help (its a dell)

What is the difference between the normal and the 'G' version. And is it worth the extra $275?

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7600 (2.33GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7600G (2.33GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB) [add $275]

I want this for gaming, I'm getting 2gig ram, and a 512 video card. The whole thing costs >3000.

 

The G version is capable of being overclocked. If your main concern is to gaming, then the standard T7600, or even a T7200 will do fine. This is because gaming is limited by the graphics card in almost all cases. It isn't worth the extra $275 for the G version.

 

ok, What videocard can I get that will be able to use the extra processing, or is there even one. I got the best videocard I coudl get the Geforce 7950. If that can't use a T7600 (non G) then please tell me.

BTW thanks, this could save me hundreds of dollars.

 

You can mix and match any parts as long as they remain options on the Dell configuration tool. Have you looked into the e1705? If you want to spend over 3000 dollars, I'd look towards Clevo/Sager.

edit: Dont' worry about CPUs, the t7200 will fast enough.

 

Well I'm used to dells, and I like them.

The main reason I wanted to upgrade to the XPS was for the 512 MB gfx card, I thought that meant it would be faster and better.

256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS

512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX

If the 512 card isn't better then the 256 card then I might as well go back to the Inspiron e1705.

And I want this laptop to be usable (meaning not obsolete) in a year or two, if that means getting a better then needed processor now then I want to do it.

Of course there is no need to get a processor better then the video card.

 

No, the Go 7950 GTX is a much stronger and faster card than the Go 7900 GS. If you have the money, and you want to play games, then keep that in the configuration. For that graphics card, a T7200 will be fast enough. The Core 2 Duo may not have a fast clockspeed compared to previous Intel processors, but it does have a far better architecture, which means that it doesn't require so high a clockspeed to do the same processing.

 

Ok great, I think I'll simply get the T7200 then (I'll assume the T7400 isn't worth the $175 dollars).

Would you say that the frequency of the RAM matters much?

$100 upgrades the 2gb 533Mhz to 2gb 677Mhz, my initial instinct is to do it, but you certainly know more then I do. Both DDR2 SDRAM.

Thanks again.

 

There's absolutely no point in going for the 7950 and a higher-speed C2D if you're going to cripple it with lower speed RAM. But speaking more broadly, the only real point in buying an XPS M1710 (unless you like the hideous lights) is to max it out, which is what I did. If you aren't going to load it out, you can get better deals elsewhere.

 

So you'd say I should go with the 677Mhz? I cannot afford to spend $3000 (or whatever it is) to get 4GB of RAM, if that is what you meant.

Exactly it can get the 7950, which is the only reason I'm getting it above the e1705.

 

hi,
I got a xps m1710 with the t7400,which that was only 75$ more than the t7200.Ive found that was better than 275$ for the t7600.Dont worry and go with the 7950gtx. thats awesome the performance that going out of this machine what ever if that is application or graphical.Iam playing all the game at full setting and i dont have any problem

 

Unless you get an alienware with 2 7950gtx in sli.

 

There's no Alienware with a "7950GTX" in SLI.

 

The 667MHz ram is not worth $100 over the 533MHz ram because the performance gain of the 667MHz ram is nullified by it's higher latency.

 

There has been a recently release SLI Alienware notebook that does have SLI Go 7950 GTX graphics cards. Its not built by Alienware, as it is a rebranded notebook from some other company. Linked below:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3456

 

Ok thanks, so there wouldn't be any boost to the 667 MHz RAM? I wouldn't mind $100 if it will give me a moderate boost.

 

No, the 667 MHz RAM isn't worth the extra $100. The performance difference is so small that its pointless to consider. 533 MHz RAM will do fine.