Why is intel P7570 running faster than the i5-520?

[Enquirer]

I just got a DELL Studio 15 and can't understand why my wife's DELL Vostro 1520 (bought 5 months ago) is running faster. With the specs, mine should theoretically run faster than my wife's.


My STUDIO 15:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-520M 2.40GHz (2.93Ghz Turbo Mode, 3M cache)
RAM: 6GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz [RAM usage is about 1.4GB]
Hard Drive: 640GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Disk Drive
Video Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470, 1GB (discrete)
Display: 15.6Inch Full High Definition (1080p) High Brightness LED Display with TrueLife with 2mp camera
Wireless Card: Intel WiFi Link 6200



Wife's VOSTRO 1520:
OS: Windows 7 Professional, Media, 32-bit
Processor: Intel Core Penryn P7570 2.26GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 800MHZ 2 DIMM Vostro [RAM usage is about 1.7GB]
Hard Drive: 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Video Card: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M HD
Display: 15.4 inch Premium WXGA TrueLife LCD
Wireless Card: Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11 a/g/n 3X3) 1/2 MiniCard


Anybody have any idea why my wife's laptop is running faster than mine? Is mine performing slower than it should or is my wife's performing faster than it should? Is it both? Is it something else I'm not considering?

 

[FALC0N]

Too many possible problems and not enough info provided.. But the I5 does have a slower hard drive.

 

[sosofm]

Your hard drive is bigger and slower 5400 rpm your wife is 7200 rpm.

 

[Maziar]

What apps did you run that gave you the conclusion that P5750 is faster,if it was like switching between different windows then its because of 5400RPM vs 7200RPM,but in CPU intensive tasks your laptop should perform better

 

[jiminkent]

There are two issues - responsiveness and speed.

I recently bought an i5 Studio 17, and thought that was sluggish too, but when you run a game it it shows genuine speed. Given that you're wife's machine doesn't have a video card, you don't have this testing option, but you could download something like Sandra to give you a clearer picture of processor grunt. After all, you need to stretch the processor before Turbo mode will kick in.

The sluggishness could simply be a case of bloatware - Studios come with extras like Dell Dock, which Vostros don't tend to have. Use MSCONFIG to free up some memory and see what happens. I re-installed Windows from the windows disk that came with the PC, and noticed a fair increase in speed over the original setup.

In the end, though, I bought an SSD for the spare bay, and now it really flies.

 

[jfem]

Based on experience by some, 64-bit is noticeably slower than 32-bit unless all your applications are specifically developed for 64-bit.

 

[13thmonkey]

Based on experience by some, 64-bit is noticeably slower than 32-bit unless all your applications are specifically developed for 64-bit.

Having been using 32bit for years, and recently changing to 64bit, I've not seen any of this, so to the OP its not a certainty that 64 is slower than 32.

 

[Maziar]

I have used both 32 bit and 64 bit OS's and 64 bit isn't slower than 32 bit,can you post the links proving this jfem ? I'm really interested to know in which apps a 32 bit OS is faster

 

[Enquirer]

There are two issues - responsiveness and speed.

I recently bought an i5 Studio 17, and thought that was sluggish too, but when you run a game it it shows genuine speed. Given that you're wife's machine doesn't have a video card, you don't have this testing option, but you could download something like Sandra to give you a clearer picture of processor grunt. After all, you need to stretch the processor before Turbo mode will kick in.

The sluggishness could simply be a case of bloatware - Studios come with extras like Dell Dock, which Vostros don't tend to have. Use MSCONFIG to free up some memory and see what happens. I re-installed Windows from the windows disk that came with the PC, and noticed a fair increase in speed over the original setup.

In the end, though, I bought an SSD for the spare bay, and now it really flies.

Don't get me wrong. My Studio 15 doesn't seem sluggish at all. It's just that my wife's is loading things quicker. As mentioned by some replies, it's probably because of the HD speed.

By "responsiveness," do you mean how quickly it loads apps and by "speed," do you mean how quickly it processes things while running those apps?

Since I just got the system and haven't loaded it with all my apps and files from my previous laptop, I will probably do a clean re-install (like you did). I'll see if this changes anything.

BTW, what spare bay did you use for the SSD? I'm wondering if I can use the one where bluetooth would normally go. Would this void the warranty if I opened the system to add things in?

 

[Enquirer]

What apps did you run that gave you the conclusion that P5750 is faster,if it was like switching between different windows then its because of 5400RPM vs 7200RPM,but in CPU intensive tasks your laptop should perform better

If I'm understanding correctly, simple tasks will be performed quicker with the faster HD (7200RPM) and the more intensive tasks will be performed quicker by the quicker processor (i5-520). Am I on the right track?

I came to the conclusion by doing simple tasks. For example, opening a web browser (tried a couple of different ones). Her's loaded quicker. This would make sense based on your explanation. Would that be the same reason her's loading up videos from YouTube quicker? I would think that mine should be quicker because of my quicker processor. . . or does the video have to go through the HD, through cache? Am I on track or way off?

 

[Maziar]

Well opening the browser depends on your HDD speeds and since yours is slower then hers should open faster but about opening a video well I'm not sure about that.
How do other pages(like normal sites without vids)perform ?

 

[singingigo]

also bear in mind it takes vista/7 about 2 weeks for superfetch to start paying off...so it should speed up a little bit at common tasks over time.

 

[Enquirer]

Well opening the browser depends on your HDD speeds and since yours is slower then hers should open faster but about opening a video well I'm not sure about that.
How do other pages(like normal sites without vids)perform ?

Thanks for replying again.

With other web pages, hers is still faster. Some were very close, though.

 

[Enquirer]

BLOATWARE. it happens with almost all new computers.
Try taking out the prinstalled items and see what happens.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm doing a clean install and making sure not to install unnecessary items. There didn't seem to be too many in Win 7, though.

 

[Enquirer]

also bear in mind it takes vista/7 about 2 weeks for superfetch to start paying off...so it should speed up a little bit at common tasks over time.

Thanks for your reply.

You taught me something new. . . I didn't know about superfetch before. I've been reading about it online and it sounds like it could definitely be one of the major factors.

 

[Maziar]

Well just to make sure,try and run a CPU intensive tasks on both like PhotoShop or 3D max if you have and check how it performs