laptop processors

Beano

can anybody if there is a significant difference between the Intel® Pentium Dual Core Processor T2370 and the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5550? There is a €50 price difference between the 2 and i was wondering if it was worth spending the extra.

Also, does anybody know how the quoted speeds for laptop chips compare to the quoted speeds for desktop chips? I was looking at the recommended specs for a game yesterday and it recommended a 3GHz processor. Presumably this is in P4 terms but what would be the equivalent in a core 2 or dual core processor?

TerrorFirmer

The core 2 would be a fair bit faster and definitely better in games, so if that's what your aiming towards then yes, it's worth it - but if you're a day to day user then you won't notice any difference whatsoever.

Remember as well, that for games the video card is far more important, not to mention that if you're playing old games, both cpu's are lightning fast. Though the 3Ghz requirement would indicate it's a new game. On which point, yes, both of those dual cores, even running single threaded applications, are faster then a 3Ghz Pentium 4.

Beano

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

The core 2 would be a fair bit faster and definitely better in games, so if that's what your aiming towards then yes, it's worth it - but if you're a day to day user then you won't notice any difference whatsoever.

Remember as well, that for games the video card is far more important, not to mention that if you're playing old games, both cpu's are lightning fast. Though the 3Ghz requirement would indicate it's a new game. On which point, yes, both of those dual cores, even running single threaded applications, are faster then a 3Ghz Pentium 4.

I'd mostly be using it for surfing the web but i also like the odd FPS and my 2 year old laptop is struggling despite the dedicated graphics card it has.

In terms of graphics cards would a nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT be a significant improvement over a nVidia® GeForce™ Go 8400M GS?

pwd

Yes. There's a list of benchmarks for mobile graphics cards in the stickies.
There are two versions of the 8600m. One version uses ddr3 RAM and is a good bit faster than the other version which uses ddr2. The ddr2 version is far more common though. The Dell xps 1530 is one laptop I know of with the faster version of the card.

TerrorFirmer

It depends on what you're playing. If you're playing Counter Strike Source and Team Fortress 2, the 8400GS is a good card and will handle both at high settings. If you're looking at playing newer games like Call of Duty 4, the card will still cope, but at reduced settings and resolutions.

If your last card was a decent one, something like a Go7600, then no, the 8400GS is not an improvement really - you'd be looking at the 8600Gt really for a significant increase in performance. If your old card was something like X200 or Go6150, then the 8400GS is very much an improvement.

What games do you play and what was your old card?

Beano

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

It depends on what you're playing. If you're playing Counter Strike Source and Team Fortress 2, the 8400GS is a good card and will handle both at high settings. If you're looking at playing newer games like Call of Duty 4, the card will still cope, but at reduced settings and resolutions.

If your last card was a decent one, something like a Go7600, then no, the 8400GS is not an improvement really - you'd be looking at the 8600Gt really for a significant increase in performance. If your old card was something like X200 or Go6150, then the 8400GS is very much an improvement.

What games do you play and what was your old card?

For the life of me i cant remember what card is in my current laptop and and i'm in work so i cant check. I do know the laptop cost me €1500 2 years ago and the dedicated graphics gard was an expensive extra. I have played call of duty 4 on it and runs quite well at 800x600 but i havent tried it any higher. I got Rainbow Six yesterday and it also runs but it also defaults to 800x600. I'd like to play it at a higher res hence the new laptop.

TerrorFirmer

Well if it runs Rainbow six Vegas well, even at 800x600, then a new 8400GS would not be an upgrade. The 8600Gt should be the minimum you'd be looking at - similarly performing are the likes of the HD2600, 9500GS - it will enable you to play something like Call of Duty 4 at 1280x800 medium-ish settings.

For dedicated games playing at eye candy levels you'd be looking at considerably more expensive laptops, the 8600GT DDR2 falls into the sub 800 euro bracket in many cases; the gap between budget and performance is quite large generally.

Are you on a limiting budget?

Beano

It turns out i have a GeForce Go 6800 so the 8400 would be a downgrade according to the comparison chart in the sticky. The 8600 doesnt seem to be a lot better than what i have either, especially as Dell only do the DDR2 version. The only way to get a significant improvement is to go up to the €1500 level again. time for a rethink. Thanks for the help TerrorFirmer.

TerrorFirmer

8600MGT is faster and the DDR3 version even more so but for a significant increase you'd probably be looking at the 8700MGT level of cards....the 8400GS as you say would be a large step down.