The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    M11x CPU question

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by Voggy30, Nov 25, 2010.

  1. Voggy30

    Voggy30 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Greetings,

    I’m working on a very old laptop that needs replacement. I’ve searched for a while and I ended up with the Alienware M11x. This seems very nice for me, it’s small so I can take it with me to work. And yet it has power so I can play games on it. I usually play World of Warcraft, but sometimes I play others like Modern Warfare 2.

    I went to the website and I can choose between different cores:
    Intel® Pentium® Dual Core Processor ULV SU4100 (1,30 GHz, 2 MB, 800 MHz)
    Intel® Core™ 2 Duo SU7300 (1,3 GHz, 800 MHz, 3 MB) (is 100 euros more than the above one)

    Or these:
    Intel® Core™ i5 520UM (3M Cache, 1.06 GHz)
    Intel® Core™ i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.20 GHz)

    My knowledge of hardware is below zero, so I’m asking here for some help. What is exactly the difference between these cores? The i5 and i7 are newer and more expensive, but does that make them that much better? I read on a few websites that it doesn’t really matter which core I chose, because the problems with games are caused by the graphics, not the cpu. So I could take the dual core (or core 2 duo, isn’t that the same?) because this is cheaper..

    Thanks in advance.
     
    Voggy30, Nov 25, 2010
    #1
  2. Shimmycocopuffsss

    Shimmycocopuffsss Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    5
    Messages:
    85
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Shimmycocopuffsss, Nov 25, 2010
    #2
  3. tears

    tears Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    26
    Messages:
    512
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Well the SU7300 will give you more battery life, however in some games the CPU WILL make a difference. It's just that a lot of the games are GPU bound, so an upgrade in the CPU won't effect much in most games. If you play Warcraft, Left for Dead 1 or 2, or Starcraft for example, these games will benefit a lot from the CPU Upgrade.

    Since you can't upgrade the CPU later on, I suggest that you pick up a i7 model,, especially with all the sales that are going on right now...
     
    tears, Nov 25, 2010
    #3
  4. Voggy30

    Voggy30 Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well yeah, it was either dual core or i7 for me. I'm thinking of going for the i7 then, better for the future too I guess. What do you mean with the sales going on right now?
    I read something about the 'black friday' deal, but I live in the Netherlands and I can't find any info on the Dutch Dell site about the deal.

    @Shimmycocopuffsss: Thanks for the useful link, I think it's going to be very handy when I finally get my laptop.
     
    Voggy30, Nov 26, 2010
    #4