Migration path: upgrades?

[WizardOfBoz]

Currently using a pair of W530s for tech computing (Mathworks software and MS/Intel compilers, FWIW). I'm looking at benchmarks and the new P52 is available with a Xeon that has a benchmark of about 190% of the 3820QM in my machine. Some of the P52s have CPUs that are actually slower than my CPU (how old are the W530s?).

Can anyone give me real-life data regarding the performance improvement I'd get? By the time I've added software and such, the new machines would be over 5 grand. Would I see double the speed for numeric tasks?

Are there any other more cost-effective workstation laptops available that are a upgrade to the w530?

Thanks.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Yes, it should be faster in theory, but in the real world it likely will be pretty on par. 3.7 vs 4.2Ghz, and 4 cores. Clock for clock, they should be pretty similar.

[WizardOfBoz]

Interesting. Good point about the instruction-by-instruction power should be pretty similar and should be proportional to clock speed.

I guess now I'm wondering about the newer memory compared to the DDR3 memory in the W530.

Anybody running a P52?

[Thinkpad4by3]

Oh wait sorry wrong CPU. Its a 4.4GHz(turbo) 6 core. But just remember, they are still both mobile chips, they can only draw so much power. 35W is still 35W of power no matter which way you put it. I mean my phone is a 2.5GHz 8 core processor and should be on par with my 6 core 3.5GHz i7 in my desktop but we all know my computer's i7 drawing 135W will run rings the size of saturn vs a dinky 3W mobile chip.

Laptops have gotten much more power efficient over the last 5 years, but they haven't done much at all towards making them run faster. I don't see the need to upgrade.

[Screamer]

Currently using a pair of W530s for tech computing (Mathworks software and MS/Intel compilers, FWIW). I'm looking at benchmarks and the new P52 is available with a Xeon that has a benchmark of about 190% of the 3820QM in my machine. Some of the P52s have CPUs that are actually slower than my CPU (how old are the W530s?).

Can anyone give me real-life data regarding the performance improvement I'd get? By the time I've added software and such, the new machines would be over 5 grand. Would I see double the speed for numeric tasks?

If the heatsink + fan configuration has not changed from the previous P51, I am going to bet that the Xeon E-2176M thermal throttles under heavy load. I would suggest to not buy that machine, due to that problem (unless Lenovo has improved the heatsink design). My suggestion would be to stick with your 2 W530 machines, and get them a Core i7-3940XM.

From the Core i7-3820QM to the Xeon E-2176M? Not much, unless your Mathworks software is capable of utilizing the extra 2 cores provided by the Xeon E-2176M. Don't forget the fact that Coffee Lake is simply a optimization of Kaby Lake, and Kaby Lake is also just another optimization of Skylake, a zero instructions-per-clock increase. Although I believe Kaby Lake had a 1% instructions-per-clock increase over Skylake, but can that even be considered an increase?

However, the instructions-per-clock increase from Ivy Bridge to Skylake is about 17.2% on average. This might be something worth considering... or not.

I would still lean on my suggestion of getting a Core i7-3940XM to push your W530 a little more. According to PassMark, a Core i7-3940XM would get 9308 (average) PassMarks, while a Xeon E-2176M would get 13752 (average) PassMarks. If my horrible mathematics is right plus barring additional instructions from the architectural 'improvements', this means a 48% increase in performance. It may not be real-life data statistics, but it should give you a rough idea on how it perfoms on most applications.

Are there any other more cost-effective workstation laptops available that are a upgrade to the w530?

I believe there should be, though cost-effective is a little vague. How much is your budget, exactly? Or maybe you could get one of these Sager laptops, configure it as you like and you might get a good price tag out of it. Assuming that you don't need a Quadro graphics chip, that is.

[Dragunov]

Oh wait sorry wrong CPU. Its a 4.4GHz(turbo) 6 core. But just remember, they are still both mobile chips, they can only draw so much power. 35W is still 35W of power no matter which way you put it. I mean my phone is a 2.5GHz 8 core processor and should be on par with my 6 core 3.5GHz i7 in my desktop but we all know my computer's i7 drawing 135W will run rings the size of saturn vs a dinky 3W mobile chip.

Laptops have gotten much more power efficient over the last 5 years, but they haven't done much at all towards making them run faster. I don't see the need to upgrade.

Agreed! I have a couple of W540's, and have found ZERO reasons to update to something newer.

Install the fastest, and safest processor you can afford.
Max out your ram.
Get the best display possible.
Max your SSD capacity, including, the M.2 NGFF slot (W540), or your M.2 mSATA slot (W530).
Make sure you're getting the model with the best video possible, or deal with what you have, already.
Get a good, 170w brick, and a new battery.
I don't own a W530, but my W540 has a PCIe Express card slot, populated with two more USB 3.0 ports.

You'll be GTG for quite a while.