Is this worth the upgrade?

Hello. I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 9400, T2400 1.83 processor 2MB cache, 1gb ram 677mhz, Geforce Go 7900GS and a 100gb HD 7200. I obtained it quite cheaply as it was a factory second and I am about to increase the ram to 2gb (two sticks of 1gb 533mhz as I've read the thread about there being no difference between 533 and 677 and also 533 ram is cheaper in the UK - although if someone wants to advise me on ram they are most welcome to). However, I am tempted to upgrade my processor to a Core 2 Duo T7400 2.16Ghz 4MB Cache which I hope to purchase from Ebay for about £200 ($395). My question to the esteemed members of this forum is should I go for it? Will there be much of a difference between my old and new processor? I use my laptop mainly for games and I know there won't be much of an improvement in this area but I really wish to make my laptop more up-to-date as it is over a year old (I know it won't make it futureproof as Santa Rosa is almost here). I bought my laptop quite cheaply and even after the upgrade it would still be cheaper than the same model currently offered by Dell in the UK. Some advice please (sorry for my first post being such a long one!).

 

I would advise not to go with the upgrade. Since you play games, you will not benefit from purchasing and installing a new processor, as the graphics card limits gaming performance. Upgrading the processor will also void the warranty on the notebook.

 

You will see and feel a differance yes but its not worth the money to me. They only place where i can see you gaining is if you play single player games with many A.I. computer players since the CPU does the A.I.

 

Thanks for the advice but I was seeking an opinion on whether I should go ahead or not because to upgrade my Core Duo processor to a Core 2 Duo would be cheaper than buying a new laptop with the spec I'm currently after. Also I want my laptop to be as recent as possible (and yes I may consider using 64-bit programmes in the future). You see when I bought this 9400 I mainly chose this particular model for the graphics card and not the processor, and this made it a lot cheaper. Also I only have a 90-day warranty with it which is almost up now. If I did decide to go ahead I would sell my Core Duo processor on Ebay to further reduce the cost of the Core 2 Duo. So with this information on board what would you do?

 

Only if your laptop can be upgraded to 4GB of RAM. I am not sure but I believe the 9400 are crippled and go only up to 2GB.
If that's the case then with 2GB of RAM and Vista you won't be able to do any serious gaming.

 

After reading hundreds of posts (before joining this forum I may add), I discovered that the 9400 cannot be upgraded to 4gb of RAM and will only utlilise 3.25gb. This is due to the bios Dell uses in its systems. Just to get back to the point though, I would not upgrade to 4gb RAM in any case due to cost but I will definitely put 2gb of RAM in my laptop. Nevertheless, I'm still uncertain whether a processor upgrade would be better in the long term or not and this is mainly what I'm asking here.

 

I am saying that if your laptop is upgradedable to 4GB (the 3.25 is not related to BIOS-your BIOS will see 4GB) then there is a point of getting a 64bit CPU so you can use a 64bit OS. But again ONLY if your laptop can handle 4GB or RAM. If you are limited to 2GB, adding a 64bit CPU and 64bit OS will leave you barely enough memory for serious gaming and multitasking.

 

In the Dell manual it states the 9400 can only take 2gb RAM but I've read posts where people have put in 4gb only to be constrained by the OS and Dell's own bios (apparently out of Dell's 17 inchers only the M1710 can utilise the full 4gb). I hear your point about being limited with a 64bit OS but at the moment I'm using a 32bit OS and will do so for the immediate future. I'm not going to put 4gb in my laptop just upgrade the processor - So is the consensus here stick with Core Duo or upgrade to Core 2 Duo?

 

You should upgrade your RAM and leave the CPU for later. the performance difference isnt that great but since u want to eventually use a 64bit OS then perhaps you should do this upgrade when you want to use the 64bit capabilities as it maybe cheaper then. in the long term of course itll be better as it is a faster CPU and also IF you use a 64bit OS. the C2D here has twice the cache so that'll prove faster in CPU intensive programmes which you may or may not use in the future.

 

Stick with the same CPU then.

 

I think I'll upgrade my ram and have a rethink on the processor upgrade unless someone can convince me otherwise. I just want to say thanks for such quick replies from everyone as I've been reading this forum for a few months now and only decided to join today.