at the Northgate OmniKey on his desk...)

I've placed a wanted ad in the marketplace for a 1.6GHz X301. Let's hope it bears fruit!

[JeffCullen]

So, I grabbed a local Lenovo-refurb'd SU9400 machine in fabulous condition save for one dead pixel for CA$400... hopefully not too shabby a deal. Still has almost 9 months of warranty left.

Got a few hours on it today getting it all set up. This is certainly the nicest ultraportable I've had my hands on, though the colour and contrast on this screen compared to my big bruisers is really brutal... on the bright side, the screen is fabulously bright in comparison (ha ha), and the keyboard is of course full size and feels pretty darn nice. I have forever shunned my colleagues' ultraportables due to the lackluster typing experience, which just isn't an issue here! Additionally, 1280x800 totally doesn't cut it for me, so it's nice to have 1440x900 in this size... I wish the PPI was a little more dense like my W500, but this'll do. Performance seems OK, save for a bit of sluggishness on stupid flash-heavy sites.

I'll have my eyes open for a decent price on a bay battery, as well as a 160GB X18-M or 320 SSD.

Maybe if I can get something near a full day out of this thing without going near a plug, I'll be inclined to stop hauling around the W500, which will be awesome when I'm cycling to work when the weather improves!

[JeffCullen]

At this point, I can report that the 1.8" 160GB Intel 320 SSD certainly makes the machine feel perkier than the stock 64GB Samsung.

I found wireless performance with a 5300 to be a bit lackluster compared to my similarly-equipped T61p and W500, a deficit I assume is caused by lack of space for bigger antennas in the smaller machine. Throwing caution to the wind, I flashed a whitelist BIOS and threw a 6300 in here, which has put a significant dent in that problem, with the bonus of using less power == longer battery life.

I'm into this thing to the tune of just under CA$900. I'm super-happy with it and it has been fun tweaking it up to spec. I don't find myself hurting for the extra 200MHz. Never worrying about hitting a plug no matter where I go all day is really nice and has changed how and where I work!

Since getting the X301, I've really noticed how crap the resolution is on most new machines this size. I'm not aware of anything quite like this still on the market. What a bummer.

edit: had a good point made via PM about the modern MacBook Air. A lovely machine, to be sure... but the keyboard is hugely inferior to the X301, and there's no TrackPoint. I do an awful lot of rapidly switching between keyboarding and mousing, and I'd love to know how much cumulative time the TrackPoint has saved me over all my time on ThinkPads...

edit2: I think I could see cramming into a X201s if I needed more power.

[91011]

Just finished rebuilding a trashed 1600 machine and the WEI is 4.6 compared to several 1400s at 3.9.
Feels slighty faster but it's so slight as to be unimportant for my uses.

[JeffCullen]

Interesting.

Here's what I get:
Processor: 4.4
Memory: 4.9
Graphics: 4.1
Gaming graphics: 3.4
Primary hard disk: 7.7

My W500 uses the same chipset and when the ATI FirePro is switched off, the same integrated graphics. That gets:
Processor: 6.6
Memory: 6.6
Graphics: 4.1
Gaming graphics: 3.4
Primary hard disk: 7.7

Perceptively, I barely notice a difference between the two with anything I regularly do... the best demonstration of the difference I've experienced so far was doing Windows Updates yesterday on both at the same time -- the W500 blew the X301 out of the water.

[600X]

By using a Dual-IDA BIOS the SU9400 can clock at 1,6GHz, a SU9600 come in at 1,86GHz. It it also possible to pinmod the X301. Combined with the Dual-IDA BIOS a SU9400 would achieve 2,13GHz and the SU9600 2,4GHz.

You can get the BIOS here: http://thinkpad-forum.de/threads/131099 ... g+CPU-Last.

Translated: http://translate.google.com.au/translat ... CF8Q7gEwAg

[smugiri]

I got this as well earlier this year to replace a couple of beefier, more heavyweight machines including a souped up Dell E6410, which is one of the best laptops I ever owned for it's price point.

But coming back on point, I went a different route for storage and picked up a dual slot microsd card reader for the miniPCIe slot, essentially just any one of these.

This solves two problems
- I can add 128GB of fast read (but slow write) memory for under $100 as of early 2013. This is fine since the stuff I am putting on there is slow read anyway (music, media, docs etc)
- I will probably be able to add 256GB of fast read, fast write memory for under $100 by the end of 2013

Also added a WWAN card and better performance wireless card for another $30 - the unit I picked up was the 1.6GHz with slots for these. Note though that the WWAN card can only go into the slot under the keyboard, it will not work in any other slot. I lost many sleepless nights trying to resolve that one. I went with a generic Dell card (I think the Ericsson 5530 which worked great after I flashed the BIOS with the MIddleton one (someone give this guy a medal already, every time I want to do something, he has the bios for it). Also put in 8GB of RAM.

