Is there a big diff. in performance???

[Heusen77]

I am looking to buy the HP Pavillion dv9700t 17" laptop. My concern is with the processor, is there a major diff. in performance between the following:

- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor T5550 (1.83 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)

and the

- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.10 GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB) ?

The price difference is something like $125 to upgrade from the 667MHz to the 800MHz. Is the performance difference worth the $125 upgrade cost?

I can put the other specs of the system if needed.

Thanks

 

[996GT2]

What are you going to be using this system for? If it's just everyday tasks such as word processing, DVD playback, etc, then there won't be much of a noticeable difference between the two processors. However, if you do a lot of heavy Photoshop work, edit/encode movies, or play games, then you should upgrade to the T8100, since the extra cache and clock speed will result in noticeably better performance. Also, how much does HP charge to upgrade further to the T8300? If it's not a whole lot more than the T8100, I would get the 2.4 GHz T8300 instead.

 

[Heusen77]

i will be doing some gaming and encoding........before i go any further, are HP products any good? To upgrade to the T8300 (2.4GHz) is an extra $50 so I guess upgrading to that would be better. If you could, which brand laptop would be a good buy keeping in mind i will be doing some gaming (not excessively though), movie encoding etc? I dont want to spend more than $1,250 though.

 

[996GT2]

Lenovo Thinkpads are well built and nicely priced with Lenovo's recent sales. The Thinkpad T61/T61p Mobile Workstation seems to fit the bill for your needs and is lighter/more portable than the HP, so it's definitely worth a look (www.lenovo.com)

 

[Zap]

Something else to take into consideration... I'm not 100% certain, but I think the 3MB cache chips are on the 45nm process, meaning they produce less heat (on your lap!) and you'll get better battery life (by a few minutes).

 

[onlyCOpunk]

With gaming on 17" notebook the video card is going to be the determining factor in that aspect and go for the T8100 because it's about average for what you should be buying in a laptop. The T5550 is an older CPU and thus below average, old technology Santa Rosa chipsets vs Penryn.