If you haven't seen it already, you should check

[Jonathan Schmidt]

If you haven't seen it already, you should check out this great article on Tom's Hardware. It pits the 1.7 Banias against the 2.0 Dothan.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20040510/index.html

Bottom line is that there is no change in battery life between the two while still getting an average of 22% increase in application performance. This gives a 5% premium increase over just the expected performance gains from the increase in clock speed. So, the Dothan chips are faster at the same clock speed, but not by much.

If you are a gamer, there was no observed performance difference between the 1.7B and the 2.0D. This is attributed to the same Intel integrated graphics.

I'm still toying with the idea of buying a 2.0 Dothan.... haven't decided what to do yet. Anyone else brave enough?

[foe]

Thanks

[foe]

Great Article

[DavidBeoulve]

Neat. The whole article tells me why Dothans are good, as well as why they aren't worth the cost of being an early adopter. I'll let the Dothans drive down the price of the Briana's.

[eT]

@Jonathan:
- if you do not realy need the tiny extra power: save the money and/or invest it into more memorz! (at least 1 GB RAM)

- if you like 'toys for boys' ... just get te dothan now (but don't complain about extra money burned) AND get extra RAM

either solution: enjoy!!! :)

eT

[dustham]

Hi - Thanks for the link. Very good article. I have bought a new 2.0 Dothan and will get it tomorrow and install and see what it does. I have a 1.5 right now as I couldnt wait for toshiba online and grabbed a deal at best buy and upgraded the HD to the 7200rpm and then bought the new processor. So I will post based on my experience at replacing the part.

There was a great post from someone else who upgraded to the 1.8 Dothan so I do appreciate him posting pics as I will be using that to help guide my hand.

Regards - Dustin

[toydesign]

This whole upgraded processor thing is very intriguing...
I just recently purchased my m205 (with a 1.5 chip) as I needed it right away...
When you have everything succesfully up and running could you please post all pertinent information (I looked through the post of a previous owner who upgraded his processor, but still didn't find all the info I was hoping for...)
If you have the time could you post:
- Cost of 2.0 chip and where you purchased ?
- Ease of installation (any soldering etc. required ?)
- Any "seal" need to be broken in order to install (something that would give away the fact that you did install new chip, thus possibly voiding warranty) ?
- Any changes to BIOS necessary, or does it just boot-up normally and recognise the new chip with no issues....?
- Any observations on battery life, heat, etc ?

I know that there are alot of owners anxiously awaiting any news ...

Good luck and thanks in advance for any info...!

[mtwizard]

I have been using a Dothan 755 2.0GHz for about a week and so far am very happy. There is noticable increase in speed and the tablet seems to run cooler. The fan also runs less. No BIOS change. The battery life seems a very small amount better. My old configuration was M200, 1.7GHz, 2G Ram(kingston)and 7200 hard drive(toshiba). I am not to concerned about battery life as I have a 2 spare batteries and am near a socket or my multi dock most of the time anyway.

Price I paid $785 for 2.0,could have gotten 1.8 for $510 and 400.00 for 1.7.

I have a backup 205 which I will install the old 1.7GHz in.

I am running RC2 and a mixed group of programs from MS Office to AutoCAD 2005, Architectural Desktop, Architectural Studio and some unusual software like Geomagic for 3D modeling. Everything runs perfectly.

Any other questions please ask.

Thank you,
mtwizard

[toydesign]

Thanks for all the info MTWIZARD....
I plan on trying it out as soon as I save up the necessary $$$$....

[maxim382]

To everyone, who is planning to upgrade the processor. Bad news is that the current BIOS does not support the processor stepping. Your processor will se stuck at 598 mgh frequency no matter if it on AC or Batteries. I Should admit that even On this frequency it performs pretty good, saves power significantly,but you can imagine what it can perform when the stepping is working.

[blink182prj]

With the introduction of the Dothans to the m200 from Toshiba, won't there have to be a BIOS upgrade to accomodate them? I'm sure it will be up for download soon...

[Jonathan Schmidt]

Is the 598Mhz the highest, lowest, or somewhere in between? It would be silly to buy a 2.0 proc that can't run at 2.0Ghz. I don't mind sacrificing a little battery life for the extra speed, though.

Do you know if Toshiba is putting out an updated BIOS for sure? What are they doing for the machines now shipping with Dothan? Are they shipping without the stepping active? Seems like a bad idea to me.


quote:Originally posted by maxim382

To everyone, who is planning to upgrade the processor. Bad news is that the current BIOS does not support the processor stepping. Your processor will se stuck at 598 mgh frequency no matter if it on AC or Batteries. I Should admit that even On this frequency it performs pretty good, saves power significantly,but you can imagine what it can perform when the stepping is working.

