Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Performance, Benchmarks and Conclusion

Performance and Benchmarks
System performance on both ThinkPad T410 models was excellent with the Intel Core i5-540M processors and speedy 320GB 7200RPM Seagate hard drives. Both systems offered excellent boot times and had plenty of power to handle anything we threw at them. The T410 with integrated graphics also gave us the highest 3DMark06 score we have seen to date on an Intel graphics model. Pushing close to 2,000 in 3DMark06 the T410 with integrated graphics should be able to handle most previous generation games with tweaked settings. For the average user the T410 in even the basic configuration will be able to handle 1080P HD video without breaking a sweat. For the business user on the road the newest Intel Core i5 processors are closing the gap between ?slow? notebook computers and ?fast? workstations.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against netbooks @ 1024 x 768 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
Lenovo updated the cooling fan on the T410 by reshaping the fan blades to mimic the wings on an owl. This change lets the fan still push the same amount of air without producing as much sound as previous generation cooling fans. In testing we found the fan to be quieter but the pitch of the noise it produced went from a low to high-frequency note. In terms of cooling performance the T410 can easily cope with the thermal load from integrated graphics as well as dedicated graphics. After being stressed over a period of about an hour with back-to-back benchmarks the hottest spot on the T410 with dedicated graphics was 96-degrees on the bottom. The rest of the notebook including the palmrest and keyboard stayed comfortable. The T410 with integrated graphics saw a two to three-degree drop across the board with a hot spot measuring 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Battery Life
Users looking to get the most runtime out of their new ThinkPad will love the new 9-cell battery. Lenovo quietly bumped the 9-cell from the previous 84Wh capacity to a new 94Wh model. The change makes the battery look slightly larger but it doesn?t stick out any further from the back of the notebook. The 6-cell battery only got a 1Wh bump to 57Wh. In our battery test with the screen brightness set 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 on a balanced profile the dedicated graphics model with 9-cell battery lasted for 7 hours and 30 minutes while the integrated graphics model with 6-cell battery stayed on for 5 hours and 43 minutes. Power consumption on the integrated graphics model was between 9 and 10 watts during the test with the dedicated graphics model pushing as high as 12 watts.

Conclusion
The full-redesigned Lenovo ThinkPad T410 offers quite a few enhancements over the previous generation T400, including less keyboard flex, an updated keyboard, a nicer touchpad, huge improvement in port selection, and better component access through the chassis. The new design is not without its flaws though as we have seen some areas like the screen cover show more flex than we would like. Overall the pros far outweigh the cons with the new T410 and as always the newest generation offers a substantial bump in performance. Compared to the last T400 we reviewed we saw an increase of almost 100% in 3DMark06 performance and almost half the time in wPrime. While it would be hard to say it is worth upgrading a T400 to this newer model--if you have an aging T60 or T61--now might be the time to upgrade.

Pros:

• Very fast
• Increased battery capacities
• Excellent port selection

Cons:

• Screen shows some distortion when flexing
• High pitched fan could be annoying

Individual Ratings: *

Software & Support 
Upgrade Capabilities 
Usability 
Design 
Performance 
Features 
* Ratings averaged to produce final score