Question on Processor and Memory

Hello all. Its been a while since ive looked into notebooks, however my dad is looking to replace his current one sometime during the holiday season. I was looking into them and know that his requirements are pretty minimal, however I wasn't sure how basic to go. His general needs will just be internet, streaming video, and email. Nothing to crazy, no gaming and probably not even watching dvd's. My general requirements are a C2D processor, 3 gig ram, and wireless N(we have a N router).

However, here is my question. I was looking into the different processors and noticed that Intel's processors really vary depending on which model you pick. Based on what he will be using the laptop for, how important is the 1066 v 800 FSB and 3 v 2 mb L2 Cache? Also, for what he'd be doing, is there a need to go with DDR3 v DDR2 ram?

Thanks for the help. Just trying to find a decent system for him for the next 2-3 years.

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------------------------------ Q6600, Gigabyte P35 DS3R, EVGA 8800 640mb Superclocked, Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC6400, Raptor 150GB, 2x Barracuda 500GB SATA, 1x Barracuda 500GB IDE, Zalman 9700, CoolerMaster eXtreme 650W, Antec 900

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None of those specs are important for your Dad. Almost anything goes for an internet/office machine these days.

Reply to frozenlead

I agree with frozenlead, any modern machine will do.

I would take the lowest possible C2D with at least 2GB of RAM (DDR2 or DDR3 -- does not matter). This machine will serve for a good time in case if your Dad will decide to watch DVD and something a little bit more than just e-mail.

Reply to HappyBison

Get a netbook with a 10-11 inch screen. It'll be plenty for what he needs. Get an atom processor at 1.6ghz or 2ghz with windows 7.

If you think that is too small just get a pentium dual core at 2ghz with 2gigs of ram, lowest drive you can find with a 5400rpm drive, and an intel video card should be sufficient.

you don't really need a core 2 duo for browsing the web a pentium dual core is plenty.

Anything more than this is overkill. The above is overkill. A netbook is just right. Can usually find a 10 inch one for 350.

mrmark27 wrote :

Hello all. Its been a while since ive looked into notebooks, however my dad is looking to replace his current one sometime during the holiday season. I was looking into them and know that his requirements are pretty minimal, however I wasn't sure how basic to go. His general needs will just be internet, streaming video, and email. Nothing to crazy, no gaming and probably not even watching dvd's. My general requirements are a C2D processor, 3 gig ram, and wireless N(we have a N router).

However, here is my question. I was looking into the different processors and noticed that Intel's processors really vary depending on which model you pick. Based on what he will be using the laptop for, how important is the 1066 v 800 FSB and 3 v 2 mb L2 Cache? Also, for what he'd be doing, is there a need to go with DDR3 v DDR2 ram?

Thanks for the help. Just trying to find a decent system for him for the next 2-3 years.

Reply to xxsk8er101xx

Thanks. I had thought about the netbook but he wants something larger, with a 15" or 16" screen since he usually has multiple windows open.

------------------------------ Q6600, Gigabyte P35 DS3R, EVGA 8800 640mb Superclocked, Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC6400, Raptor 150GB, 2x Barracuda 500GB SATA, 1x Barracuda 500GB IDE, Zalman 9700, CoolerMaster eXtreme 650W, Antec 900
Reply to mrmark27

After looking around some, I found this HP notebook bestbuy. It has 3 of the 4 things I wanted(C2D, 3+ Gig Ram, HDMI Output) and only item it lacks is Wireless N, however it has a PC Card slot and I have a wireless N pc card that was bundled with my router. Does anyone have an opinion of how this looks, or if they know of a better build/brand for similar price?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] 123211141]
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc [...] =en&cc=us]

Thanks for all the help!

Message edited by mrmark27 on 10-27-2009 at 05:55:50 PM

------------------------------ Q6600, Gigabyte P35 DS3R, EVGA 8800 640mb Superclocked, Crucial Ballistix 2GB PC6400, Raptor 150GB, 2x Barracuda 500GB SATA, 1x Barracuda 500GB IDE, Zalman 9700, CoolerMaster eXtreme 650W, Antec 900
Reply to mrmark27

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