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    New inspiron notebook....any speed difference

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by shkj, Sep 3, 2006.

  1. shkj

    shkj Notebook Guru

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    Hi All,
    well here I go again...I got the speed itch !!!!!!!

    My current notebook is a Dell Inspiron 9300 with the folllowing specs:
    2.0 GHZ Intel Pentium M 760

    2 GB DDR II SDRAM- 533 MHz

    17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display

    60 gig 7200 IDE hard drive

    256 Nvidia 6800 GO

    8x Dual layer DVD +/- burner

    Wireless B/G

    basically it is a fully loaded machine

    I basically use this notebook for 2d apps mainly editing Digital pictures with Photoshop and other apps...no a whole lot of multi-tasking

    How much performance will I gain by switching over to a new Core2 Duo Processor T7200 (2GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB ??

    more Cache 4 megs vs 2megs & a 667mhz FSB vs 533 ??

    Also the new machines are SATA drives vs. my current IDE one ???

    The funny thing is that Dell only lists the 9400 & the E1705 as only supporting up 2 GIG of memory...I thought ALL 64 bit machines supported at least 4 GIGS of RAM ???

    As always any thoughts or suggestions are greatly apperciated !!!

    Thanks...shkj
     
    shkj, Sep 3, 2006
    #1
  2. Zero

    Zero The Random Guy

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    Unfortunately, you can't upgrade your current notebook to Core 2 Duo, because the Pentium M uses a different socket, than the Core Duo or Core2 Duo.

    64-bit systems don't neccesarily have to support 4 GB or RAM. If Dell says that there notebook only supports 2 BG or RAM, then there probably right, regardless of whether its 64-bit or not. It may be possible, however, when Dell decide to upgrade the motherboard in some of there models, they may also decide to change the maximum amount of RAM to 4 GB.
     
    Zero, Sep 3, 2006
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  3. stevenator128

    stevenator128 Notebook Evangelist

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    well the numbers make sense... 667 is faster than 533. dell says serial ATA is much faster than IDE. in my opinion the speed increase would be noticed in multitasking or very demanding applications. bigger cache and two cores aren't good for much more than that.
     
    stevenator128, Sep 3, 2006
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  4. Tokuman

    Tokuman Notebook Evangelist

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    Not worth the gain(if it will work with your rig). It will be like 400 dollors I think. I am not really sure.
     
    Tokuman, Sep 3, 2006
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  5. dudesdudets

    dudesdudets Notebook Deity

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    I think photoshop is multi-threaded so C2D will be about 2 times faster.
    Dual-core cpus are not only for multi-taskers but also for those people who use apps that are optimized for dual/multiple cores.
     
    dudesdudets, Sep 3, 2006
    #5