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Which laptop processor, for the money?

I

iroc409

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
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I think I am going to pick up a new laptop, an Inspiron 15 with the GMA X4500. I am trying to decide which processor to upgrade to.

The system comes with a T4200, and of the upgrade options I am considering upgrading to:
  • T6600 2Ghz/2MB/800 for $50 extra
  • T6800 2.2Ghz/2MB/800 for $100 extra
  • P8600 2.4Ghz/3MB/1066 for $175 more

I plan on using the system for basic office productivity - basically I want to use it as a daily desktop replacement, using the desktop only for games and Photoshop and stuff.

I mostly browse the internet, use Office, do a lot of scanning, run DVDFab to copy my DVD collection to my PVP to watch movies on airplanes. I am going to be going back to school soon, probably for engineering and while unknown may have to run whatever they might require (who knows). I would like the laptop to last 3-4 years. The system will run Vista, comes with 2GB RAM but I will upgrade that myself to 4GB. At home the machine will pretty much be "docked".

I want the P8600, but it's hard to justify the extra costs. That's really fast, but here at work I have a XP Latitude 1.86 C2D (older) with 2GB RAM and it seems to do most of the daily tasks just fine - which may make the extra CPU not particularly useful.

Thanks for your input!
 
Personally, I don't think anything past the T6600 is worth the extra cost.
 
++ The T6600 is the only worthwhile upgrade at those prices.

If you need something faster in the future, upgrade the CPU yourself. In 2 years the P8600 will be cheaper.
 
None of those CPUs. If you check ebay, you can find the T9400 (faster than the P8400) for around $140 to $150:
http://computers.shop.ebay.com/item...flnZ1QQ_sacatZ3667QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em282

Specs:
T9400 2.53Ghz/6MB/1066

Do note that this would require you to open up the laptop and possibly voiding your warranty. If you're not willing to manually upgrade the CPU, then the T6600 is the highest upgrade I'd go.
 
The P8400 is a 25W processor, as are the other 3 he listed. The T9400 is a 35W processor. He would need to make sure the Inspiron 15's cooling can handle the higher load.
 
Thanks for the update all! I didn't think about upgrading the laptop down the road, I'm not sure why. That makes sense. Danny Bui, thanks for the link I will check that out.

I had the numbers wrong, it's the T6400 and T6600, but the specs were correct (2/2.2ghz). I think I will either just get the T6400, or see if I can find out if I can put the T9400 in it - that would be pretty sweet.

Thanks!!
 
pxc said:
The P8400 is a 25W processor, as are the other 3 he listed. The T9400 is a 35W processor. He would need to make sure the Inspiron 15's cooling can handle the higher load.
Click to expand...

The T6400 and T6600 are both 35W CPUs. If Dell is offering those CPUs with the Inspiron, then it can handle the T9400.
 
I went ahead and ordered it last night, and kept the T4200. The only upgrade I chose was the WLED screen. My only complaint is that it may take 3 weeks to get. Boo! It seems like about the best bang for the buck out there, if you don't need a bunch of extra frills (which I don't).

I plan on upgrading it myself as suggested. 1MB of cache didn't seem worth it, I would rather put it towards something like the T9400. I will burn the machine in for a while to make sure there are no issues before I change anything except maybe RAM.

I appreciate the comments and help!!
 
I got a dell Studio 1555 with the same chipset, but it presently got the T6600 in it. Would the T9400 works in this laptop?
Thanks,
 
Bad_dude said:
I got a dell Studio 1555 with the same chipset, but it presently got the T6600 in it. Would the T9400 works in this laptop?
Thanks,
Click to expand...

It should. The 9400 is older and was available as an upgrade option IIRC for the Studio 15 line.
 
So how would the T9400 compares to P9500? Which would be faster? I am thinking of the P8400 or P8600.
Thanks,
 
Bad_dude said:
So how would the T9400 compares to P9500? Which would be faster? I am thinking of the P8400 or P8600.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
They pretty much trade blows. The P9500 would however use less power
 
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