Budget CPU Recommendation Please

[dumblonde]

Hi,

I found this forum as I was searching for info on CPU's. I can't find much info online about the slower Intel Core Duos only the faster ones.

I am trying to build a budget Dell laptop. I am not a gamer. The most I do is net browsing while watching streaming video, image editing, & slight video editing for youtube upload. Right now I have an 3 year old laptop with a celeron M processor & it never bogged down too bad for me until recently when performing my normal tasks.

My dilemma, I have 3 choices but am forced to stay on a tight budget:
(all will run Window's XP, have a 120-160 5400RPM hard drive, have 2MB RAM & they will be using integrated/shared video as dedicated video memory puts me out of my price range)

Option 1: Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 2.0GHz (price $709)
Option 2: Intel Core 2 Duo T5270 1.4GHz (price $579)
Option 3: AMD Athlon TM 64 X2 1.9GHz (price $559)

I am really not wanting the $709 option as right now an extra $130-$150 is a lot to me. I am wondering if the low end Intel Core 2 Duo is a better or worse performer at 1.4GHz than the Athlon at 1.9GHz? Could anyone that has experience with the low end of the Intel Core 2 Duos offer me some guidance?

Thanks for being patient enough to read my long post & for any guidance you can offer

 

[joefriday]

To be honest, both the Athlon and the Core 2 at 1.4 will be enough to get the job done well. The 500 MHz clock disparity between the two makes them roughly equivalent in performance (the Core 2 is a bit more efficient of a processor). I think the real question here is, which do you prefer? The Intel name is $20 more, but in general, Intel-based laptops will have a higher resale value than a comparable AMD laptop, which may be a factor you'd want to consider if you plan to sell this laptop down the road when it no longer serves your purposes. Once again generally speaking, an Intel laptop will also have slightly longer battery life (provided both laptops use the same size battery and are similarly equipped), which may be important to you if you plan to do a lot of computing away from a wall outlet (make sure the batteries are the same watt/hr between the two laptops, or simply choose the model with the bigger battery if this is important to you). Other than that, the question of integrated graphics comes to mind. Most intel laptops use Intel integrated graphics, while AMD laptops commonly come with AMD/ATI integrated graphics. You may not play video games, but it might be desirable for you to at least check to make sure both laptops offer similar video output connectivity (e.g. S-video output, DVI, VGA out). S-video output is very handy, allowing you to view pictures, videos, etc. stored on your laptop from a television screen, making it easy for friends and family to watch at the same time.

Really the decision is just a matter of preference. From a performance standpoint, the two should be pretty equivalent.

 

[Mondoman]

Sounds like you should be fine with the Athlon x2; I think you'll find that using a dual-core CPU (as all your choices are) will help substantially with the random stutter vs your old Celeron, as one core of the CPU can take care of periodic OS tasks, still leaving at least a second core to work on your tasks. The main thing for you is to install as much RAM as possible, especially since the shared video will "steal" memory from Windows. I'd definitely go with a model with 3GB (be careful - some models can not hold more than 2GB). Since it sounds like you are not doing really CPU-intensive work (such as encoding or rendering), I'd go with the AMD CPU (or similar).

I find that OfficeDepot/Staples/Officemax/BestBuy etc. in their weekly ads often have the best specials on low-end notebooks such as what you're looking for.

 

[bwdsmart]

you can get a notebook that will fit your needs for the price of the mobile processor your gona buy...

 

[dumblonde]

Thanks for the advice guys. It helps put my mind at ease. I like to research a lot before I buy. The prices I listed above were for a complete Dell laptop & I have checked the electronics store specials & none come close to those prices for all I will get plus in store they are all forcing Vista down my throat. Dell seems to be the only manufacturer still readily offering Window's XP on bargain PC's.

I think I will just go with the Athlon as I am not worried about resale value. I plan to keep this sucker & run it into the ground just liek I did with my current laptop. I just checked my trusty 3 year old Toshiba laptop & the Celeron M in it is only 1.40GHz & I only had 512MB RAM so I should be very happy with the new Dell I have configured. I figure in another 3 years or so it will be time for new laptop yet again & hopefully by then Vista will just be a distant memory

Thanks again for your help