core 2 duo considerably faster than centrino m?

[whattaguy]

My current laptop:

Dell
2gig DDR2 Ram
2.0Ghz Centrino Mobile
7200rpm HDD

All else being equal, will a 1.66 Core 2 Duo be faster?
Or should I go with a 2.0 Core 2 Duo?

I do music recording/editing with this.

Thanks.

 

[5150Joker]

There's no such thing as a Centrino mobile. But yes the core 2 duo spanks the Pentium M.

 

[BladeVenom]

Unless the program is multi threaded, or you're running more than one program at a time the 2.0 Ghz Pentium M should keep up.

 

[fbrdphreak]

You will not notice a big difference except when running numerous programs at once and loading it up. Your fast Pentium M, tons of RAM, and 7200RPM drive help make up for the single-core a lot. You won't get a lot of money for your Dell laptop unless it has warranty, so personally I'd wait until Santa Rosa comes out in April-ish.

 

[whattaguy]

Actually, I have a 3 year warranty with accidental coverage. I would like to wait until April, but my current laptop will be worth as must as a paperweight by then.

I figure that I'll take about a 30-40% loss if I sell it now. If I were to upgrade, I will keep similar specs (2gb RAM, 7200 HDD).

Any other thoughts?

 

[Tseng]

I had the urge to upgrade too but forced myself to cool down. My current laptop - Dell Precision M70 is very nice. With a Pentium M 780, 2GB RAM and a 7K100 100G. It simply does everything extremely well in WinXP and should be very well in Vista too.

Waiting for Santa Rosa would help me to fully utilize the M70 and get more mature technologies on multi-core. Plus Vista is not released yet. I always believe that the best time to buy H/W for an OS is after SP1.

 

[cheesehead]

A single core Pentium M is not going to be your bottleneck - your video card is. If you've got a 6800 or better, don't worry about it. If you're using something poky (an x600 or worse), then feel free to upgrade - but I'd wait 'till C2D is not quite so new.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
A single core Pentium M is not going to be your bottleneck - your video card is. If you've got a 6800 or better, don't worry about it. If you're using something poky (an x600 or worse), then feel free to upgrade - but I'd wait 'till C2D is not quite so new.

How is a video card a bottleneck if all one does is surf the web?

My point is having a crappy video card doesn't mean squat if you don't game or 3D model. The 700M is a fine machine for portable, 2D use.

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
A single core Pentium M is not going to be your bottleneck - your video card is. If you've got a 6800 or better, don't worry about it. If you're using something poky (an x600 or worse), then feel free to upgrade - but I'd wait 'till C2D is not quite so new.

How is a video card a bottleneck if all one does is surf the web?

My point is having a crappy video card doesn't mean squat if you don't game or 3D model. The 700M is a fine machine for portable, 2D use.

For music recording/editing, a big CPU is your friend. However, if you're using a second external monitor, something a little faster than the Intel Extreme video chipset can be handy.

C2D is a far better performer for music-related stuff, according to most benchmarks.

 

[whattaguy]

Thanks for all your replies!
I went ahead and picked purchased the new laptop because I do music production.

However, I noticed that I don't get the same resolution 1920x1200 on the new laptop (1680x1050).

Was my old video card (ATI Mobility x300) better than my new one (ATI Mobility x1400)?

 

[RossMAN]

Remind me again what's so great about Santa Rosa?

 

[Doh!]

Originally posted by: whattaguy
Thanks for all your replies!
I went ahead and picked purchased the new laptop because I do music production.

However, I noticed that I don't get the same resolution 1920x1200 on the new laptop (1680x1050).

Was my old video card (ATI Mobility x300) better than my new one (ATI Mobility x1400)?

It's not the video card but the monitor (lcd).

 

[whattaguy]

Originally posted by: Doh!

Originally posted by: whattaguy
Thanks for all your replies!
I went ahead and picked purchased the new laptop because I do music production.

However, I noticed that I don't get the same resolution 1920x1200 on the new laptop (1680x1050).

Was my old video card (ATI Mobility x300) better than my new one (ATI Mobility x1400)?

It's not the video card but the monitor (lcd).

That's what I figured. So my older laptop had a better lcd?

Old System:

Inspiron 6000, Intel Pentium M Processor 760 (2GHz/2MB
Cache/533MHz FSB)
15.4 inch WUXGA LCD Panel for Inspiron 6000
1GB, Shared DDR2,533MHZ 1 Dimm Inspiron 6000
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300 Video Card, for Inspiron 6000
60GB Ultra ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive for Inspiron 6000
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, English
without Media, for Inspiron
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem, for Inspiron
24X Combo DVD/CD-RW for Inspiron 6000
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless
(802.11b/g,54Mbps) for Inspiron 6000
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery for Inspiron
6000
*3 Year Limited Warranty
Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
*Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week
ends, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
*Type 15- Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Week
ends, 24x7 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended
~$1300

New System:

Inspiron E1505, Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200
(4MB/2.00GHz/667MHz)
15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+, for
Inspiron 6400/E1505
1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 2 Dimm for Inspiron 6400/E1505
256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400 HyperMemory, for
Inspiron 6400/E1505
80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive for Inspiron 6400/E1505
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, English
without Media, for Inspiron
Dell Support
Image Restore
Windows Media Player 10
Backup media for XP Media Center,Inspiron
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem, for Inspiron
8X DVD+/-RW Drive for Inspiron 6400/E1505
Integrated High Definition Audio, Inspiron
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps), for
Inspiron 6400/E1505
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for Inspiron
6400/E1505
*2 Year Limited Warranty
Soft Contracts - Banctec
*Warranty Support,1 Year Extend ed
*Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOns ite Service, Extended Year
*Type 3- Third Party At HomeSer vice, 24x7 TechnicalSupport, 1
Year Extended
*Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOns ite Service, Initial Year
*Type 3- Third Party At HomeSer vice, 24x7 TechnicalSupport, I
nitial Year
*CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection, Inspiron, 2Years
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0 + EDR),for
Inspiron
~1200

Ok, so I upgraded my processor and video card, added 20 more gigs of space, and added bluetooth. And I guess I downgraded my lcd (also has a backlight issue), wireless card, and warranty.

I may return my new system because it gets rather hot (wouldn't reboot after long use), and dell is not very helpful in helping me with my lcd issue.

Would you guys think that this was a worthwhile upgrade?