T5470 Vs. T7300

I'm looking at a vostro 1500 or 1700

Im switching from a desktop to a laptop, and i want comparable performance, if not better--my desktop has:2.8Ghz pentium D 920, 2 Gb ddr2 667, 7600gs


I know for sure i will chose the 8600gt graphics card, and add 2Gb ram in after i buy it, but is the upgrade from t5470 to t7300 CPU worth the 200$ ?

It gives me 400 mhz more and a 4mb cache, but will i notice a performance jump in everyday use? i only do moderate gaming/ video converting, and would use it more for cadd and design software.

should i invest in the better processor, or will i be fine with the t5470? it seems to me i would get more value for my money by getting the 17" version or getting a faster hard drive for it.

Im on a tight budget, but i dont want to regret the purchase later either...

 

I don't have personal experience yet with those two, but I have read that there is definitely a difference. Although it depends on what you really want. If you want the 17", then do it - value-wise for you, it's probably better. Also, if deciding between the two, processor > 7200rpm for overall performance. Here's a neat site with some processor benchmarks:

www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

 

hmmm i think i just decided to skip the 17"er becasue i will have a 22" monitor to plug it into when i am at home, and the portablitly of the 15.4 will be nice..

thanks for that site... it still doesn't have the 5470 on it Grrrrr...

as far as the processor having more of an impact than the HD... i think the t5470 gets a VISTA performance score of around 4.7 (same as my desktop) but the HD gets around a 4.2 (my desktop gets 5.2) so i was under the impression the HD would be the bottleneck... Wrong assumption?

 

i have an hp with the t7300 with cad 08 on it i use for work and it runs great im not sure how that other processor runs considering i don't have it but i do have the t7300 and i do use autocad ad i can say this processor works great

 

is the T5500 similar to the T5470?

the 5500 has a lower FSB...is that it?

 

If I understand correctly, all that the hard drive does is load up programs, applications, and other files more quickly. Depending on the complexity of your programs used, a faster processor should benefit you more. Plus, in the future when more complex and intensive programs keep coming out, you'll want to have a better processor. So if you don't want the 17", then go with the T7300 - relatively good value for the upgrade b/c you also get the 4mb cache.

I believe so, about the T5500 vs. T5470. Latter is the Santa Rosa chipset, with 800MHz FSB.

 

yeah, i guess ill have to go for it... i was really hoping i could save that 200$ but i guess saving up for a week more wouldn't be too bad...

 

^^^ I hear ya, price is a huge consideration for me too, but as you can see in my sig, I 'took the plunge' as well with the T7300. If you're going to own your notebook for awhile, it'll be worth it... imagine down the line if you didn't go for the T7300. Might you be saying 'I was really hoping that I spent that $200' instead?

 

Honestly, I'd stick with the T5470. It is an unusual budget processor in that it has a full 800MHz FSB. Usually budget Santa Rosa CPUs like the T5250/T5450 have a reduced 667MHz FSB. I think the performance will be more than adequate for your needs. I have a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo in my tablet PC and it has yet to let me down.

 

the biggest disappoint in a laptop would be the harddrive, even the best laptop harddrive is exceedingly slow compared to mediocre desktop harddrives.

 

I guess it will depend on how much money i have when i'm to the point of buying


how do you like that inspiron by the way... those are an option for me too, depending on the coupons that are out when i buy i may end up with either a vostro, or an inspiron.. any problems with it? built quality... anything?

 

^^^ Unfortunately, as you can see from my sig, it's gonna be awhile before I get it. They are just about identical to the Vostros. I first ordered a Vostro but cancelled when I got a better deal for the Inspiron. They have a $300 off coupon for it right now, which priced it as better than the Vostro for me. Although I didn't have a 'mystery coupon' to use for the Vostro, which would've sealed the deal.

 

Nope, nobody will ever say that.
Maybe in the first moments of owning the new computer... if you're surprised it isn't as fast as you expected. But down the line, you won't wish you had gotten the t7300 unless you really couldn't do the necessary work with the t5470. Now is down the line from the past. Nobody now is saying ' Damn, I was really wish I had spent that extra $200 on the higher speed model of the pentium 4".

In the future, nobody will say "man, i really wish I had spent the extra 200 on the higher speed model of core 2 duo".You might wish you had held off on buying so you could get nehalem or whatever new processor they'll have out that blows away whatever is out now. But trust me, you won't wish you had bought more processor than you needed back then.

 

The answer to the question asked is “no” not worth $200 unless you have nothing better to do with it. We all know which CPU is better, but do you need it? No, is it worth it (refer to 1st sentence) I don't know. The size of the monitor has no relation to the CPU, as a matter of fact, the GPU has no relation to the screen size. Native resolution, yes but actual screen size makes no difference, It could be a 20 foot screen the # of pixels (resolution) is what matters! Power supply would be the issue. I have repeatedly seen this incorrectly referred to and would like people to learn it!

What does Desktop HDD are faster than notebooks mean? Based on what? Yes you can get @15,000 and @10,000 HDD's on desktops notebooks not really yet. But a @7200 notebook vs @7200 desktop are about the same.

 

I don't think anybody is saying that the screen size relates to the performance of the notebook, but it is a big factor in your user experience, so it can still be considered along with specs like processor, vid card and HDD. We weren't referring to anything incorrectly at all, i was just considering options. (would it be worth my 200 to have a larger screen or faster processor)

Desktop HDD's are faster than notebooks is not refering to the RPM's necessarily but the speed of data access, and in almost all cases a laptop drive is nowhere near as fast as as even a midrange desktop drive. But you are correct if you step up to a 7200 RPM drive, it will come closer to matching the performance.

 

Brandontw: On the 17" inch you are correct, I misunderstood, on HDD I don't give yet. But good luck.

 

lol.. you dont give yet? i think all we were saying was that most notebooks have 5400RPM Hd's and most desktops have 7200RPM Hd's, therefore, most desktop hard drives are faster than most notebook drives.

Now, if you manage to get you hands on a decent 7200 RPM drive for your notebook, it might be as fast as a desktop hard drive, but you also have to consider caches, seek/scan speed Ect. and it is alot easier to cram all kinds of goodies in a desktop drive than in a laptop drive.

 

Like I said, I don't give. I cannot believe you ever had the notion of comparing different speed HDD, now you talk cache, seek/scan? All that can be compared! This ain't Voodoo!

 

haha fine if you get two hard drives, one notebook sized, one desktop sized with the same interface on both, all with the same cache size and speed and exact same speed specs the would perform almost identically. Is that what you need to here... im not sure i understand the argument anymore.

 

Stupid and obtuse is no way to go thru life son!

 

T5470 is my vote stuff changes so fast save the 200 for the next laptop with ddr3 and quad core in 18 months

or even a 30 min backrub in vegas :tongue:

 

Just go drink some Drano or something... Save us this headache...

 

I think i might just