What kind of processor should I order for my Dell Vostro laptop? Core 2 Duo T5470 1.6GHz or T7300 2.0GHz?

Question

I am currently in the process of buying a new laptop from Dell. I have decided on getting a Vostro 1500, now the question is which processor should I go for? Core 2 Duo T5470 1.6GHz or T7300 2.0GHz?

I will be using this laptop mainly for moderate gaming plus school work, one game I am looking forward playing on this laptop is Call of Duty 4. And I hope this laptop would perform well wth the game.

The currently specs of the vostro 1500 I planned on ordering is following:

-Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5470 (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB) or Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
-15.4 in Wide Screen XGA+LCD Display w/TrueLife™
-2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
-256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
-120G 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
-Genuine Windows® XP Home (Lower resource used)

With the addition of Core 2 Duo T7300 will cost about 1160 with tax included and if I stick with the slower T5470 would cost about 1000.

Answer 1

Go for the 2ghz, I have the 1.66 and wish I had the 2ghz.
It increases the performance of the computer significantly, And I mean by quite a bit. Youll be happy you did.
Unlike what other people say, you will see a HUGE difference.
Just look at the performance difference:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_mobile.html?model1=701&model2=704&chart=264

Answer 2

It would depend on whether you can afford the faster processor.

In general you probably won't notice the difference very much (and as others have said you're processor will probably be underclocked most of the time to save power and reduce heat) and for most games the graphics chip is what will matter.

The faster processor also has more cache so if you need to do serious number crunching (you'll know if you do and if you don' t know then you probably don't need to) that will help.

Having a laptop as your main computer is a good idea and if you're laptop can handle the games you want to play it's probably cheaper to buy a better laptop than get the cheapest and a desktop to game on (I'd recommend against playing games at school, especially on batteries (a game will run your battery down pretty quick). Try to get the biggest battery you can with it though (so that you aren't too tethered to the wall) and when you get it set the power management settings to be as aggressive as possible on battery (i.e. run the processor as slow as you can, the screen as dim as readable and have the screen and hard disk inactivity power off as short as possible and run the graphics chip in battery optimised mode, won't be fast but your battery will last longer between charges and it'll still be fast enough for school work).

In terms of the rest of the specs I'd say make sure you get the bigger battery but otherwise you've got a pretty nice system, more than 2 GiB RAM doesn't make much sense for a 32 bit OS and your graphics chip is reasonably fast, a 5400 rpm hard disk uses less power than a 7200 rpm disk which is going to be good and you are looking at a nice big one. XP is better than Vista.

Answer 3

If you have the extra money I say go for it. Otherwise you can always upgrade processors later down the line (they depreciate pretty fast)

In terms of if you really need it or not, I dont think so. The extra MHz aren't going to shine in your everyday activities.

Someone said that the faster processor eats more batteries, which is true but not really because you should know these laptops almost always run at reduced speeds to SAVE battery (unless you were doing something REALLY CPU intensive).

Answer 4

That faster processor eats batteries faster as well. Upgrade the video and memory, not the processor.

Answer 5

seems solid, yet one factor i might replace is homestead windows Vista homestead hassle-free to homestead top type. You get a set extra advantageous properties with it and your equipment is extra desirable than in a position to preserve that.

Answer 6

I would buy a desktop for gaming & a laptop for schooling. This is what I did for my son, that way you can only do your schoolwork when your away and you have to stay home to play.