[dustham]

I forgot to list that I purchased my 2.0 Dothan from www.newegg.com for $639. Expensive I know, but it is a work related expense that I can use.

Will give more of an update when I install - waiting for fedex right now...

Dustin

[dustham]

Okay - Just installed my 2.0 Ghz Dothan and frankly it was very easy, I had anticipated some problems, but really just unscrew all the screws on the back and 1 screw after you take out the battery and easy to open up. Move the heatsink out of the way and no problem.

Dustin

[maxim382]

Now I can suggest, to check your processor frequency.I bet It will not go over 598 mgh. I hope that Toshiba will release an update soon, otherwise my Dothan is going back to the store.

[Jonathan Schmidt]

Just a thought. I seem to remember a similar problem a while ago with Pentium 4s when they first came out. The problem wasn't with the processor, though, it was with what the system was reporting to Windows as the processor speed. As I recall, the system ran fine and at the correct speed. It was just that the system wasn't reporting the proper speed.

Have you tried any actual benchmarking to see if there was a speed increase?


quote:Originally posted by maxim382

Now I can suggest, to check your processor frequency.I bet It will not go over 598 mgh. I hope that Toshiba will release an update soon, otherwise my Dothan is going back to the store.

[dustham]

I checked the speed in the system, it says a 2.0 Dothan but at 598mhz speed.

I havent done any benchmarks but can tell in general system operation a speed increase, so I am pretty happy. The battery life seems to be better than it was with the 1.5, but that is just what the battery icon shows as how much is available.

I will be curious to see if Toshiba offers a new BIOS revision, as the new systems need to have this if they are shipping with the new Dothans.

Dustin

[toydesign]

Sorry in advance for my "stupid" question....

Could someone explain in basic terms what the loss of the "processor stepping" means ?

Is the "598 mgh frequency " that keeps getting mentioned at the top, middle, or bottom of the processors capabilities ?

Would the performance of a 1.7, 1.8, or 2.0 chip be the same if they are all running at the "598 mgh frequency" ?

If it means that that processor would be always running at highest speed is that necessarily a "bad" thing ? (besides the obvious effects on battery life and heat).

Thanks for any info as I am relatively "clueless" when it comes to these things.

-Greg

[Jonathan Schmidt]

Processor stepping is a technology that Intel has introduced into their mobile processors. It allows the processor to change speeds dynamically as needed. For example, if you are writing a Word document, you don't need as much processor power as when you would be playing a 3D game. So, when the demands on the processor are less, it will "step" to a lower speed. When the demands are greater, it will "step" up to a higher speed.

The current theory on this forum is that without a BIOS upgrade, the M200 will not recognize the Dothan 2.0 processor properly and will not enable the stepping technology. In my opinion, this is okay as long as it is stuck in the "high" position so that we aren't missing the extra performance. This would mean that the battery life would be reduced, however, because the processor is running in high gear all the time.

In terms of the "598mgh" post, I believe this is simply a problem with Windows properly identifying the processor. This has happened in the past when new procs come out. Windows doesn't understand the new signatures right away. If it were truly running at 598, the other people on the board would not have seen performance increases, but instead a significant decrease.

I am running some benchmarks this morning and expect to receive the 2.0 proc later today. I will install and run new benchmarks to see what kind of increase we can expect.

Hope this helps.


quote:Originally posted by toydesign

Sorry in advance for my "stupid" question....

Could someone explain in basic terms what the loss of the "processor stepping" means ?

Is the "598 mgh frequency " that keeps getting mentioned at the top, middle, or bottom of the processors capabilities ?

Would the performance of a 1.7, 1.8, or 2.0 chip be the same if they are all running at the "598 mgh frequency" ?

If it means that that processor would be always running at highest speed is that necessarily a "bad" thing ? (besides the obvious effects on battery life and heat).

Thanks for any info as I am relatively "clueless" when it comes to these things.

-Greg

[toydesign]

Jonathan,

Thanks...that definitely helps alot....

and I agree, I would certainly give up the "stepping" technology if the processor ran at max speed all the time...

I am anxious to see your benchmark info when you post....

Thanks again,
Greg

[Davediego]

not to nitpick too much, but a processor stepping is the revision of the processor. for example, prescott cpu's are going to get a new stepping soon that will add no-execute security flag (partially) and some other things.

what you guys are talking about is SpeedStep ;)