[u751920]

Have you actually tried using 128gb in the Micro SD card reader? I found it didn't work and speaking to the seller of the reader the max it can read is 64gb (2 x 32gb).

[smugiri]

Have you actually tried using 128gb in the Micro SD card reader? I found it didn't work and speaking to the seller of the reader the max it can read is 64gb (2 x 32gb).

No, not yet, I have the 64GB card right now... 128GB prices are still ridiculous,$230 as of March 2014.

I have a Sandisk 64GB SDXC card.

Are you telling me that 128GB cards will not work? Not sure why because if the 64GB cards work, the 128GB should (since both are SDXC rather than SDHC)...

Maybe it is something to do with brands...

Interesting enough, I found that a Kingston 16GB card is bootable off the MiniPCIe card. I tried this earlier today and it seems to boot Ubuntu fine but my unit has Middleton's whitelisted bios.

I forgot to mention that the other mod that I did is to add a drive bay adapter with a 500GB HDD - I picked up the Western Digital 500GB. So, the unit now has a 128GB boot SSD, 500GB drive bay HDD and the 64GB card.

[smugiri]

Have you actually tried using 128gb in the Micro SD card reader? I found it didn't work and speaking to the seller of the reader the max it can read is 64gb (2 x 32gb).

Actually, I just realized that I may know the root of the problem. The problem is that the disk (memory card) is too big for a single FAT partition.

You need to format the card with exFAT, not FAT32.

For linux, it was easy to install this, got to this link to get the package. When I picked the driver, it was still experimental but it has been working fine.

For Windows, you need to install drivers that are appropriate to your OS version. For Windows 7, you can find them here. You also need to install them on every machine that needs to read the card I think.

Alternatively, if you want to use the disks in other equipment as well, you may be able to get away with making 4 partitions of about 32GB each (definitely sub-optimal)... so, in some ways, the seller is right, the issue is not the hardware (the miniPCIe card, it can definitely read the card properly. It is that OS'es have not kept up with card sizes...

[u751920]

Do you have just an SD card reader or a Micro SD card reader? I tried two 64gb Micro SD cards and it would not work - in fact the system just didn't boot. I now use two 32gb micro SD cards and I can access the memory, however it still stalls on boot about one in three times.
I did consider getting the SD card reader however most of my other equipment uses Micro SD cards so I went down that route.

[smugiri]

Do you have just an SD card reader or a Micro SD card reader? I tried two 64gb Micro SD cards and it would not work - in fact the system just didn't boot. I now use two 32gb micro SD cards and I can access the memory, however it still stalls on boot about one in three times.
I did consider getting the SD card reader however most of my other equipment uses Micro SD cards so I went down that route.

Not sure I understand you but there are 3 things going on here and I not sure which one is problem you have.

First off, I need to let you know that I use Linux exclusively so I do not have any experience with trying to make any of this work with Windows.

Situation 1: using a card that is greater than 32GB in the miniPCIe microsd card reader as a single data storage partition
Solution to this is exFat or some other nonFAT solution that allows partition sizes greater than 128GB. You could use ext4 for example if you use linux. But the point here is that the biggest partition normal windows formatting can only is 32Gb. To use the card as a single partition, another format must be used. exfat is one solution that may give you a reliable readable data storage drive that is not bootable.

Situation 2: using a smaller (less than or equal to 32GB) microsd card as a boot drive off the miniPCIe microsd reader on an X301.
The fundamental assumption here is that the card is formatted in FAT, VFAT or some variant that most OSes understand perfectly.

For this, I was using a 16GB card as the boot disk, not the 64GB card. Two cards were installed. The 16GB card was formatted in FAT and had linux installed and had properly set up boot sectors. The 64GB card was installed at the same time without a boot OS and did not have boot sectors. BIOS was set up with USB as priority (not sure why this matters but I suspect that the miniPCIe card has some kind of USB emulation chip to support reading of the microsd cards. With boot order changed and HDD or CD first, the unit reliably boots off the hard drive or the drive in the ultrabay. It may also matter that the larger 16GB card was in the left most slot and the 64GB card was in the right most slot with the card in vertical orientation (ie with the electronic contacts on the upper side of the card). Booting off the card was reliable and did not fail. I did not try with the card slots switched out (ie the 16GB card in the right slot and the 64GB card in the left slot).

Situation 3: booting the unit off the larger card that you have (128GB or 64GB).
This gets a little more tricky as boot sectors have to be set up in way that plays nice with Windows or your OS. I have not tried this but there are forums where there are people working on this. Specifically, this forum has instructions on how to set up a SD volume with a partition size greater than 32GB using exfat as a boot drive. Some of what is being discussed here is really complicated so good luck.