How far will 2.26GHz take me...

Im looking to buy a laptop inexpensive and i just want to play simple games like Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty and CS on it. As well as school work with good multitasking abilities. I also like the 1920x1200p option because i like the clearer picture.

Now about the processor. Is it REALLY neccessary to upgrade a 2.26GHz to a 2.53GHz? Would I be making a wise investment for the time being? Does it really make a world of difference?

Please advise

 

Unlikely. What are the two processors you're looking at? For instance, comparing the T5xxx with the T9xxx, choosing the 9000 series would make a good deal of difference.

In general, you'd be better off investing in a nice graphics card, 7200 rpm hard drive, or a good chunk of RAM.

 

For your use, I don't think it'll make much noticeable difference. How much is the cost difference, and what exact processors are you looking at?

 

The speed difference will yield a negligible performance difference in the areas you are interested in (games/multitasking). Even if the processor goes from a T5xxx series to a T9xxx, the amount of cache will not yield much benefit.

Games generally require more GPU power and even in games which require a lot of CPU power (GTA 4), a better GPU will help a lot more than the upgrade in CPU that you are considering.

 

At 1200p, your GPU decision will be much more important.

Are you talking P8400 -> P8700, or P8400 -> P9500? Regardless, you're not going to be earning your notebook much additional life with either upgrade, though the doubled cache of the P9500 would help a miniscule amount.

How inexpensive are you going with this?

 

The 2.26GHz is the P8400
The 2.53GHz is the T9400

The difference is about $250

Worth the investment? Im generally trying not to spend money on any places where its not going to be too relevant...

 

The difference isn't even worth $50 IMO. Save your $250, spend it on a better GPU and it will be a MUCH better return on your investment.

 

In this case, definitely not worth it - the P-series are 25W TDP processors while the T-series are 35W TDP ones. Thus, the P-series produce less heat and give better battery life than the T-series. With the marginal gain in speed comes these two disadvantages, and a huge price difference, so it's not worth it in this case.

 

You would see a performance difference but its definitely not worth $250.

 

Use the money to get a better graphics card

 

Don't go for the upgrade, it will be such a miniscule performance upgrade. Use it on RAM or a faster hard drive, whatever options are available.

 

Passmark CPU Mark
---------------------(higher is better)(lower is better)
The 2.53GHz is the T9400 =====1682 / 088
The 2.26GHz is the P8400 =====1561 / 101

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

 

Yeah dump the money on the GPU. You can always upgrade the CPU later if you really need. Also, the P series is better for battery life, and you can overclock a P8400 by a good deal. Asus enables overclocking to 2.5 GHz, but I've seen stable P8400's at over 2.6 GHz.

 

I wouldn't worry about processing speed, even just 1.6Ghz is fine with COD4 and L4D, trust me because we have the same taste for games. Just make sure you have a 256mb+ graphics card and a 1 GB+ RAM with a decent cooling system for your laptop. That should be just about decent to run COD4 in 800X600 resolution which has good graphics improvement and a low to medium set Left for Dead graphics...