Why is my Exp. Rating lower than a lower end competition?

[hyde]

I had debated between getting a 13.3" Toshiba R835 and X220, I ended up getting X220 due to IPS, Docking ability and reputation (plus it looks nice) So my cousin, who is a student in medical school looking for a laptop, I suggested him the Toshiba since he needed to pick one up immediately, and it was on sale for a very reasonable price.

Pictures worth a thousand words, so here it is.

Toshiba R835





Lenovo X220



What would be the reason for lower performance rating?
And why is mine showing 3.89 usable?

[GomJabbar]

I don't know what to say except that I got the same results on the same X220.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=95600

Offhand it seem's like the video driver or Windows Home Premium vs Windows Professional would be the only differences.

[hyde]

I have been running some tests on my X220, and I also found an odd problem that surfaces only when running Firefox 5.
Regular good old smileys cause a huge spike in CPU usage, brings scrolling to a snarl, something that I never faced in my old C2D Laptop.
After checking a few other alternatives, I noticed that the problem did not occur in Explorer.

When I was posting a reply in one of the forums I am a member of, I noticed that suddenly page was scrolling much slower than usual. Then I realized it was the smiley. So I copied and pasted bunch of them into a plain html file and tested it.
With the resource monitor on, I noticed spikes as high as %75 CPU usage. With Internet Explorer it was slightly better. It seems there is some problem with the graphics driver that does not play with some software or causing incompatibility. Is this possible?

Here it is with Firefox with a lot of animated smileys, scrolling up and down:


here it is with Internet Explorer:


I can post the text file (html) here for others to try if that's OK. Basically just a plain html with bunch of img tags to animated smileys.

[hyde]

Offhand it seem's like the video driver or Windows Home Premium vs Windows Professional would be the only differences.

It looks like yours claim full 4GB while mine only gets 3.86GB RAM.
I also checked the video driver My control panel shows: 8.15.10.2321, and I got this back from Intel:
"A customized computer manufacturer driver is installed on your computer. "

[penartur]

I also checked the video driver My control panel shows: 8.15.10.2321, and I got this back from Intel:
"A customized computer manufacturer driver is installed on your computer. "

Try to run ThinkVantage Software Update. The latest customized graphics driver from lenovo is 2342 (while you have 2321 installed); it is also possible that some other things are outdated on your laptop (e.g. BIOS firmware).

[GomJabbar]

I posted what I said previously based on this.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=95600

Haven't rerun WEI to see if things have changed since then. I am in Fedora atm, so can't check available RAM till later.

EDIT: Just reran WEI. Same score as before. Yes, my system shows 4GB of RAM installed - nothing about less than that being available. Perhaps you have a defective RAM module.

[hyde]

Updated to .2342 and it is still reading 4.7, but now Gaming Graphics score went down to 6.1

[penartur]

Updated to .2342 and it is still reading 4.7, but now Gaming Graphics score went down to 6.1

Integrated GPU performance also depends on the RAM installed (since integrated GPU uses the system RAM).
For example, this is WEI index i got with a stock single 4GB stick:
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5013/239 ... b1eb3_orig
and this is what i'm getting now with 2*4GB
http://img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/5409/239 ... fd00a_orig

And why is mine showing 3.89 usable?

The right question is: why is toshiba showing full 4GB usable. Does it have a discrete GPU?

[hyde]

He does not have discreet graphics, only the Intel 3000.
Here is the link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+P ... &cp=1&lp=1

When you upgraded, did you just add a 4GB to the existing 4GB, or did you replace them both?

[penartur]

He does not have discreet graphics, only the Intel 3000.

Then it is possibly some bug or feature hiding the information about actually available RAM.

When you upgraded, did you just add a 4GB to the existing 4GB, or did you replace them both?

Just added.

[Colonel O'Neill]

That extra RAM could be for the ExpressCard...

Have you tried maxing out the performance in the Intel Graphics Control Panel?

[hyde]

Like GomJabbar said, maybe home premium vs professional, one of the "more detailed" information benefits of pro? Who knows..

[hyde]

That extra RAM could be for the ExpressCard...

Have you tried maxing out the performance in the Intel Graphics Control Panel?

I didn't see your post when I replied above...sorry, it looked like I ignored you.
I checked the graphics control panel, but could not find any setting to adjust it. Is it in Wizard?
Do you all have the same missing RAM?

[Colonel O'Neill]

I have missing RAM on an X100e and T400, both with an integrated chipset (latter is switchable).

I've always used Advanced view, and there's a 3D tab on the left for 3D performance. There's also a Power tab for power consumption. It's fairly intuitive there.

[GomJabbar]

I have missing RAM on an X100e and T400, both with an integrated chipset (latter is switchable).

I've always used Advanced view, and there's a 3D tab on the left for 3D performance. There's also a Power tab for power consumption. It's fairly intuitive there.

Sure enough. I didn't see this detailed RAM information on the WEI page(s), but I do see it in: Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools > Advanced Tools > View advanced system details in System Information. There it shows that I have 3.89 GB RAM available, same as the OP.

It looks to me like you are talking about "Intel(R) Graphics and Media" in Control Panel for the Advanced, 3D, and Power consumption tabs. I see that my 3D performance slider is set at mid-point between Performance and Quality. Perhaps if I moved it all the way to the left for maximum performance, my WEI score would go up.

[hyde]

I tried both ways, Performance / Quality, both ends of the dial. Same result in WEI, same amount of RAM available.
"Graphic Memory in Use" barely changes.

[TTY]

Hyde, how many SO-DIMM slots are populated in your X220? Specs for a Toshiba R835 show that both SO-DIMM slots are populated in that notebook. The reason for the difference in WEI could be different number of populated SO-DIMM slots. Depending on graphics memory address range, it could be that in order to get maximum performance, both SO-DIMM slots need to have the same amount of memory.

