X31 vs Solo Core X6x

[Saysana13B]

How do these match up? It isn't always good to assume newer technology = drastically better. I want to upgrade from my X31, but Duo Core is still too much for me. I'll be doing the basic, PLUS photo editing, because I am an amateur photographer and a student. On my X31, doing batch photos takes a while, but that's not the problem. The problem is lag No games whatsoever (haven't played in CS in a longggg time though).

If Solo core is not that faster than my X31, then I will save for duo core.

[ZaZ]

Usually lag is associated with hard drive rotational speed. What drive do you got in there? A bump up to a faster drive might help some.

[Saysana13B]

A simple 40GB 4500 RPM HD that came with my laptop originally. Maybe 5400RPM... but its one of the two, I am 80% sure its 4500

[ZaZ]

Go into device manager and google the part number for the hard drive. That should give you the specs and in turn the rotational speed of the disc. I believe some X31s came with 4200RPM drives. It's possible your is one. If it is, the jump to a 5400RPM or even better a 7200RPM drive should give it a better spring in its step. I would note that PATA 7200RPM, which your would X31 use, are limited in size to 100GB and since they're no longer being manufactured are a bit more pricey.

[Saysana13B]

Yes, its a 4200RPM. I'll consider upgrading the hard drive, its always been a consideration. Thanks for the reply!

I also still sort of want an input on the core solos for the X6x. What do you think??

[Neil]

I can't really give you a real life comparison, but considering that X31s have either a 1.4 or 1.6GHz Centrino and the X60 core solo models have 1.66GHz CPU, I wouldn't expect to see much real world difference is speed (there are probably other factors, like FSB involved too though). But I can tell you for sure that going from a 4200RPM HDD to even a 5400RPM is a huge improvement in perceived speed. The 600e I'm using right now has a 5400RPM drive in it and feel almost as snappy as any of my other, faster, Thinkpads.

[ZaZ]

The difference is probably not huge one way or the other. The Solo should have a bit better battery life and does have a faster FSB, which probably isn't a big deal. To some degree it would on your needs. Some apps do better with a higher clock speed whereas others can use multiple cores, which would give a dual core CPU a significant advantage. A Solo gets you access to bigger/faster/cheaper SATA drives, which is more likely relevant to your lag issue than the CPU. I guess if it were me I'd look for a cheap hard drive upgrade(going from 4200RPM to 5400RPM is huge) and gut it out until you can swing a dual core CPU since the performance upgrade a Solo gives you isn't a significant upgrade performance wise. A Solo don't seem to sell for that much less on eBay, so it probably won't be long until you can do it.

Also when you re-install Windows, but all the crapware and any ThinkVantage tools you're not using. That'll help speed things up as well. Good Luck.

[Saysana13B]

Thank you gentlemen, i will definitely look into a new hardrive soon!

[qviri]

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[Terrahawk]

Core CPUs are noticeably faster clock for clock than Pentium Ms, even disregarding the FSB differences. This is especially the case when comparing them with older Banias Pentium Ms in X31s. It's not going to be a day and night difference though.

That's pretty much what I suspected in my own quest for whether upgrading from an X31 to an X60s would be worth it. However, most of my slowness comes from the response time of browsers opening new tabs, etc. I find both Firefox and IE as slow as each other in that respect, which leads me to think it may be the X31 itself. Switching between apps (even when I did have 2GB of RAM, which I have moved to my T42P and left my X31 with 1GB) often seemed to have this strange lag, with no hard drive activity. I guess what I'd be looking for in this area a way to really chop this lag down by a lot. Maybe the only way is to get something with a Core 2 Duo.

[plympton]

That's pretty much what I suspected in my own quest for whether upgrading from an X31 to an X60s would be worth it. However, most of my slowness comes from the response time of browsers opening new tabs, etc. I find both Firefox and IE as slow as each other in that respect, which leads me to think it may be the X31 itself. Switching between apps (even when I did have 2GB of RAM, which I have moved to my T42P and left my X31 with 1GB)

Another thing to consider is that the lowest power state for P-M is 600 MHz, and for Core it's 1 GHz (I believe), so the X31 is operating at a 30-40% deficit in raw clock when web browsing. Could also be the fact that the T42p has a dedicated video card, and the X31 had a glorified frame buffer.

-Dan

[craigmontHunter]

My Grandfather has a 1.86ghz core solo, and I have the t41 in my sig (banias), and even before I upgraded to 1gb of ram, I found the speed to be comperable. - Substantially better than the 1.6ghz celeron (core) in an acer laptop I once had.

