Upgrading laptop (w/ desktop 939 CPU), is SSE3 worth it?

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
So, I have this old laptop here (HP ZV6000), I decided to take it apart and do a thorough cleaning because it was getting loud, I discovered (and recalled) that it has a full desktop capable socket 939, it currently houses a power hungry and hot newcastle 2.4 ghz single core CPU. on 130nm

Researching it I found it is NOT compatible with ANY duel core CPUs, only single cores.

wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon_64

Research has shown that my upgrade options are a winchester, Venice, or San diego...
I can find them on ebay with little trouble, but which to chose?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...athlon64-venice_6.html
Xbit labs indicates that venice takes more power and makes more heat than winchester. But has slightly bigger cache and SSE3...

Is SSE3 worth anything? the only programs I know that use anything above SSE2 use only the INTEL implementation, and are not compatible with the AMD SSE3 (they are not exactly the same).

on load a 2.2ghz venice takes 55.9 watts while the winchester only 47.6 watts. a newcastle is 79.9 @ 2.2, and mine is 2.4 at a hefty 85.6 watts.

Going from 85.6 watt to a 47.6 watt CPU on a laptop should make a world of difference.

I haven't managed to find much info on san diego.
 

Zensal

Senior member
Jan 18, 2005
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San Diego was a higher-end Venice. 1 MB cache vs 512 KB. So it will run a little bit hotter and a little bit faster.

Thinking about 939 always makes me nostalgic.

 

Zensal

Senior member
Jan 18, 2005
740
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Probably should answer your original question too.

As long as your laptop is just for web surfing or office, I would just go with the lower power of the three to extend the battery life.

So I guess that's my vote for the Winney.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
Originally posted by: Denithor
Venice FTW

so, you are saying the higher power consumption is worth the benefits of SSE3 instruction set? Or is there another reason?
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
my friend had an X2 939 (toledo) he gave me, I tried it and it will not boot :(
So i went ahead and ordered a ADA3500DIK4BI, aka winchester 2.2ghz. 26$ + free shipping on ebay (buy now.. i missed one for 20$ and free shipping through bidding, and i didn't wanna wait 2 days for the next one to end)
Hopefully I don't break anything important or unfixable when I install it (I managed to fix, mostly, everything i broke this time... those things were not meant to be disassembled)
 

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
5,957
7
81
SSE3 might be worth it if you ever make the laptop into a hackintosh.
 

Gikaseixas

Platinum Member
Jul 1, 2004
2,836
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i think u bought the right one since it consumes around 40 watts less. Battery should last longer and it will run much cooler.

Let us know how that works for you. Good luck
 

Cogman

Lifer
Sep 19, 2000
10,277
125
106
AFAIK SSE3 isn't worth anything. You won't see any huge speed ups anywhere by having it.
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
thanks for the info. too bad about SSE3 being useless, but that just means i made the right decision..
Fox5, good to know, but I have no intent of EVER doing that.
 

Denithor

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2004
6,300
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Originally posted by: Hacp
Dual core, not duel core!

Grammar nazi!

(Of course, I think the same thing when I see it...)


Venice was basically a revised Winnie with an enhanced memory controller, SSE3 and improved process control (yielding better overclocks in general).

That said, the Winnie was no slouch. Enjoy your new chip!
 

taltamir

Lifer
Mar 21, 2004
13,576
6
76
I have just found a program called crystalCPUID.
Using it I can set automatic underclocking and undervolting despite my mobo not showing any support for it in bios... I set it to have a 5x, 8x, and 11x multiplier presets and auto switch between them agressively. (4.5 and 4.0 multi cause instant freeze)
I am now testing undervolting. 0.9 volts for the 5x multi instead of the default 1.4 volts. (0.8 is lowest voltage, causes instant freeze).
I'll fine tune it between 0.8 and 0.9 volts later if it passes... well, after I get some undervolting on my 8x and 11x presets first.

This is a really cool program and it really rounds up my laptop upgrade. I will try using riva tuner to underclock the video card later.