more memory + HD or high end processor?

I want to know what would you guys do. Im not sure which configuration i should actually choose. Upgrading a processor from 2.26 to 2.53=$100 or i can stay with the 2.26 processor and get 4 gb ram from 3gb ram and 320 hd from 250=$100 and both hd are 5400rpm

and i need this extra $100 so that it can work with the coupon

usage- mainly school work and a little bit of gaming

 

Could you write detailed specifications about the whole system? This would help evaluating the situation.

 

system specs are

-HP DV4T
-Moonlight White
-Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
- Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P7550 (2.26GHz , 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
or
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53 GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
- 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) or 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection or 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M
-14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen (1280 x 800)
- LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
- [For LED Display] Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
- Wireless-G Card with Bluetooth

 

I'd personally up the RAM and hard drive - 2.26 GHz is plenty.

 

Go for the processor upgrade unless you need extra HDD space (some people always need more HDD space). 70GB difference is not much. After all you can buy an external HDD for large files such as media and photo files. You won't notice any difference between 3GB and 4GB RAM (in either 32bit or 64bit OS).
With the higher processor, you will notice a difference in some games (like strategic, MMOG or games with physics) as I noticed with my upgrade (going from T7300 to T9300) but overall your PC will become more responsive, especially in HD movies and heavy Flash web pages etc. Just to remind you, gaming is influenced mainly by the GPU and then by the CPU. But most of the other PC usages are CPU dependent.

 

I personally would go for the RAM and HDD:

• The CPU bump will be hardly noticeable, and most likely not noticeable at all when doing something like school work that won't put your computer under big stress.
• As "RAM can only be replaced by more RAM", more RAM is always better. Windows Vista knows how to get speed gains out of the bigger RAM even if you won't use enough applications simultaneously to fill up all 4 GB. After some time of use, it will begin to use the additional 1 GB to speed up application launches.
• After doing some quick and dirty research, it seems to me that the 320 GB HDD will not only be bigger, but likely also a bit faster than the 250 GB model that it would come with. While that may speed up e.g. copying files as well, the most important aspect of this would be that with a slower hard disk (lower average access time), the whole computer will just feel slower during normal tasks. However, it's questionable if the difference in speed between these two particular drives is big enough to even be noticeable.

 

RAM+HDD. Mainly for the RAM gains. It's pretty easy to chew up 4GB of RAM these days, even with just a few browser windows with a few tabs each open. Upping the CPU will provide negiligible gains. Chances are none of your tasks will put even 1 core at 100% utilization for enough time to notice any gains from the speed. This is doubley true due to the weak GPU. The GPU will hang things up long before the CPU in that system.

 

Would the 250GB 5400 RPM drive not be faster? Assuming that HP uses the better 5400 RPM drives (e.g. Scorpio Blue), the 250GB drive would use only a single platter, as opposed to a double platter 320GB model. Single platter HDDs would enjoy slightly faster seek speeds and power efficiency in comparison to their double platter counterparts.

At least, that was always my understanding.

To the OP, I would do neither upgrade and find some other way to spend the $100 if possible. If not, then I'd probably go with the faster CPU. From my experience, it's always cheaper and more flexible to do your own upgrades. A +1GB RAM upgrade and a +70GB HDD upgrade for $100 is not worth it in terms of value, IMO. That being said, I don't you would notice the increase in speed from the CPU upgrade either, IMO, unless you're sitting on your computer with a stop watch in hand.

Is there anything else you can spend the $100 on?

 

Agreed w/ Xiphias. Save your $100. None of the three upgrades you mentioned are worth upgrading to since neither will give you a noticeable difference. It would be cheaper to (for example, <$100) buy your own 2GB stick and 500GB 5400RPM drive and upgrade your current system to that (plus an enclosure for your current HDD). That being said, 3 to 4GB won't be noticeable unless you can currently load up on your 3GB, while the 500GB would be worth it if you need the space.

 

I would actually agree with you Xiphas, except I just looked at the HP site to see what spec options they have, and basically he is maxed out on everything except HDD, CPU, and RAM. It might be more worth it to hop up to the 500GB 5200RPM over getting the 320+RAM, but really, RAM is probably better for you unless you have some very large files and/or progs you plan to put on the machine. The only other thing would be to jump up to Vista Ultimate, but that's probably not worth it either. In the end, RAM+HDD is probably going to give you the best for your money in this case.

Edit: From looking at HP's site, the 2>3GB is a free upgrade, as is the base 1XXGB to 250GB HDD upgrade. He explicitly said he's trying to spend an extra 100 bucks to get a coupon code to kick in, so he basically has to spend the 100 bucks somehow, the question isn't "saving" it, it's how to spend it best. How much is the coupon going to save you, btw?

 

Yes, that is true. However, the dv4t seems to come equipped with a dual 125 GB platter drive by WD. But as I said, that was just a very quick and dirty research I did there (so I don't have any hard evidence for this), but I think it's true.

That's really a good question.

 

Hence why I looked it up... and no, there aren't really any other upgrades he could make, heh. He's maxxed out everything except the RAM, CPU, HDD, and OS in the build he posted.

 

What are the full specs of the system? Warranty? What accessories can you get?

 

Yes, sorry, I began writing my post before your post appeared. So if these are the only options, and you have to spend the 100$ to be able to work with the coupon (which means you'll in some way basically get the upgrade you choose for free), I personally would go for the HDD and RAM.

 

I'd recommend upping the RAM, dropping the 25 bucks your spending to get the white paint on it, and getting the 12 cell battery instead. I'm assuming that you have an $1100 target build price here?

Chis: np, sorry, didn't mean to come off mean spirited.

 

Didn't think so.

 

Well the coupon im using is a $250 off since its stackable with the instant rebate i will get $400 off from 1199 and on top of that i will most likely get a 6% money back with the configuration if u guys say not to choose any of those upgrade i can probably get
-a blue ray drive for 110.99
-blueray drive with light scribe for 125.99
-One 6 Cell and One 12 Cell Lithium Ion Batteries for 74.99
-one year accidental coverage for 99.99

oh and i dont think getting a
HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner for $75.99 is worth it

 

Does the Dv4 have HDMI out? If not, the blue-ray drives are sorta pointless. As it were now, I personally would probably get the two batteries and add either the RAM or the HDD upgrade to make it $100. If battery life isn't important to you, then I'd go with the CPU...since between the RAM, HDD and CPU, the CPU is probably the most expensive unit and most complicated to replace yourself.

An extra year of warranty also looks good, but the phrasing for that point is throwing me off. I'm not familiar with HP's warranty policies, but is the accidental warranty one year on top of whatever base warranty there is? Or is the standard one year base warranty just upgraded to one year accidental?

 

Im pretty sure it does have an hdmi