thinkpad opinion sought

[rlc5]

Can anyone help me with making a judgement about the relative speeds of 2 thinkpad configurations (for general business and moderately intense statistical computation purposes)? There is the "old" X31 model and the new X40 model. I hope I've included the most relevant information about the two models below.

Thanks very much for any help you can provide.

Rick


***COMPARATIVE INFORMATION FOR THINKPAD X31 AND X40 MODELS***

Processor/speeds
X31: Pentium M/1.7 Ghz
X40: Pentium M 738/1.4 GHz

Memory speed
X31: PC2700 333MHz (mem cntrl limits speed to 266MHz)
X40: PC2700 333MHz

Same BUS Speed (400)

HDD Speed
X31: 5400
X40: 4200

Architecture
X31: Intel 855PM chipset / 82855PM Memory Controller Hub (MCH-M) /82801DBM ICH4-M I/O Controller Hub (ATA-100 EIDE, PCI bus, ethernet MAC, Low Pin Count (LPC) interface

X40: Intel 855GME chipset / 82852GME Memory Controller Hub (MCH-M) /82801DBM ICH4-M I/O Controller Hub (ATA-100 EIDE, PCI bus, Low Pin Count (LPC) interface


L2 Cache
x31: 1 MB
x40 2 MB

Graphics
X31: ATI® Mobility RADEON® / AGP 4X / 16MB DDR1 (DDR-SDRAM)

X40: Intel Extreme™ Graphics 2 / in 855GME GMCH /uses main memory (up to 64MB) / 266MHz

 

[RichPLS]

X31: Pentium M/1.7 Ghz
X40: PC2700 333MHz
X31: 5400
x40 2 MB cache
X40: Intel Extreme™ Graphics 2 / in 855GME GMCH /uses main memory (up to 64MB) / 266MHz

If that's your "only" best choices, can you mix-n-match?

_____________________________________________
<font color=red> And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign </font color=red>

 

[folken]

If you are doing lots of cpu intensive things go with the x40. It may be 300mhz slower but having 2mb of L2 cache makes a huge difference.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[rlc5]

Unfortunately, I can't mix and match. This is especially disappointing given the smaller L2 Cache on the X31.

 

[rlc5]

OK, that helps. I will be accessing the HDD a lot also and that made me shift in the direction of the X31 that offers the 5400 RPM disk (as compared to 4200 for the X40).

If the speed differences are a wash, then I'll probably go with the newer and lighter X40. However, I've had my current X20 for several years and really like its ruggedness. It's the same basic machine as X31 only slower (and mine is getting pretty beat up). The X40 has the plasticky-feeling magnesium allow case rather than the more solid feeling titanium allow of the X31...OK, I know, I gotta stop obsessing about this!

 

[folken]

You could always slap a faster hd in there later if need be. They aren't too expensive.
I agree that the titanium case does sound more settleing but the magnesum alloy is still good.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[rlc5]

For some reason I assumed that the HDD couldn't be upgraded. Thanks for the helpful input.