Laptop performance comparison information? D630 is how much slower than current models?

Is there a site out there that gives a general performance comparison between Dell models older & newer?

Something that let's you know your laptop is xx% behind the current model?

For instance: I have a D630 -- how much slower would it be than today's M4500?

It would be nice to have a good reference for deciding whether it's worth it to upgrade, and to quantify that with some type of objective number?

 

If you just look at general benchmarks, you can find that the fastest processor available for the D630 (T9500) is maybe 1/2 to 2/3 the speed of the slowest processor available for the M4500 (i5-560M).

In the same vein, you can find that the fastest GPU available for the D630 (NVS135M) is maybe 1/6 to 1/5 the speed of the slowest GPU available for the M4500 (FX 880M).

There's no straight up way to do these comparisons because the specs vary from model to model... heck if your D630 has an SSD, it might feel faster than any M4500 with an HDD, regardless of the rest of the spec.

 

What do you do on the computer? That is the important factor in whether or not a "faster" computer will be faster than what you have.

If you just browse the web, facebook and youtube - your D630 is going to be more than powerful for what you do.

 

Commodity futures trading + forum moderation + email. Separate gaming, too.

The D630 is showing its age a bit in the trading alone.

Probably go with a powerhouse mobile workstation + tablet.

 

I will say that I went from a D830 to an E6410 and seriously its like night and day. Even with the basic apps that I use like Outlook and Quickbooks its amazing how much faster my i5 is compared to my C2D.

 

Really hard to tell. Especially since new computers come with Windows 7.

If your OS is the same then it should be negligible (except that a newer system should feel faster)?

Example:

+ Old Latitude from 2004/2005 (Pentium M 1.5 GHz single core + 256MB RAM + Windows XP + 2000-4000 RPM HDD) feels damn fast when brand new (that was several years ago). When it is (after 2-3 years of use) reset/OS reinstalled and upgraded to 1GB RAM, it also feels damn fast (but it is now just over 6 years old so it is slower now).

+ New laptop from 2009/2010 (not Dell - Core i7-720QM quad core + 4GB RAM + Windows 7 + 500GB 5400RPM) feels laggy (slow to open folders, applications, run Firefox etc) as hell. For good measure, a replacement unit (not because of lag but because of BSOD) with same specs but without the BSODs feels equally slow - excruciating pain I did not expect in a brand new expensive laptop (costing well over USD 1600, possibly more at the higher exchange rate, before warranty - the same model with close but not similar configuration costs maybe USD 900-1100 in the USA).

+ Not as new (used sparingly) laptop from 2009 (not Dell - Core 2 Duo P8700 2.53GHz dual core + 4GB RAM + Windows Vista + 500GB 5400RPM) feels faster than the Core i7 laptop mentioned above.

+ Old XPS M1330 (few years, not as old as the Latitude - Pentium/C2D T series 2.0 GHz dual core + 1/2GB RAM + Windows Vista + HDD - RPM unsure) feels slower than all the laptops above.

So, the most expensive laptop with the best hardware (which also happened to be the newest amongst all) was definitely not the fastest or best - if anything it turned out to be far worse than my now 6 year old Latitude that it was intended to replace. But hell, I'm only judging based on any number of things a person would use: web browsing, applications launching/running, folder usage etc.

I don't do commodities trading, the only place I use trading software is at work (work/school networked computers are slow on everything from internet to applications to folders despite competent computer specs anyway), but I don't really know what affects laptop speed because my last purchase really pissed me off (seeing laptops costing less than half of it not lagging even a tenth as much does make you mad).

 

Trading software is constantly updated, adding features.

My concerns are more about handling massive amounts of data in sometimes huge bursts, and being able to create up-to-the-millisecond graphics charts -- as well as being able to instantaneously accept/transmit orders when the data burden is at its highest.

In many ways, it's not unlike gaming ..... but without the frame-rate load.

 

Well, I'm sorry for the confusion - I use Back Office software, not trading platforms

In any case, I don't think you will need a Precision (with the really great GPUs). What I said above illustrates the way different factors in a laptop can be convoluted and combined to screw you (the user) over.

I seriously don't know what makes a laptop fast or slow, except that solid state drives should be better than hybrid drives, which are in turn better than normal HDDs. RAM and CPU is relative, since you will usually have 4GB anyway, and the CPU won't be a single core or a low-voltage CPU.

 

It's very hard to tell. I had an precision 4300 (pretty much a D830) at work and they recently "upgraded" me to an E6510 and in real world use there is simply no difference using email, office, internet and a few work related apps. I went from a C2D to an i5, both systems with 4gb of memory and running Windows 7 Enterprise. If it wasnt for the fact that the E6510 has an LED backlit display I would love to have my M4300 back.