Is there a big difference between these two CPUs?

[Shekwan]

I'm buying a new laptop and it's €80 to upgrade from a

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6400 (2.0 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 Cache)

to a

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 cache).

Is this a significant difference? Is it worth it for €80?

 

[pillowmaker911]

I, personally, would say yes, the extra GHz, faster FSB, and 50% large cache could see significant performance increase. Depends on your operating system in some cases though. I would also suggest a 64-bit operating system (I'm assuming you'll have a Vista Premium with that kind of processor?), 64-bit's are more likely to have control over the multiple CPUs so you'll have better performance.

 

[pillowmaker911]

In personal computers, the Front Side Bus (FSB) is the bus that carries data between the CPU and the northbridge.

-Wikipedia

The northbridge is the part that controls the RAM ports as well as your video card slot. The faster that is, the more you can do at a time, and the better your video card will work.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I would definitely take that upgrade. Its a 600mhz upgrade as well as a much faster FSB and more L2 Cache

 

[Comraddict]

-Wikipedia

The northbridge is the part that controls the RAM ports as well as your video card slot. The faster that is, the more you can do at a time, and the better your video card will work.

for graphics it doesn't have any effect - speed of PCI-express port is constant and defined in protocol:

Capacity Per lane:

• v1.x: 250 MB/s
• v2.0: 500 MB/s
• v3.0: 1 GB/s

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pci_express

 

[GVBN]

Its a 600mhz upgrade

266mhz

FSB or L2 isn't going to make any real difference. Don't bother wasting 80€ on that

for graphics it doesn't have any effect - speed of PCI-express port is constant and defined in protocol:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pci_express

PCI-E/AGP/PCI frequencies are affected by the FSB. There's no real benefit of overclocking PCI-E though and it just causes instability. Any half-decent motherboard locks PCI-E to 100mhz

 

[Mise]

You won't notice it.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

266mhz

FSB or L2 isn't going to make any real difference. Don't bother wasting 80€ on that

D'oh, I read it as 2.6gHz. Yeah, for 266 mHz its not really worth it. My bad.

 

[Shekwan]

Cool thanks for the advice guys. €80 saved is €80 toward a blu ray drive. Finally gonna get some use for my HDTV.

I guess it would be good value to upgrade the memory from 3GB to 4GB for €45 though? Is it the memory that allows you to run multiple programs simultaneously and stuff?

As you can tell I'm a computer novice.

 

[GVBN]

I guess it would be good value to upgrade the memory from 3GB to 4GB for €45 though?

No. 1gb of laptop RAM costs like 10€

Is it the memory that allows you to run multiple programs simultaneously and stuff?

Yeah, but I think 3gb will be more than enough for most people

 

[Genocidicbunny]

With laptops, generally you want to buy the smallest HDD and smallest amount of RAM the manufacturer offers. Then, simply upgrade on your own. Its a lot cheaper ( especially when it comes to RAM) although if you upgrade the HDD, you're gonna have to reinstall w/e OS you were using.

 

[GoodGame]

I'd say it's a significant difference, but only if you have a 1066mhz mobo and a pair of ram that run at that speed as well. Not sure if it's worth ~$160

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Laptop RAM is generally DDR2-667 or 800. 1066 is usually reserved for enthusiast rigs which judging by those processors, this aint. It is quite and upgrade, but not an 80 Euro one. For that money, youc an buy yourself a faster HDD ( 7200rpm over 5400rpm makes a world of difference. SSD makes a universe of difference ) Actually, getting an SSD of a decent size will probably have a much larger effect than getting and equivalent money's worth of processor. Then you simply buy a portable external (2.5" form factor) and you've got an insta-boot laptop with plenty of storage for things like music or video.

 

[Mise]

You can use USB memory sticks to boost your RAM. Of course, it's not as good as using actual RAM, but it's a helluvalot cheaper, and significantly faster than HDD-based virtual memory. IMO 3gb RAM + 4gb flash drive + €45 > 4gb RAM

 

[uppi]

If you're planning to carry the laptop around and use it's battery, you shouldn't go for the upgrade, as it will drain the battery faster.

And if it doesn't come with a 64-bit OS, the 4 GB memory are useless, as 32-bit Windows will only let you address about 3GB of it.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

You can use USB memory sticks to boost your RAM. Of course, it's not as good as using actual RAM, but it's a helluvalot cheaper, and significantly faster than HDD-based virtual memory. IMO 3gb RAM + 4gb flash drive + €45 > 4gb RAM

2GB + Ready Boost would probably be better. With 3GB if its a laptop, you're gonna have a 2GB and a 1GB stick which means single channel. 4GB would give you dual channel. The best possible thing is to buy the laptop with only 2GB ram ( making sure its a single, not two-stick set) and then buy a complimentary 2GB stick off newegg ( or your equivalent cheap electronics store ) that has the same speed and timings.

 

[Shekwan]

So basically thanks to the advice here I decided to go for neither upgrade, and get a Bluray drive instead. Seems a bit more practical and the chances of getting a bluray player for €140 is zero.

Ordered it the other day and it should arrive soon as the factory is apparently in Limerick.

 

[innonimatu]

2GB + Ready Boost would probably be better. With 3GB if its a laptop, you're gonna have a 2GB and a 1GB stick which means single channel. 4GB would give you dual channel. The best possible thing is to buy the laptop with only 2GB ram ( making sure its a single, not two-stick set) and then buy a complimentary 2GB stick off newegg ( or your equivalent cheap electronics store ) that has the same speed and timings.

Just for the benefit of other people, then: I think that it's cheaper (and best) to just buy 4GB even if you're going to use only 3. The difference in price is minimal, and RAM is much faster that that "readyboost" marketing ploy Microsoft came up with for Vista. With Windows XP you can even disable the paging file and just use the RAM - paging files ceased making sense for any normal use years ago as systems stared being sold with 2GB+ RAM, I've not used one for over 4 years now!

 

[Mise]

If you're only going to use 3gb for the next, say, 3 years, then you might as well use 3gb now and buy another 2gb stick in 3 years' time, by which time it will have fallen in price.

And in 3 years' time, you'll probably be earning more money, so the price won't look as scary anyway.

Same goes for HDDs too. IMO there's no point buying a 500gb HDD if it'll take 10 years to fill.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

If you're only going to use 3gb for the next, say, 3 years, then you might as well use 3gb now and buy another 2gb stick in 3 years' time, by which time it will have fallen in price.

And in 3 years' time, you'll probably be earning more money, so the price won't look as scary anyway.

Same goes for HDDs too. IMO there's no point buying a 500gb HDD if it'll take 10 years to fill.

DDR2 prices at this point are not gonna fall much, and may infact start rising very soon ( sorta like DDR did when DDR2 came out) It may take a year or so for it to start going up, but in 3 years time I almost guarantee DDR2 prices will be higher than DDR3.