Pentium Dual Core vs. Core 2 Duo

I'm deciding between two laptops, one with Pentium Dual Core, one with C2D. Assuming I'll only be using the laptops for syncing my iPod, web browsing, light office work, and old gaming (nothing newer than 2004), is it worth 300 dollars to get the C2D? Oh, both have integrated graphics and 3 gigs of ram.

 

Save your money. You don't need it.

 

for light work i dont think its worth the extra money. however, pentium d is a predecessor and some have been discontinued.

 

A laptop is versatile and it will offer you more possibilities. Don't shoot yourself in the leg and get the C2D. Think ahead eventhough atm you'll use it like a phone .

 

Wait, wishmaker, i think we may be misunderstanding each other. Pentium Dual Core and Core 2 Duo are laptop processors...........

 

A Pentium Dual-Core will be fine, if not doing CPU-intensive stuff, like encoding, video/photo-editing, coding, etc.

You could upgrade the HDD to a faster one, or to a SSD, which would make the OS fly.

 

Although I'd generally say get the Core 2 Duo I have to say that my mother's Medion runs fine on a Pentium Dual Core 1,86GHz.

So I have to agree - for light work its more than enough.
(Speaking from experience)

In fact I'm not sure if you notice a difference to the Core 2 Duo under normal use...

(Looking at my Sony SZ now...)

 

for your intended usage, definitely not worth it. you can always upgrade later if necessary though.

 

Well, it's a 2.0 GHz Dual Core, so, it'd be ok. And I might do some photo editing, but it would be "Drag this clip, put it before this clip"

 

What software will you use?

I mean - I've used Microsoft Photo Premium 10 on a 1.6GHz Pentium M (the old Centrinos)

But if its simple stuff (non professional) then you should still be fine with the Pentium Dual Core

 

My bad. My recommendation still stands .

 

You will see no difference between the two processors in what you intend to use it for. The Pentium Dual Core is basically a C2D w/ reduced L2 Cache and is not to be confused with the Pentium D, which is far inferior.

 

very true, for your usage you wont find any difference at all. save the 300 bucks. if it was just a 50 buck difference i'd say go for it. but 300 is unjustifiable. i would get the pentium dual core and get an upgrade on the hard drive...and still have spare change

 

TDP? We are talking about laptops...innit?

 

Just looking at Level 2 Cache - I think my mother has 2* 32KB and I've got 1* 6MB ...

Pentium Dual Core vs Core 2 Duo

 

the TDP is the same, 35w for the T series c2duo and the PDC's. The P series c2duo have a lower TDP, 25w

PDC is a very capable processor, and for everyday tasks you wont find a difference. its like driving a ferrari and a ford mondeo in a 60mph speed limit zone

 

Awwh man, this is getting confusing. The PDC does have reduced cache (1MB L2), and a reduced FSB (also minus some features like VT). Its like a Lame C2D. That's it. It depends upon what tasks you run most....

 

Well the OP did not specify. I thought he was going for a P.

 

@wishmaker, i reckon the integrated graphics are going to be more of a bottleneck than the processor....

im kind of surprised that its a 300 upgrade to a c2duo. seems like a lot of money. i wonder what the price of the PDC one is.

 

2*32KB is nothing but Level 1 you're talking about Check your c2d and you'll see that you have the same Level1 cache on that.

 

Possible.
I'll trust you on that

(Can't be bothered to check right now )

 

Hehe, you better! Or.....


I got 2*32Kbyte on my T7600 @ L1 Cache, i think every centrino/dual core/c2d/quad CPU has it as L1 cache L2 must be bigger as it is an intel CPU from the newer generations, otherwise it must be like an old pentium2 or something you're comparing too hehe

 

So have I in a Core Duo 2 (T9300)
2* 32KB for Level 1

 

There's a lot people that seem to believe that the T3200 is some kind of inferior processor because it's not Core 2 Duo. Reality is that it is more than enough for most users. Even when they do multi tasking or CPU intensive stuff.

T3200
Cinebench R9.5 (Single CPU Render Test) Sekunden 68,00
Cinebench R9.5 (Multiple CPU Render Test) Sekunden 36,00

T7300
Cinebench R9.5 (Single CPU Render Test) Sekunden 66,00
Cinebench R9.5 (Multiple CPU Render Test) Sekunden 36,00

P7350
Cinebench R9.5 (Single CPU Render Test) Sekunden 62,00
Cinebench R9.5 (Multiple CPU Render Test) Sekunden 33,00

Numbers coming form Notebookjournal.de

 

its fast enough

 

shhhh dont tell anyone. im a brand manager, and if word of this got out to the masses i wouldnt be able to segment my market based on their price sensitivity as effectively as before

 

Exactly. It's all part of Intel's marketing plan. And as you can see it's working.

 

Why did you get that processor mate?

 

i think a lot of the confusion is because of celeron vs pentium days.....the celerons really were noticeably worse than pentiums. i hated them.

but its not the case with PDC vs C2Duo

 

i wanted the P9500...but dell withdrew their quote on it with a M4400. Gave me an upgrade to the P9600 for free though.

its kind of irrelevant, because my usage is very different from what the OP specified

i did not mean that the pentium dual cores could compete on the high end (obviously) but against the low/mid range c2duo's its a good alternative if you're not doing anything heavy duty.

as an interim computer i was using an inspiron 1525 with a PDC T2390. was amazed at how good that processor was actually.

 

Okay, I see .

 

in case you were wondering, i gave the inspiron 1525 to my mum, who uses it for office tasks, DVD's, music (hooked up to altec lansing speakers), basic photo editing, and web browsing and lots of skype (streaming high res video).

i used it for 3 weeks as my main machine (while waiting for my precision) and i was really impressed with it!