Performance
The ThinkPad X1 is the first Intel Sandy Bridge notebook to hit our benchmark suite, and it's likely to run circles around most last-generation competitors. To see how it compares, we're lining it up against a range of 11.6in - 14.5in systems, including one equipped with AMD's latest A8-3500M APU.
Here's a detailed look at the key specifications of our eight comparison notebooks, as well as a brief rundown of the benchmarks we use.
Comparison Notebooks |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laptop | Dell Inspiron M101z | Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 | ASUS Eee PC 1215N | Acer Timeline 3810T | ASUS U35JC | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 | Generic AMD Llano | HP Envy 14-1050EA |
| Processor | AMD Athlon II Neo K325 (1.30GHz, 2MB L2 cache, dual-core, 15W) | AMD Athlon II Neo K325 (1.30GHz, 2MB L2 cache, dual-core, 15W) | Intel Atom D525 (1.80GHz, 1MB L2 cache, dual-core, 13W) | Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 (1.40GHz, 3MB L2 cache, dual-core, 10W) | Intel Core i3-370M (2.4GHz, 3MB smart cache, dual-core, 35W) | Intel Core i5-2520M (2.50GHz, 3MB smart cache, dual-core, 35W) | AMD A8-3500M (1.50GHz, 4MB L2 cache, quad-core, 35W) | Intel Core i5-450M (2.40GHz, 3MB smart cache, dual-core, 35W) |
| Memory | 4GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 2GB DDR3 | 2GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 |
| Graphics | AMD Mobility Radeon HD 4225 | AMD Mobility Radeon HD 4225 | Intel GMA 3150 + NVIDIA ION 2 | Intel GMA 4500MHD | Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce 310M 1GB | Intel HD 3000 | AMD Radeon 6620G + Mobility Radeon 6630 1GB | Intel HD Graphics + AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1GB |
| Graphics driver | AMD Catalyst 10.7 | AMD Catalyst 10.11 | Intel 8.14.10.2117 + NVIDIA Verde 260.89 | Intel 7.15.10.1666 | Intel 8.15.10.2182 + NVIDIA Verde 258.96 | Intel 8.15.10.2321 | AMD Catalyst 11.5 | Intel 8.15.10.2182 + AMD Catalyst 10.9 |
| Display | 11.6in - 1,366x768 | 11.6in - 1,366x768 | 12.1in - 1,366x768 | 13.3in - 1,366x768 | 13.3in - 1,366x768 | 13.3in - 1,366x768 | 14in - 1,366x768 | 14.5in - 1,366x768 |
| Battery | 6 cell, 56Whr | 6 cell, 57Whr | 6 cell, 56Whr | 6 cell, 56Whr | 8 cell, 84Whr | 6 cell, 38.4Whr | 6 cell, 58Whr | 8 cell, 59Whr |
| Weight | 1,572g (including battery) | 1,513g (including battery) | 1,523g (including battery) | 1,645g (including battery) | 1,816g (including battery) | 1,741g (including battery) | 2,179g (including battery) | 2,589g (including battery) |
| Wireless | Broadcom WLAN Half-Mini Card (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth | ThinkPad 1x1 WLAN Half-Mini Card (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth | Broadcom WiFi (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth | Intel WiFi 5100 (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth | Intel WiFi 5100 (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth | Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth | Realtek WLAN (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth 2.1 | Broadcom 43224AG (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth |
| Disk drive | Seagate Momentus 320GB HDD, 7,200RPM, 16MB cache | Hitachi Travelstar 320GB HDD, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Seagate Momentus 250GB HDD, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi 500GB HDD, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Seagate Momentus 320GB HDD, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | Hitachi Travelstar 320GB HDD, 7,200RPM, 16MB cache | Hitachi Travelstar 250GB HDD, 7,200RPM, 8MB cache | Seagate Momentus 500GB HDD, 7,200RPM, 16MB cache |
| Optical drive | None | None | None | None | None | None | Blu-ray/DVD RW combo | DVD-RW |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home premium, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 32-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 32-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit |
| Approx. price as configured | £500 | £530 | £430 | £500 | £650 | £1,200 | N/A | £1,000 |
Benchmarks |
||||||||
| Geekbench | A cross-platform benchmark used to measure memory and processor performance. Run using high-performance mode. | |||||||
| Cinebench | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. Run using high-performance mode. | |||||||
| 3DMark06 | A PC benchmark used to test the DirectX 9 performance of a system's graphics card. Run using high-performance mode. | |||||||
| Power Consumption | Using balanced power settings, we record mains power draw whilst playing back a 720p movie trailer. | |||||||
| Battery Test | In order to measure battery life, we run the notebook on balanced power settings and loop a 720p movie trailer, measuring the time taken to hibernate. | |||||||
CPU and GPU performance
The Core i5-2520M CPU certainly has legs, and it's more than enough to propel the ThinkPad X1 to the top of the Geekbench chart.
Overall system performance is very good, but for a £1,180 machine, the ThinkPad X1 is lacking the instant-response of a solid-state drive. Windows 7 takes over a minute to boot, and the hard disk can be a bottleneck. At this price, we'd quite happily take a slower CPU if it meant replacing the HDD with an SSD.
Looking solely at CPU performance, Cinebench confirms that the Core i5-2520M is a noticeable step up from the previous generation. When compared to the HP Envy 14's Core i5-450M, we see a performance jump of 35 per cent. Impressive, considering that both chips maintain a 35W TDP.
AMD's Radeon-infused A8-3500M APU gives the Llano notebook the edge in graphics, but the ThinkPad X1's integrated Intel HD 3000 IGP isn't a slouch. It's perfectly adequate for high-def multimedia playback, but demanding 3D games are out of its reach - we scored an average frame rate of less than 15fps while attempting to run Just Cause 2.
Power consumption and battery life
Power draw while playing back a 720p movie is in line with most other notebooks of this size, but here's the catch; the comparisons are armed with at least 56Whr batteries. The tighter confines of the ThinkPad X1 limit it to just a 38.4Whr battery.
Battery life, ultimately, is the ThinkPad X1's first big compromise. In our rundown test - which entails looping a 720p movie clip with 50 per cent screen brightness and all wireless radios disabled - the notebook ran out of steam shortly after passing the three-hour mark.
That's a distinctly-average result, and it makes the X1's optional battery slice more of a necessity than a luxury.
What is useful, though, is Lenovo's RapidCharge technology. In our tests, we were able to get the depleted battery back up to a 70 per cent charge in just 24 minutes.
