I purchased the HP TOuchsmart IQ506 and I like it alot but a bit disappointed in the CPU. I am thinking about upgrading the CPU but am not sure of the performace increase Ill see. The corrent configuration of the Tocuhsmart is:

Intel Core Duo 2 ( Socket M-Memrom ) 2.1 Mhz T5850 LCache 2 MB
Nvidia 9300M Graphics
4 MB Ram ( 667 )
500 GB hard drive

I would like to upgrade the CPU to the Max the motherboard can take

Intel Core Duo 2 (Socketp-Penryn) 2.4 MhZ T8300 LCashe 4MB

Im not sure what kind of increase I should expect. Ive searched for benchmark but cant really find anything. I use my computer for everything but the real disappointment is when I decode DVDs using Handbrake. Currently Im getting an average of 22 FPS. I also play World of Warcraft and although its good Im hoping a newer CPU would take some pressure off the graphics card and see some improvement there as well.

Can anyone help me out with an idea if its worth investing $200 for the upgrade and if I do, what increases I should see?
Maybe some links to benchmarks?

Thanks

That cache is shared, so it will work much better in single core apps (which is pretty much anything that isn't gaming). The higher clock speed won't do much. Not really worth 200 dollars though. The gains are likely very minimal.

Damn...I was hoping I could realize a significant gain from upgrading the CPU....well I guess Ill have to wait till at least the cost goes down..
ty

that seems strange that you get such low fps on WOW with that laptop... but then again i dont know much about mobile graphics. my friend cant even run mass effect on lowest with the same cpu and 8600m gt. but it seemed to be CPU limited. i dont think its worth the $200 upgrade however, unless you sell the old cpu.

Your performance increase will be roughly 15% for anything strictly CPU-limited. You are more likely seeing the effects of other system components being slow in order to save power. For example, 5400rpm hard drives, slow optical drives, low-performance graphics, etc.

The limiter on your system is probably the 9300M graphics. The CPU probably will have little effect on WoW.

Well I can accept this....WOW is okay the way it is but if the CPU upgrade will help my Handbrake decoding ( currently at 22fps on average ) amongst other stuff I would make the upgrade....Of course, if it was a significant increase,.,.,.,.,which it sounds like it wouldnt

So heres my final question on the subject:

Looking at some other CPU benchmarks, T7700, 7600, 7200 it seems like Im a bit confused on what PC is best. I can upgrade my Touchsmart with two different CPUs:
1 - Memrom CPU up to 2.4 Mhz Socket M
2 - Penryn CPU up to T8300 2.4 Mhz Socket P

I assumed the T8300 was the best one I could get if I was to upgrade. Is this a safe assumption? Im not too sure becuase I see the T7600 costing more than the T8300. If Im wrong, what would be the best CPU to upgrade to and what kind of performace increase should I expect?

the T8300 is a later and more efficient model I think. The memrom may by top bin or something. There will be gains from upgrading but don't expect a huge differnce. As others have mentioned, the bottleneck is probably something else on your pc.

Thnaks for the info....looks like Ill just have to wait till the prices come down in order to justify the upgrade...

Thanks again to all