Laptop P4 2,4 Ghz !!!

[rui.m.godinho]

I bought a Laptop (tsunami) P4 2,4 Ghz Bus_400Mhz, 512 DDR and a Ati 7500 64 DDR.

I tried to use some encode softwares, like CCE and Nandub and I noticed a problem, they all givr a boost in the begining, for exemple 30 FPS in Nandub, but after a minute it starts to decrease to 6 ou 7 FPS. And you want to know more, I only get a score of 4800 in 3DMark2001SE, can you believe it, it's driving me crazy :angry:
I my OS is XP Pro. I have already installed the chipset drivers (the more recents, according to the site), also installed the video drivers more recentes. I have the DMA enabled. I even installed an application that was at intel site) "Intel Application Accelerator" that accelerates the Mobile (sure, that's what say).

I also tested in Win Me but no luck, even worse. Can you give me a hand, please. Any suggestion is welcome ;)

[ReferenceDivx]

Are you running the computer plugged into the wall or not. If you don't have it plugged in, it will throttle down the cpu to save energy. At the highest Mghtz, the battery will not last very long. You will need to change a setting in the configuration if you want it to run out of spec.

[auenf]

Originally posted by ReferenceDivx
Are you running the computer plugged into the wall or not. If you don't have it plugged in, it will throttle down the cpu to save energy. At the highest Mghtz, the battery will not last very long. You will need to change a setting in the configuration if you want it to run out of spec.

the P4 will throttle down to save it from damage, which is what is in that particular laptop, the highest speed P4-M is 2.0ghz which includes the SpeedStep(tm) you speak of.

Enf...

[Arky]

Yeah, PC World (Dixons group) (in the UK) are well known for "jumping the market" with laptops which are not clearly labelled as such, but use desktop processors. My housemate bought a 1ghz P3 ('Advent' brand) and this can keep your chinese takeaway warm :cool: only problem is, he doesn't really want soy sauce all over the keyboard, so he tends to use it just as a PC... :D

Still, it does CCE jobs very nicely, and I never noticed it slowing down too much, but then 1ghz isn't 2.4ghz, so there's less of a heat issue there (I use the term *relatively*).

The only thing I can suggest is for you to always use the 'legs' on the back of the unit (if it has them), in order to raise the base of the unit up off the desktop, and allow it to stay cooler, rather than building up CPU heat. This certainly won't cure the problem, but it might alleviate it at least a little.


Arky ;o)

[auenf]

the only reason why i knew what the highest speed P4-M was cause i was doing a little research of a new cheap laptop available here in Aldi, using a 2.53Ghz P4 chip and geforce4go 440 vid.

still deciding whether to get one or not, would be nice tho.

Enf...

[Arky]

The price of generic laptops, as you are well aware, has come down dramatically in the 4 years since I bought my ageing Toshiba. At the same time, the general level of build quality (to say nothing of performance) has climbed steadily too. This is good news for all consumers who are in the market for a new laptop, but I must still point out three things which many consumers seem to be unaware of, and which are specific to laptops:

1) well, this one's just a reiteration of the above posts, regarding surruptitious use of desktop processors instead of true mobile chips. More heat; more power consumption, lower battery life.

2) TFT screens have also improved immeasurably, but STILL, on cheaper laptops, one should insist on viewing the screen of the ACTUAL item you are purchasing, because cheaper screens often still have the odd dead pixel. Don't let the salesman fob you off with showing you the demo model. Once you get yours home, they will be very reluctant to swap it for another without dead pixels (if they even have one). The screen itself may well have come off the same production line as the screens used in the premium quality IBM, Sharp, Sony, or Toshiba laptops, it's just that if it has one or two dead pixels, then it will be sold to the budget laptop-building suppler at a knockdown rate, which obviously affects the bottom line the consumer pays.

3) When harddrive manufacturers make their HDDs, they, as with any other facet of electronics manufacturing, do not have 100% perfect yields. There will always be a certain percentage of HDDs which fail to meet the specification. So what happens to the ones that fall by the wayside? Are they to be re-manufactured to get them up to spec, or thrown away, or...sold off cheap to suppliers who will buy them for integration into budget systems..? Well, the latter is most often the case. Now I am not casting stones here, but all I will say is that I have personally witnessed TWO Advent laptops have hardware failures on their HDDs. This might just be coincidence, or it might be altogether more significant. I wouldn't care to calculate the odds of two friends' laptops both having the same problem, though - the odds must be damned high. Hmmm... :rolleyes:


All the above comes from personal experience with both my ex-housemates, who each bought Advent laptops from PC World (in the UK), within 2 months of each other, and BOTH had points 2 & 3 to contend with firsthand, and the 1st additionally had point 1, as mentioned in my earlier post.

If you buy budget, then it's worth at least being aware of what you are potentially buying. That's not to say I would never buy a budget laptop, it's just that I'd want to to know what I was buying, and base my decision as to it's value-for-money on that knowledge.

I must say that I have never really regretted saving a little harder, and a little longer, to get a premium quality item, regardless of which of my hobbies, or work, it has been for. For the most part, I reckon the old maxim still holds true - "You get what you pay for - no more, no less".

What brand is the Aldi laptop, auenf?


Arky ;o)

[auenf]

Originally posted by Arky
What brand is the Aldi laptop, auenf?


the lappy is badged 'Medion', and from what i can work out it comes off a similar line to the Asus laptops.

and if you know ALDI, they are basically a bargain basement supermarket, that also sells some electrical goods, they wouldnt have a sample there, and the laptops will be sitting in a big box in an isle (closer to the door where they can keep an eye on them).

if i could check one out before hand, that would make the decision a lot easier, but for au$3k (no cc in ALDI either)...

hmm, deal might have ended, might have to think quicker than normal

Enf...