64-Bit Processing

I have been really tight on money recently, so every dollar matters. To start things off, how does the speed of T2250 (1.73 ghz) compare to T5200 (1.60 ghz)?
Anyway, even though this is only a $25 difference, it makes a large difference to me. I plan on keeping my laptop for about 2.5 years and I was wondering what exactly 64-bit processing will be used for from now until then. Is it really a necessity for me who plans to play moderate to low games, surf the net, and do HW? Or is it only for those looking for amazing graphics and such? Thanks!

 

It will be very similar performance wise. Even if you are strapped for cash 25 bucks is not much--spend the money in the interest of future proofing. In all honesty you will probably not notice a difference between the processors--it's only 25 bucks though--thats like 2-3 hours of waiting tables or 1 lawn.

 

The Core 2 processors (T5x00 & T7x00) are about 10% faster than Core Duo at the same speed...so that 1.6GHz Core 2 will run roughly like a 1.76GHz Core Duo.

But for $25 I'd take the T5200 for the 64bit. Vista will be able to take advantage of it, and if/when 64bit programs become mainstream (give it a year or two probably) you will not be left behind. $25 now is a lot better than regretting the whole purchase later just because something isn't compatible.

Edit: Vespoli beat me to it...but you get the idea.

 

Yes, make the upgrade. $25 is nothing, just don't eat for 2 or 3 days.

 

So true...

 

Yeah, I wish I could spend my own money, but my parents have this ridiculous idea that they have to pay for everything, and I can not contribute at all. I see your points in saying the 64-bit is better. Oh well, I guess I have to do more convincing! Thanks.

 

I agree that spending an extra $25 is worth getting the extra flexibility that the Core 2 Duo will afford you. Squeeze a little now to avoid having to spend more later.

 

Huh? Who said anything about spending your own money? Read my last post again: Go on a hunger strike for a few days! Usually, the length of the strike is directly proportional to the amount of dollars you aim to leech from your parents. So I made a rough estimate and multiplied by two, and wound up with the 2-3 day number.

 

Cherish this time in your life. Even so, you should be able to explain how $25 is worth the benefits you will get I think.

 

While I would recommend spending the extra $25, I'd also like to say for the uses you described, 64 bit will not make an ATOM of difference for you. It will not make a single difference in playing moderate games, doing homework and surfing the net.

 

It won't yet. Two years down the line that might be a different story. Eventually the major programs will be able to take advantage of the 64bit-ness and you might want that advantage too.

 

Um it won't make any difference at all to anyone or in any application unless the application is designed for and requires 64-bit, and even then it only avoids the performance penalty associated with running 64-bit calculations on 32-bit hardware. There is no inherent performance benefit to 64-bit.

 

What performance penalty? I've never heard anything about that...

There are large benefits for 64bit with respect to math intensive programs (engineering, rendering, math). Most supercomputers and scientific computers run at least 64bit.

 

Not exactly consumer-level apps, are they?

I thought that it was:

a)Possible to process 64-bit integers on 32-bit hardware by using 2 registers
b)Slower to do so

 

No...but those are the beginnings at least. I know...64bit isn't here for consumers yet so I do agree on that point.

As far as the performance penalty goes: I misread that at first. I'm just posting that here instead of editing my first post. I'm not too sure what happens when you try to process a 64bit int on a 32bit system...

Here is something for you though: a lot of media code (SSE instructions) are 128 bit instructions. Core Duo and earlier had to break them up into two 64-bit steps (those processors were 32bit but could handle specific SSE 64bit instructions), but the Core 2 does it all at once in a specially designed 128bit path in the processor. Just by doubling the width of the "processor highway" they were able to dramatically increase the potential for media encoding, transcoding, and decoding operations due to the massive increase in computational abilities.