CPU advice please

[bigslice]

looking at new laptop, basically to surf the net and stream HD live fitba onto the telly. my current one struggles graphics wise to play 720hd video properly i guess because its not hd. current laptop runs windows xp with intel centrino. so what should i be looking at sub 500 squid laptops but more importantly the CPU.

 

[GreiginFife]

More importantly would be the graphics engine. Look for possible a dual core AMD or an i3 if you can get one under £500 but most improtant, look for one that has an independent graphics card if possible.
Something like this will do the job http://www.dabs.com/products/toshib...4-bit-laptop-7HNF.html?refs=54580000-15&src=3

 

[DappaDonDave]

Get a base unit. You'll get a mahoosive spec base unit for £500 and you can use your HD Telly as the monitor! Get a wireless mouse and keyboard...job done!

 

[bigslice]

was looking at one which was amd a6 3420m quad core or 90 squid more with intel i3 type (pc world) i did a amd v intel search on google and it reckoned the quad is better than i3 any thoughts? thanks

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Its quite simple , AMD cannot get close to Intel at the moment, the CPU range of choice is the I series (Second Generation) Starts with the I3, then the I5 and the I7 at the top of the tree

Dell are doing an Inspiron 15 laptop with 6 GB RAM, 1000gb Hard Drive and the I3 for £449, you can get the I5 for £469 with 4 GB ram and a 640gb hard drive.

You just need to connect the telly to the lappy with a HDMI cable and you are away

Feel free to PM me if you need any more info

Fragger
PC Engineer to The Gentry

 

[Region3]

I have an HP with an i7 chip. I've no idea if it's 1st or 2nd gen, but I'm not impressed with the overall performance of the laptop.
I don't know if it's the chip, memory, or whatever, but playing flash videos full screen lasts maybe 10 minutes before it performs like it has Win3.1 with 16k ram.

 

[ScienceBoy]

I have an HP

There is the issue, correct that and you are good to go

 

[GreiginFife]

There is the issue, correct that and you are good to go

And someone previous is advising buying Dell... that can be added to the list of problems before it's even bought.

 

[bigslice]

which i hadnt asked, in my eyes surely the amd quad core would cope with various things better than intel i5? which i think is dual core

 

[bobmac]

And someone previous is advising buying Dell... that can be added to the list of problems before it's even bought.

You're not a fan of Dell then?

 

[GreiginFife]

which i hadnt asked, in my eyes surely the amd quad core would cope with various things better than intel i5? which i think is dual core

You would think that yes. But it's how it processed the data that's important as well. You can see by the price difference of, say a AMD FM1 triple core and an Intel i3 that there is a difference. Probably comparable spec on paper but the Intel manages data processing much better and therefore is a better, faster (less correction) and more stable processor.
That being said, I build more machines (my other hobby) using AMD processors than I do Intel - mainly as for everyday computing most people look at price as a pre-determiner.

 

[brendy]

Its quite simple , AMD cannot get close to Intel at the moment, the CPU range of choice is the I series (Second Generation) Starts with the I3, then the I5 and the I7 at the top of the tree

Dell are doing an Inspiron 15 laptop with 6 GB RAM, 1000gb Hard Drive and the I3 for £449, you can get the I5 for £469 with 4 GB ram and a 640gb hard drive.

You just need to connect the telly to the lappy with a HDMI cable and you are away

Amd are getting there but until they can sort out the onboard cache and improve the quantity there they will never be quite as good. They are good enough for browsing etc but as soon as you push them the lower cache levels do become a little more obvious, things become a little laggier than the intel versions.
Dell vostro and inspiron ranges are great value for money at the moment. If you can get one via the Dell Outlet store online, even better.
My current laptop a Vostro 1720 with a Core 2 Duo (just before i3/i5 became standard) p8700 2.53ghz dual core with Nvidia 9600GS 512mb graphics onboard and 4gb ram, I swapped in a 128gb Crucial SSD drive and this laptop flies, I take it with me on business and get a good 3-4 hours out of the extended battery I fitted too.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

It is a common misnomer that a quad core cpu has to be better than a dual core one

A quad core may have 4 cores each rated at 2.8ghz thats 11.2 Ghz
a Dual core will have 2 cores at say 3.2 Ghz each, thats 6.4 Ghz

11.2 has to be better than 6.4 right? WRONG

There is hardly any software out there that will use more than 2 cores at once, most of it is still single core software, in a quad core cpu you will have 2 cores that arent being used.

so in reality 2 x 2.8 = 5.6 ghz which is less than 6.4.

Now you know

Fragger

 

[bigslice]

ok ok, im getting it, have to admit my first laptop had amd this one has intel centrino. so im brand happy with intel. so i think im looking at intel i3/i5 with a SEPERATE graphics card anything else should i be looking at. both frag and brendy like dell so frag whats your thoughts on dell outlet range

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Dell outlet is Ok, get some good bargains there, but they are refurbs or returns so may have a shorter warranty.

Stock changes every day so its pot luck as to what they have in stock

Fragger

 

[bigslice]

cheers

 

[brendy]

As above, some will have a minor scratch on the cover or whatever, of the ones i have bought, not one has had anything more than a hairline scratch/flaw but still worked out a fair bit cheaper.