Alienware M11X Processor Decision

There she is. Im using this for school, and also for portable gaming. I dont know about the core 2 duo it comes with, I can upgrade to a core i5 at 1.066 ghz turbo boost to 1.8ghz, the core 2 duo runs at 1.3 ghz OC to 1.73. Now I can save about 100 bucks by not going with the i5. But I am concerned at the low speed of the core 2 duo. Please someone point me in the right direction.

One more question should I get 3gb memory or 4?

I am new to alienware and I have read discussion after disscusion regarding the i5 vs the core 2, and I really havent had a solid decision maker or breaker. Some people say the core 2 will preform better than the i5, plus its cheaper, and yet the i5 model, the R2 seems better. I really need help.

 

if you're using it for school i would go with the r1 cause of the longer battery life, i would get 4gb of memory

 

not sure where you read it, but the c2d definitely doesn't perform better than the i5. r1 gives better battery life and lower temps; those are its benefits.

 

Im also going to be using it for gaming, like TF2 and SC2. Will the core 2 preform these tasks well enough?

 

c2d is able to run tf2 and sc2, i got the i7 cause it was newer and that would be better in the long run. i would recommend get the i5 (maybe i7?) if battery life/money isnt an issue for you.

 

no definite answer to this mate. core2duo if you OC you get a constant 1.7 speed. i5 you only get 1.8 during turbo boost kick in. bear in mind turbo boost doesnt really means that its boosted to 1.8 all the time. its variable. so could be 1.2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8. depending on the application need which is determine by the processor as well as the heat in your machine. also if unless if i remember wrongly i5 is 4 thread (2 core + hyperthreading) while core2duo is just 2 thread (2 core without hyperthreading). in theory on multitasking i5 is suppose to perform better. but this is hard to test in real world. so its entirely up to you. also not to forget that i5 is overclockable too.

actually the real decision is not about the processor to be honest. when you look at your choice it comes down between R1 (Core2Duo with Hybrid Switchable GFX) and R2 (Intel Core Processor with Nvidia Optimus). If battery life is a concern to you R1 will be a better choice as R2 lose about 1-1.5hrs battery life when compared as of today. However R2 still has quite a bit of work in their software department which still have some room of improvements via software/drivers.

One thing you need to take note is R1 video drivers will have to depends on Alienware/Dell update as they are not directly supported by Nvidia/Intel. We have some ppl here in this community who will spend their own peprsonal time to help customize drivers for R1 updates thou. But bear in mind those dont come with any warranty or support except knowledge sharing between users. R2 should continue to get drivers support for their Optimus and its directly supported by Nvidia.

Still I cant recommend you which you should get. The choice is yours. Only pros and cons are stuffs that I can list for you. Since I cannot be responsible for helping you making a choice that might not be what you want. So just base on the points and see what kind of user you are and which suits you more.

 

Thank you for the awesome response. Since I am probably leaning more towards school i think ill pick up the C2D, and because of the battery life. Im not going to be playing the newest games like MW2 just source based games.