Intel T7200 vs T7250

[milky]

I just purchased a Dell Inspiron 1525 that only has a 2GHz Celeron (single core)
Needless to say, I want to upgrade to dual core. Spoke to dell and the max processor supported is the Intel T7250.
So, my question is:
Which processor will provide better performance?

T7250 65nm 2MB L2 Cache 2.00 GHz 800 MHz

T7200 65nm 4MB L2 Cache 2.00 GHz 667 MHz

Is the larger cache better than the faster FSB or is it a wash?
Please leave a detailed explanation of why you feel one way or the other.

Just checked some pricing on ebay and the 7200 is considerably more than the 7250 but I'm not concerned about price. Performance is more important.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Performance is more important.

Oh really, why?

I do believe cache size is much more important than FSB, I don't know why they decided to give the T7250 the higher number, thats usually the opposite of their naming scheme.
I think FSB speeds are plenty fast enough today, but cache size is not enough at 2mb for some stuff.

 

[milky]

Thanks for the reply kitty.

Does anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

[racbhat13]

Hi milky. This is probably very late but i just stumbled over this post today hence am expressing my views here.

Contrary to kitty, i believe that the bus speeds are more important in terms of performance on a daily basis.

I'm not sure what type of work you need this laptop for, but you will find that the faster 800mhz speed with a set of matching 800mhz dual channel RAM sticks to be more beneficial than the 667 mhz 4mb l2 cache.

Having said that, i own the same computer as yourself and it has the t7200 processor which i have been using for almost 3 years now. Though a perfect processor ( and I do crazy video encoding and heavy software development), the 667 mhz speed makes my 800mhz ram pointless, and it is the bus speed that is forcing me to upgrade my laptop now.

So in short, though the 4mb l2 cache would be beneficial in "some" cases, on a day to day basis you will find the faster bus speed much more useful.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

I do crazy video encoding and heavy software development

Thats why you don't see the benefit of cache (I think, its like 2:30 T.T).

Cache is important in gaming, but in video encoding or number crunching, pure processing power is more useful.
Notice how the most recent processors come with almost 2MB of cache per core, though they don't use FSB anymore.

T7250 65nm 2MB L2 Cache 2.00 GHz 800 MHz
T7200 65nm 4MB L2 Cache 2.00 GHz 667 MHz

EDIT: Wait, in this situation, I don't think the diminished 667 mhz is an issue at all...

 

[racbhat13]

Notice how the most recent processors come with almost 2MB of cache per core, though they don't use FSB anymore.


EDIT: Wait, in this situation, I don't think the diminished 667 mhz is an issue at all...

Hi Kitty,

I do believe that by changing the architecture of the new i7 core and removing the FSB, intel has proven the point that FSB was the big bottleneck in the system.

Nevertheless, the cache size is also very important in "some" cases, Gaming being one of them. My only concern is that if the laptop was really for gaming, then it wouldn't be an Inspiron 1525 cause they dont have very good Graphics Cards, which is far far more important for gaming than an extra 2MB of L2 cache.

On the whole for day to day multimedia and computing tasks, the laptop will do much better if it has the t7250 instead of the t7200. If gaming was what the laptop was meant to be used for, the graphics card is what needs to be changed first and foremost.

Cheers!

PS: what's 2:30 T.T ?

 

[Deso]

I'd like to add that I agree with racbhat13
If the computer really is for gaming this in not the laptop for you as a faster processor will only improve gaming performance by a noticeable degree if the cpu was the bottleneck, and as he said, a better graphics card will improve your gaming experience MUCH MUCH more then 2 mb of L2 cache, but if this computer is not intended for gaming, go with the faster CPU.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Its not like the 667 mhz is a huge bottle neck, i'm even doubtful it will even effect performance, meanwhile, 2mb of L2 -> 4mb of L2 will only do good.

Take a look at this: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795&p=1
I particularly like this excerpt because it supports my assertions (yes it was sort of taken out of context to an extent):

Under DivX, the performance boost was almost as high as going from a 2MB L2 to a 4MB L2. Also remember that as clock speed goes up, the dependence on a faster FSB will also go up.

Thanks to the shared L2 cache, core to core traffic is no longer benefitted by a faster FSB so the improvements we're seeing here are simply due to how data hungry the new architecture is.

The tests were done on a 2.66 ghz Conroe extreme.

I do believe that by changing the architecture of the new i7 core and removing the FSB, intel has proven the point that FSB was the big bottleneck in the system.

I only mention that to point out that this thread is pretty old, and irrelevant for the most part.

PS: what's 2:30 T.T ?

I meant it was 2:30 in the morning, and I really should have been sleeping, since I had to wake up at around 5:30 D:.

 

[milky]

I only mention that to point out that this thread is pretty old, and irrelevant for the most part.

This was not a hypothetical question. I actually do own an inspiron 1525 that I am STILL looking to upgrade, so that makes it very relevant. It is 5 months old, however, I still haven't upgraded the CPU so I am still looking for the input that racbhat13 has provided here.
Thank you racbhat13.

CLEARLY this computer will NOT be used for gaming. Only a complete ***** would buy a used 1525 laptop with integrated video for gaming. And a complete ***** wouldn't be asking this question about the CPU.

This laptop is used for regular everyday stuff (surfing, word processing), and also for an above normal amount of graphic design work (illustrator, photoshop) and Audio Editing, software testing, and downloading music and apps, and playing music, oh and running my business with quickbooks. all-the-while running Dragon Naturally Speaking

So, in other words, lots of multitasking with the heaviest CPU application probably being Dragon and/or illustrator.
Not really doing any video editing and certainly NO GAMING!

 

[pawn3d]

HELLOO?!?!?!

• T7200 is a socket M
• T7250 is a socket P

THEY are NOT interchangeable!

idk nobody has mentioned this?