Intel Duo Core in the z60t

[empire29]

is the z60t slated to be released with the intel duo core chip? I thought i remembered hearing the reason why the z60t has integrated video is space was needed for the intel duo core proc that they would be putting in it at a future date. Also, the z60t shares the "60" with the T60s and X60s which both sport the intel duo core chip.

thanks

[a31pguy]

I would not be surprised if a z61t was in the works with the new core duo chipset. I think all new laptops are going to moving to this as a hardware spec for high performance laptops.

However, that said - I'm not sure if the new "dual core" in the core duo is going to match the performance specs of the desktop server market cores that are dual core.

My big question is - is the core duo going to be hyperthreading?

[K. Eng]

TimECE from Laptoplogic reported that the Z60t chasis and cooling system was designed from the start to accommodate the Napa platform. I hope this is true, because after trying out a Z60t at Office Depot, I think a Z6xt may be the next notebook I buy, provided a Centrino Duo solution is available.

Core Duo is clock for clock about as good as an Athlon 64.

No Hyperthreading. There are two execution cores on the Core Duo, thus there is no need for HT in order to run two concurrent threads.

[a31pguy]

Well that's good news. Of course then I have to figure out what to do with this Z60m and it's Core Solo chipset then...

To bad about the hyperthreading. Four threads are better than two.

We shall see if the excution speed of two M cores are optimized to actually run several independant threads in concurrance without impact on the bus. Since this is a brand new chipset - I would suspect there are some issues that intel will end up having to optimized in later chipsets.

I say this becuase SGI and Sun Microsystems has been running multiprocessor systems for several years and what always becomes of issue is the system bus bandwidth.

I wonder how Apple is going to deal with this - since the Core Duo is going into the Macbook Pro as well.

[NeilB]

I see you also have a T30 and Z60. How would you compare them?

[chihyangtsai]

I believe in the Intel CPU structure,
system bus bandwidth will always be the issue
that is why Intel is always trying to speed up
from DDR to DDR2-400-533 then DDR2-667
without the embedded memory controller, CPU always has to face
the overhead of DRAM.

anyway, I think Z-series is the experiment for Thinkpad to
try the new structure
then T-60 can adopt the new design to face the heat from NAPA
so..
if I have more budget, I will try the next generation Z-series, if it exists.
Maybe Z-series will be the first to use the merom platform, because the relatively big sizes.

Anyway, anyone has news about merom,,
people always say that the merom is revolutional, especially for heat and power consumption.
however, I always wonder
in the same processing technology (65nm), and even higher frequency
(2 GHZ) and more transistors (64-bit)

HOW....can Intel build up a CPU more cold and more powerful at the same time ????

[a31pguy]

I see you also have a T30 and Z60. How would you compare them?

Similar in the fact that they both have 2 spindles. But that's where it all ends. The z60m is heavier, wider, faster, better graphics. That said the T30 has taken a beating and keeps on going. Same with the A31p - but it's in much better condition. The a31p still amazes me. It can take up to 4 hard drives with the docking station or 3 DVD-R drives and 4 PCMCIA cards.

Still - the z60m with it's advanced dock is pretty cool. The advanced dock actually has a fan for the CPU in it and reroutes the airflow into and out of the laptop.

[a31pguy]

I believe in the Intel CPU structure,
system bus bandwidth will always be the issue
that is why Intel is always trying to speed up
from DDR to DDR2-400-533 then DDR2-667
without the embedded memory controller, CPU always has to face
the overhead of DRAM.

anyway, I think Z-series is the experiment for Thinkpad to
try the new structure
then T-60 can adopt the new design to face the heat from NAPA
so..
if I have more budget, I will try the next generation Z-series, if it exists.
Maybe Z-series will be the first to use the merom platform, because the relatively big sizes.

Anyway, anyone has news about merom,,
people always say that the merom is revolutional, especially for heat and power consumption.
however, I always wonder
in the same processing technology (65nm), and even higher frequency
(2 GHZ) and more transistors (64-bit)

HOW....can Intel build up a CPU more cold and more powerful at the same time ????

True. Very true. I have a feeling that the z6x with Duo Core is a ways off. Even the Macbook pro is still getting the kinks out. The T60 and X60 are vaporware right now. The may have a mockup in testing - but nothing is going to be shipping for a bit. I think May or June before we see them in reality. Slashdot.org reported that the intel duo core was just a prototype and the duo core is still undergoing testing. Last count there were something like 35+ known issues with the Duo Core processor. I still think it will hit the market. However, I think I'll wait until the next batch of intel CPUs using Duo Core are released a year or so from now. Too new and been burned too many times by hyped products which didn't perform to expectations.

[NeilB]

[/quote]True. Very true. I have a feeling that the z6x with Duo Core is a ways off. Even the Macbook pro is still getting the kinks out. The T60 and X60 are vaporware right now. The may have a mockup in testing - but nothing is going to be shipping for a bit. I think May or June before we see them in reality. Slashdot.org reported that the intel duo core was just a prototype and the duo core is still undergoing testing. Last count there were something like 35+ known issues with the Duo Core processor. I still think it will hit the market. However, I think I'll wait until the next batch of intel CPUs using Duo Core are released a year or so from now. Too new and been burned too many times by hyped products which didn't perform to expectations.[/quote]


I think that's a good idea. I like my Z60M, and don't fret about when it will be obsolete - it will be some time, and I expect it to last as my other two ThinkPads have.