HELP!! Single Core 2.0 vs Dual Core 1.7

hi everyone...
i havent posted in a while, but here i have a HUGE question to ask.
if you ever helped me before, you must know i was searching the market for a laptop, well, on that, i decided to wait till october to buy a new one, but for now i want a minor upgrade to my Dell Vostro 1000.

ok, i have an AMD Sempron Mobile 3600+ rated at 2.0 GHz, which is a single-cored CPU, it can deal with plenty of stuff, yet it is not powerful enough for some multi-tasking. i read on the Dell website, and they suggested me, that i could upgrade my CPU to an AMD Athlon X2 rated at 1.7 Ghz which was a refurbished CPU at $80.

is it worth buying the 1.7 dual core? will it affect my daily usage? multi-task is in my case surfing around 5 webs at the same time, excell, word processing (some, very light) running AVG 8 Free edition at the back, listening to music and sometimes playing some game like the sims or monopoly tycoon or roller coaster tycoon. all of that at the same time...

the dual core does increase performance? does it affect that it is 1.7 instead of the 2.0? i need some help right away...

thanks in advance to your replies..

 

Roller Coaster Tycoon = The. Best. Game. Ever.

And yes, I think the upgrade to the dual-core processor will bring a noticeable increase in performance, and the price doesn't seem that bad either. Depending on your OS and how much memory you have, a memory upgrade might be money better spent, though.

 

First upgrade your memory if you have less than 2gb. Then thing about a processor.

 

Upgrading to a dual core will make multi-tasking much easier. With that said, for day-to-day activities a single core is more than enough. The popular Atom processor in netbooks is a great example of this.

I do not fully understand how you will be upgrading. If you plan on upgrading later this year, save your money and put it towards a nicer machine. This this is your main upgrade, then go with the dual core. In regards of a minor upgrade, I feel it would just be a waste. The interim laptop will depreciate too quickly to recover anything from the purchase to put towards your larger upgrade. Finally, if you are asking about upgrading the CPU only, then you will more than likely not be able to due to BIOS and/or motherboard requirements. If this is the case you are looking at, do a quick search for a CPU reference thread here on NBR for more information. Good luck.

 

It might be lower GHz but it will do more calculations per toc

 

i have max ram possible, the video card is not upgradeable and i went to the dell website and they recommended it, i dont know how is the up possible...
what is the BIOS?

 

You have a really weak cpu there, replace it with a TurionX2 if you have a chance, but AthlonX2 should be faster too

 

Dual Core 4 Life. Single Core Was Sufficient Back In The Day But Their Is More Demanding Programs Coming Out Every Year That Need This Type Of Power To Run Smooth. Well Worth The $ $ $:d

 

Dual core is the best and now quad core.

 

in best case, raw performance of that dual core will be like a singlecore at 3.4ghz. worst case, it will perform like a singlecore at 1.7ghz. worst case is not much slower than what you have now (you won't notice it). best case will almost always be the case in that it will allow you to switch between tasks easily. the os is much (i repeat: MUCH) more snappy with it.

i'd say go for it. it's worth it.