CPU speed or extra ram

I am thinking of purchasing a gateway notebook that I will use for taking to school and playing games on. I am looking at the preconfigured M-6824 http://www.gateway.com/retail/m6824.php
which has a 1.5Ghz Core 2 duo, 3GB ram 250GB HDD and a ATI mobility HD 2400 XT.
I am also looking at the M-150XL
http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529667704.php

which has a 2Ghz Core 2 duo, 2GB ram, 120Gb HDD, and the same video card. Will I get better performance with the faster CPU or the extra gig of ram?

Both notebooks are within a hundred dollars of each other I would just configure it the way I want to but I gateways website wont let me customize either of them

 

tough call. i personally would go with the more ram (to assist the vid) and more disk space, seeing that it is not so much difference between both cpu performance. others have other preference

cheers ...

 

It's no a tough call. More RAM always helps more than faster CPU. CPU is almost always on lowest multiplier setting (i.e., nearly idling) with typical applications, and even the majority of games doesn't tax it to 100%.

Get the one with better RAM.

Unless you feel the HDD is more important, That's up to you.

 

In my opinion, 2GB should really be sufficient. 3GB is SLIGHTLY better, but what you have to consider is, RAM is much more easy to upgrade than your CPU.

Some games require higher processor speeds, and some games require more RAM, it all depends on the game. The truth is it will be rare when you notice a big difference between 2GB or 3GB, unless you have a ton of other programs using resources.

If it was me, I would go for the faster processor, knowing that if I needed to I could upgrade RAM at another time.

But then again, you also get more HD space with the slower processor, unless you are willing to have an external hard drive, and either duo core should do the job nicely due to the sheer efficiency of the C2D.

Either one you get will be able to play games. Most likely if not identically for the majority of games out there.

RAM is easier and cheaper to upgrade than a CPU.

RAM is a good boost to your available resources, especially with a vista operating system.

CPU speed is important, especially if you are planning on playing CPU intensive games.

Easiest answer to your question is...look at the games you play and want to play. Do they require more RAM or more CPU? Then decide which is better to get for your purposes. In the end if you consider all things equal RAM is always going to show the largest increase in performance, but is the cheapest and easiest to upgrade. So what do you need NOW? more CPU speed or more RAM?

 

Right now, ddr2 sodimm ram is so cheap if you know where to look. I'd go with the faster processor. It's cheap and easy to replace ram, I don't think we could say the same about processor.

 

NO QUESTION ABOUT IT!

Get the faster CPU. ddr2 memory is SO cheap that you can upgrade to 4gb for $60 if you wanted to and sell/give the 2gb to someone.

You will have a MCUH harder time and havew to spend ALOT more money to upgrading the CPU.

The 3gb setup obviously has 2gb and 1gb sticks. This is NOT a good setup as dual channel memory function is hindered.

Again, get the faster CPU. No question about it! 2gb is PLENTY for now.

People stating the programs dont tax the CPU 100% obviously just use thier laptop to browse the web and check emails....and since you will be gaming the faster CPU WILL help.

 

I would agree with the posters advising you to get the faster CPU and the smaller amount of RAM in the configuration you get from Gateway. Upgrading the RAM at a later date is almost immeasurably easier than upgrading the CPU, which is a very delicate operation by comparison and may not even give you much of a boost if the CPU you originally get is already near the top of the class of CPUs your motherboard/chipset can support in any event.

That being said, in terms of actual performance, in most instances you'll see more performance improvements out of increased RAM rather than increased CPU speed.

In terms of gaming performance, either system should be adequate, but you probably won't see any significant improvements from the faster CPU as compared to the slower CPU because the biggest bottleneck to your gaming performance is likely to be the graphics card - since each system has the same graphics card, the gaming performance will probably be the same in either system. For more detail on the characteristics of the ATi mobility HD 2400 XT, see this http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-2400-XT.3772.0.html webpage.

 

I would go with the 2 Ghz processor. Upgrade the Ram and HD. Keep the old componets for emergency use. Or use the HD as an external and maybe even sell the old ram on eBay.