Which would you buy? E1705 vs. E1720

Hi. I recently purchased an E1705 with these specifications:

T7200 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHZ 4MB Cache 667 MHz FSB
2GB,DDR2,533MHz
17" WUXGA
85 WHR,9-CELL
120GB HARD DRIVE 5400RPM
256MB NVIDIA 7900 GS
Wireless-N
$1508.24 CAD after tax


I configured a new E1720 with these specifications:

T7100 Core 2 Duo 1.8GHZ 2MB Cache 800Mhz FSB
2GB,DDR2,667MHz
17" WUXGA
85 WHR,9-CELL
160GB HARD DRIVE 5400RPM
256MB NVIDIA 8600M GT
Wireless-N
$1,753.24 CAD after tax

I am just curious what your opinion is on which system you would choose taking into consideration the price difference and the component differences I have highlighted in bold. I am not convinced that the 8600M GT is even as good as the 7900 GS but please correct me if I'm wrong. The actual appearance of the systems means nothing to me, I only care about performance. Thanks for your input!

 

Performance wise the E1705 is better due to to the extra L2 cache(it will help in CPU intensive task like encoding/video and photo editing/number crunching/business apps/ect but a good amount or ram and a fast 5400/7200 RPM drive also helps.

In gaming i think the 7900gs is faster at dx 9 level but since the 8600m GT is a dx10 card it will alow you to play at those setting/gameplay(though dx10 games in the future should have dx9 support/compatibilty)

Also the E1720 can have up to 4gb(will help in the future) with an 64 bit OS while the 1705 can only take up 3gb of ram.


A 8600m GT in a 17in is allitle sad since there are smaller(15.4) laptops with the same thing.


Also fill out the FAQ or repost an updated FAQ so that we can help you better

 

i disagree. the cache isnt all that important.

having 2mb of cache vs 4 is less than the difference between a half speed increment.

ie.

a theoretical 1.9ghz proc with 2mb of l2 cache is better (marginally) than a 1.8ghz proc with 4mb l2 cache. of course, it depends, but both processors are going to perform VERY similarly and VERY fast. in games, outside of games, it wont really affect anything.

this is especially true when you consider the faster memory and bus speed of the second setup. it will pretty much level out any advantage either way, because the core 2 duo cpu's are bus hungry.


the 7900 gs is almost equal to the 8600m gt. they are really close. i would call them the same at dx9 (but the 7900gs is likely marginally faster in dx9- but its really close.) i would call their performance equal for better or worse. then factor in that the 8600m gt has lower power consumption /heat output and the 7900 cant do dx10 at all... i think the 8600m gt is a clear winner between the two choices.

hard drive size doesn't affect performance. it does add convenience though. i would pick the second system even after considering the price difference. the larger hard drive is worth a little bit, and the added feature set of the gpu is worth the rest.

the cpu / memory kinda go hand in hand and average out in this case.

 

I say E1705. Unless your video editing, you don't need more than 3GB of Ram. I don't see any great DX10 games out there, do you?

 

I'd like to see 7900GS vs 8600GT tests. so far everything indicates that 7900GS is faster.

1720 doesn't have DVI (which is a big deal for me) and only has 4 USB ports (I sometimes use all 6 in my 9400). i really like the keyboard without numeric pad and centered touch pad. correct me if I'm wrong, but 1720's keyboard does not have the same layout, with some keys being in odd places (unlike 9400 or any desktop keyboard).

if I were to buy a new system, I'd probably go for 1720. i wouldn't, however, upgrade from 9400 to 1720 and will wait until Dell releases a new line of laptops.

 

Thanks for the comments so far. OneHeavyBrick, you're right. There really are no DX10 games yet and the DX10 supported games so far all run better in DX9 anyway. I think I'd be happy with DX9 on a laptop for gaming anyway as I have an 8800GTS on my desktop machine.

I forgot about the DVI, which I do think is pretty important.

However, I do think if I was going to buy a system again today I might go for the 1720. $250CAD is quite a bit though for systems that in my opinion are fairly equal.

 

Just my two cents...after MONTHS of research & scraping together of funds...I was finally able to plunk down my hard earned cash.
I was about to take advantage of Dell's $500 off coupons when the 7900GS was pulled from the e1705 options list. I was pissed
I decided to wait until the new Inspiron lineup was released & then make my decision....
After a hard look at the new models and some comparisons with the older models, I decided to troll the Outlet to see what popped up. Although I like what Dell has done with the new lineup, nothing really grabbed me or suited my immediate needs (or limited budget).
Almost immediately, this system popped up:
Inspiron 9400/E1705 Notebook: Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB Cache/2.00GHz/667MHz FSB) Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
9 Cell Primary Battery
Sound Blaster Audigy ADVANCED HD Audio Software Edition
Intel Pro Wireless 3945
17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Notebook Screen
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
250 GB EIDE Hard Drive (5400RPM)
2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 677MHz
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS
$1,349.00

I have to say..I jumped at it & pulled the trigger. The huge HD will enable me to dual-boot both XP & the included Vista Home Premium. The only option missing is Bluetooth, and I can always add that later!
I needed a good notebook for both work & play & I am sure that this system will serve me well. I'll be traveling with it, so wish me luck in that regard, but going with something smaller would have meant too much of a compromise on GPU power. All in all, I am very satisfied with my purchase!

 

Can't go wrong with that set up. I'm still waiting on my laptop to come in, along with my 7950GTX Go card, and T7400 processor.

 

I would do the 1705

 

Master - I am not at all challenging your statement on the 8600GT versus the 7900GS - but I too would like to see the test results. Seems like some posts have stated that the 8600 has a 128-bit memory interface versus 256 on the 7900 IIRC. Thanks...

 

I'd go for the 1720, easily.

Yeah, it's $250 more, but the faster processor, the faster RAM, the 40 GB extra, and the 8600 makes it worth the money.

$250 ain't that much money, afterall it's worth it...

 

the 1720 setup actually has a slower processor, but I do think the difference would be minor.

 

I believe the results show that they are similar at lower resolutions, but the 8600GT is nowhere near as good at higher resolutions.

 

Out of interest why is there a limit of 3gb? I thought the 9400 has 2 ram slots and it was dependant from there on what the os supports (32bit vista/xp being 4gb ram max)?

 

I had to have the DVI, so I just bought a 1705. I also just today took a look at the 1720 in person. It looks a little better than the 1705, but I wasn't blown away by the looks of it. Integrated webcam is useful though. If it had DVI/HDMI, I'd buy it over the 1705.