Thinkpads Forum

hi guys

i want help form you guys please , i am about to configure a new T410 and there are a few questions really i need answers for them from the experts please .

1 - The processor the difference in the performance between i5 and i7 deserve the extra cash ? and is the i7 consume more power than the i5 (practically) ?

2 - The hard drive for sure the ssd is faster and lighter and consume low power, but is it really deserve to pay duple or treble the cost ? or the 7200 will be satisfied ?

3 - The graphic card , the Nvidia as i know from the reviews its the better one, but they complaint about the power consumption ( that is normal ) , but what about the Intel HD , is there is a big difference in power consumption between the both that makes the battery drain out fast ?

please help me guys b4 i make the configuration
waiting your reply
thank you

just my personal opinion

i7 does not worth that much, according to so many reviews, the performance is just a little better than i5

ssd is not just fast, but also anti-shock, I tried to use ssd on my t60p w/ 512mb ram, which performs much faster than my t60 w/ 1gb ram and 7200 hdd
if you have flexible budget, it should be a good idea to use ssd, but 7200rpm hdd is acceptable

nvs3100m sucks, even worse than T500's HD3650
the intel 5700 is just an integrated gpu, you cannot expect much for it
for power consumption, it is definite that intel gpu costs less, no doubt, and less fan noise, less heat

I've heard things on the interwebs that say the 5700MHD benches higher than the ATI 3470.

According to Notebookcheck, the new Intel HD integrated graphics is putting out about a 1500-1900 score in 3DMark06. This is just one synthetic benchmark, but considering the ATI HD3470 puts out a 2585 score in my T400... yeah. That said, the new integrated solution is actually much more powerful than the previous generation X4500.

I would recommend a SSD if you can afford it. I got a Intel X25-M G2 and it's a lot faster than my old 7200 rpm HDD. The SSD gave me a performance boost and cannot imagine that i will ever use a HDD in a laptop again. If battery life is important i would also recommend the i5 since the difference in performance is minor i think. If the performance is very important and you don't care about the cost or the extra power consumption i guess the i7 would be the best choice. I would rather spend money on a SSD than the i7. I would also recommend the Intel X25 and buy it separately.

I don't know much about the difference between the Nvidia and the Intel HD, but if the Intel is good enough for you i see no reason why you should choose the Nvidia that use more power and drain the battery faster. I tried the Intel HD and seems to be more than good enough for most tasks. I have not yet tried the Nvidia though. It depend how you are going to use the computer.