[Terrahawk]

Another thing to consider is that the lowest power state for P-M is 600 MHz, and for Core it's 1 GHz (I believe), so the X31 is operating at a 30-40% deficit in raw clock when web browsing. Could also be the fact that the T42p has a dedicated video card, and the X31 had a glorified frame buffer.

-Dan

I don't think that is an issue, as the CPU is supposed to speed up to match the current load. I believe it would be only an issue if it somehow had been locked at that speed. In my case when I observe the annoying pauses my X31 has, the CPU is running at its full clock speed (1.6 GHz).

[Zuke]

Just my $0.02 here, but I'd go with a 5400 RPM drive with a larger buffer than a 7200 RPM. For one reason, it'll be cheaper. For another, your chassis might not be able to handle the heat of a 7200 in there. Also, for most day to day tasks (read: not video capture and editing) you'll be using the buffer more than the actual rotation speed.

[NorrisCell]

Just my $0.02 here, but I'd go with a 5400 RPM drive with a larger buffer than a 7200 RPM. For one reason, it'll be cheaper. For another, your chassis might not be able to handle the heat of a 7200 in there. Also, for most day to day tasks (read: not video capture and editing) you'll be using the buffer more than the actual rotation speed.

My X31 and X32 alike both ran fairly hot, even with a large 5400 RPM drive. I couldn't imagine how hot a 7200 would run in such a small space.

[Kyocera]

My X31 and X32 alike both ran fairly hot, even with a large 5400 RPM drive. I couldn't imagine how hot a 7200 would run in such a small space.

I'm running a 7200 60G in my x31 with 1.5G of ram, 1.5G PM
These machines do run hot, I would probably not run it like this if I kept it in a dock. It runs as fast as any newer Core processor i have owned (for regular, day to day stuff), T60, SL400, Lenovo3000.

Yet I'm still going to get an X60(s).

Get yourself a 7200rpm drive, max out your ram, use NHC to monitor temps and adjust your CPU, and you may get some more use out of your X31.

[paul*robertson]

Doesn't the solo core x60 allow you to use Vista and Win 7 where the x31 doesn't.

[paul*robertson]

My X31 and X32 alike both ran fairly hot, even with a large 5400 RPM drive. I couldn't imagine how hot a 7200 would run in such a small space.

What sort of temps are we looking at. I changed the HD in my 600x from the original 4200 to a 40GB 7200. Its like having a new laptop. Using HDD health it runs at 40 oC after one hours net browsing. HDD health says that is normal.

[mod edit: corrected user name attributed to quote]

[Kyocera]

The quote you posted is not from me.

The quote is from norris cell.

[paul*robertson]

The quote you posted is not from me.

The quote is from norris cell.

Apologies, i got mixed up with the non-permission of double quotes and deleted the wrong bit.

[Kyocera]

Doesn't the solo core x60 allow you to use Vista and Win 7 where the x31 doesn't.

I ran Vista Business and Win7 rc (dual boot) on my (now Dorrontos ) X31 the only issue I had with W7 was some dodgy LCD patterns (in win7 only) at boot up. Other than that it ran.

The temps in the X31 were not anything I would consider abnormal for a motherboard wrapped in a very tight small plastic box. My greatest little laptop ever made X60 has some heat to but again nothing I would consider outside the realms of normality when placed against machines of larger form factor with more air inside. The dock seems to add to the problem, also the platform which the machine is sitting at the time, any surface allowing air flow underneath is better.

With NHC running on the X31 I never experienced any super high frightening temps, (i'm guessing 60 - 70's) I've used NHC a lot so I don't recall what the temps were for that machine at any given time or situation, I just know when sitting the machine on my lap the spot directly under the processor was hot, somewhat uncomfortable, but actually welcom on a cold day bring on the heat. Again this machine did have a 60G 7200 HDD and both Ram slots filled, so cooling was an issue with this extra horsepower.

Fred is right about the bottleneck usually being the slower HD, I know very few TP's come with the 4200's anymore, but the first thing I do when I get a machine is put is make sure the Ram is at least 1.5g and the HD is 7200rpm. I've read that larger denser HD's are even better for quicker seek times. I'm going to test this theory out when i get some $$$

[fschwep]

Could also be the fact that the T42p has a dedicated video card, and the X31 had a glorified frame buffer.
-Dan

As far as I understand it the X31 has a dedicated video card as well, only with 16 MB videoRAM instead of the 32 of the T42. The X30 uses shared RAM for video.