Processor speed

[GeoChris]

Hi there,

I'm planning to buy either a X61 (2.2 GHz) or X61s (1.8), however I'm still hesitating which one is right for me.

The reason: I currently have a 4 year old FSC Amilo A (1.6GHz, 266MHz fsb, 256KB level2 cache). I have problems with it when running software like Corel Draw or drunning multiple tasks. Even after upgrading from 256 to 768 mb RAM, it sometimes 'stalls', becomes very work-intensive, and needs a few minutes untill being usable again, so I think it's the cpu causing it...

I don't know whether the X61s (1.8) will be much better since the cpu speed only increases by about 0.2 GHz - or are other factors like fsb & cache also important in this regard? The fact that it's a dual core won't help as hardly any software supports dual core technology, or will it?

I would like to go for the 61s (1.8) for battery life reasons, but need a computer that is capable of performing tasks like photo-editing, etc without giving me a hard time.

Thanks for any help!
Chris

[ryengineer]

Thinkpad X61s uses LV (Low Voltage) processor as opposed to the traditional mobile chipset used in X61 counterpart, handling CAD tools can be too much for the former.

[watchtower7]

I don't think its your processor, more likely you puny ram (768 please).
I have the x61s and photoshop, avid, adobe master collection and it runs no problem.
Make sure you have 2gb ram for xp or 4gb for vista.
My processor benchmarked 50-100% faster than my old Pentium M which also ran everything with no problems.

[Mrbounty]

Agree with the previous comment that the limited amount of RAM may be one culprit here.
Also, processor speed can be somewhat of a misleading index. Your 4-year old 1.6 Ghz CPU (Pentium 4?) compares in no way to any recent, even slower-clocked CPU.
My X60 with 1.83 Ghz Core duo is just way faster at number-crunching tasks than say, my Pentium 4 desktop (3 Ghz) was. This because of huge architecture improvements, faster FSB, newer instructions sets, and a bunch of other things I have no idea about.
Even between Core Duo and Core 2 Duo, improvements seem to be in the ~10% for similarly clocked machines.

So you really can't be wrong going with the 1.8 Ghz X61s. It will for sure be MUCH faster than your current machine, especially coupled with a decent hard drive and enough RAM as previously pointed out.

[GeoChris]

Ok. Thanks!