[RealBlackStuff]

C'mon guys, use your brains!
The machine has 4 GB RAM = 4096 MB.
The system reports: Graphics Memory in Use: ~115 MB (it has Integrated graphics, remember?).
Deduct that from 4096 and you get ~3981 MB
Now allow for all the rounding errors that cheating manufacturers and sloppy programmers make (like 1GB = 1000MB instead of 1024MB) and there is the rest: USABLE RAM 3.89GB.

The above Tosh probably has dedicated graphics.

[penartur]

C'mon guys, use your brains!
The machine has 4 GB RAM = 4096 MB.
The system reports: Graphics Memory in Use: ~115 MB (it has Integrated graphics, remember?).
Deduct that from 4096 and you get ~3981 MB
Now allow for all the rounding errors that cheating manufacturers and sloppy programmers make (like 1GB = 1000MB instead of 1024MB) and there is the rest: USABLE RAM 3.89GB.

The above Tosh probably has dedicated graphics.

Have you read anything in this thread besides the first post?

[RealBlackStuff]

No need to get catty, because I missed that the Tosh also has integrated gfx!
Tosh most likely uses different drivers that are either less accurate than Lenovo's or v.v.

And is it a coincidence that the page file has the same size as the available RAM (3.89GB)?
What is the Tosh page file size?

[hyde]

No need to get catty, because I missed that the Tosh also has integrated gfx!
Tosh most likely uses different drivers that are either less accurate than Lenovo's or v.v.

And is it a coincidence that the page file has the same size as the available RAM (3.89GB)?
What is the Tosh page file size?

Hi, I don't have the Toshiba with me, he is already back in NJ, but I will ask him.
I don't know but I have a few other issues with performance on my X220. I always listen to wma streaming radio channels on my WMP. It has been that way in my old Vista laptop, but I noticed that in my new X220, I get a sluggish performance when ever there is a lot of other activity on a browser or Outlook, like when it is trying to open a lot of pictures, especially when I am scrolling around in google maps, and it is trying to render the new maps. I can't really figure out what is causing this. In addition, whenever I am typing long e-mails, under certain circumstances, the typing will suddenly stop and then resume. As if there was a huge load on the computer and it had to so something else then continue typing. I don't have any letters missing, they all eventually show up. Both on internal and external keyboards. But for a while it won't happen. It's only when something is going on (nothing that I do, no heavy activity like copying/extracting stuff/etc..)

It may sound like I am being very picky, but these things really disappoint me, I don't care about the rating that much, but if there is something causing these hiccups, I would like to try and get to the bottom of it. Just trying to find the reason for few of those things that I never experienced with my older (much older, 3+yrs) c2Duo laptop.

When X220 runs, it runs perfect, extremely fast and gets job done, but there are those quirky moments that I cannot pinpoint what is causing it. (like music studdering as if there is no RAM/CPU left to work on, but resource monitor will not show any apparent reason)

I just installed firefox nightly and I am trying it since it is 64bit.

[penartur]

hyde, try opening the resource monitor (WinR, resmon.exe) and after another such hiccup check its graph. Some counter should be high during the hiccup, it should be either CPU, or HDD or something. After we will figure out why exactly the PC is slow, we can continue investigating what caused the exact bottleneck.

[RealBlackStuff]

I've noticed some interruption from my Avast antivirus. Whenever it checks for updates, or I just finished downloading a file it wants to check, it blocks my desktop completely for a few seconds (AMD Phenom II Black Edition unlocked quadcore, 4GB RAM, XP-Pro/SP3).
For large(r) downloads, I usually deactivate it temporarily.

[hyde]

I tried with Norton off as well, same situation, I don't think it is related to AV.
The playback issue may be network related, or memory related. Allocation issue?
But the typing has to be CPU problem. It's as if processor gets too hot and just hangs, you know in the old days? But that's not the case.
Anyway, I will keep the resource monitor on, I did mention above that I kept watching it before, but I didn't really see anything out of the ordinary (I was mainly checking Task Manager's Performance tab.
Next time typing freezes like that, I will get back to you guys with the graph screen shot (it seems there is no way to adjust update frequency) Looks like refresh per second.

X220 runs surprisingly cool, I have never had a problem of it getting too hot. Even after 12 hours running on power.

[hyde]

http://gyazo.com/6a03677f5f5632e700cf86d07e92f0a5.png

Is this something that could be causing the hiccups?

[hyde]

I checked a bit more, especially at home where i have a very fast connection +30Mbps.
I can confidently state that it is not mainly due to internet activity, rather when it is trying to open a busy website it studders.
http://gyazo.com/a1fe6140ec0c789c251fa62d0f5b1e92.png
I dont know if this will mean anything, but when I click on a link of a page where there are a lot of articles, etc. The music playing in WMP just sounds like it is scratching/geting stuck then keeps playing. It is very momentary.

I will remove Norton completely and see if that helps.

here is a shot of CPU just watching a simple video online:
http://gyazo.com/9010cfa76757a8190d91d622dfb9be40.png

[Colonel O'Neill]

You're getting throttled. Update the BIOS.

[hyde]

Latest BIOS here. In fact, it is 1.20.

[bill bolton]

What would be the reason for lower performance rating?

Most likely, the Toshiba had 2 x 2GB memory modules versus 1 x 4GB memory module in your X220

And why is mine showing 3.89 usable?

The Toshiba had some sort of driver issue.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[Colonel O'Neill]

Go into Power Manager, and make sure CPU speed is set to Balanced or Maximum Turbo.