Your advice on a quad or dual core CPU for my needs

Hi everyone!

First of all I'd like to thank all of you who take the time out to provide your advice and guidance on these forums. I will be purchasing a notebook shortly and the information I have found here has been extremely useful!

After reading through several threads on the topic, I intend to select a Q9000 processor in my notebook. I would like you verify whether this is the right decision for me.

I am a digital animation student and will be spending 50% of my time with the notebook using CGI software such as Autodesk Maya, 3D rendering, video editing, compositing and overall multimedia multitasking in general.

The rest of the time I'd like to play games such as Crysis, GTA 4, Street Fighter 4 and Fallout 3 at a 'good' resolution and 'solid' frame rate. By this I mean that I would be overjoyed if I could run these games smoothly at something like 1366x768 (I am noob - is this even a standard acceptable resolution?)... not looking to play at everything maxed out, but without compromising on a baseline quality standard.

The notebook would either have a single 260M or 280M or HD 4850 graphics card and would have 4GB of RAM (DDR2 or DDR3).

So am I making the right choice of processor here?

[Unfortunately, my budget does not allow for any of the other quads. I need to have the notebook shipped to Dubai, probably from the US, which will eat into the additional funds I could have poured into the processor. Sadly, the notebooks available locally would give me a lower spec for about the same price.]

I ask, because within the same budget (about $2000 all inclusive), I could opt for either a P8700/P8800 or T9900, depending on the notebook I choose.

I would like to use the notebook for at least 2 years... the i7 laptop is totally out of my range, but do you think that this processor will hold its own for that long?

Finally, I have never overclocked anything... the mere thought frightens me! But assuming I take the leap and attempt this carefully, would this help in extending the processor's longevity in potential?

Thank you for reading!

 

Yes, the Q9000 would be best for your needs/budget.

 

Thanks sgogeta4... I intend to start a thread about selecting the right notebook out of a choice of four later, but I thought it would make sense to decide upon the processor first so I could be clear about the specs.

Would anyone like to add any further thoughts? I'll leave the thread around a day longer before posting about the notebook choices in case there's any other opinions about this.

Thanks!

 

3d rendering apps => the more cores + the more ghz the better. for those apps, performance == cores * ghz.

i'd say go for it.

 

AW M17 with QX3000 ES QS

 

Sorry, but that makes little to no sense to me <--- noob.

Are you referring to an Alienware M17, with a "QX3000" processor?

I cannot find any information about this on the Alienware website so I am assuming you are alluding to replacing the processor manually? Can anyone please provide any clarification about this?

Thank you!

 

Yes, he means to buy an Engineering Sample (ES) or Quality Sample (QS, I believe?) from eBay and swapping the CPU yourself. I don't believe in getting ES due to many having defects (they ARE being used to test the CPUs hence they undergo lots of tests by the manufacturer, which in this case is Intel). Generally, they also do not contain temperature sensors. QS is the latest revision before the CPU goes onto the market and are generally better.

 

I think you mean the QX9300. But yeah, the Q9000 should be good for your needs.

 

So, are you even able to upgrade from a dual core to a quad core?

 

His notebook can be configured with quad core by default, so it's definitely possible to upgrade to a faster quad core if necessary.

 

Yes, I believe that'd probably be the best strategy at this stage... the price of a QX9300 sort of processor should be more affordable in a year or so, and an upgrade should keep the notebook going a little longer.

@Boknora: I believe that depends upon the motherboard in your notebook. I also believe that the quad processors generate quite a bit of heat, so even if a switch from a dual to quad processor is possible, you might have to factor in your hardware's ability to handle the temperatures... which might limit your choice in selection of a suitable quad processor to upgrade to.

(I am open to correction on this. )

Thanks everyone for your advice here.

 

Hmm I'd in hindsight wouldve gone for the cheapest processor/or none (?) and get a qx9300 es from ebay saves a lot of money and is very, very nice for rendering I mostly make 2d animations and the difference between my t9600 (2.8 ghz dual core) and 2.93 ghz clocked qx9300 quad is staggering.
I now have a spare t9600 lying around the house which cost me quite some money not sure if I'm gonna sell it on ebay or maybe make some relative happy lol.
Couldve saved the money so it's quite a waste.
btw the notebook in my sig = sager 5797 in the US and I'm very happy with it so far.

 

It depends on several factors:

1) BIOS support
2) CPU not soldered into motherboard
3) motherboard able to supply enough power to the CPU (I believe there is a slightly different pin situation with quads vs. duals)
4) good CPU/notebook cooling ability

If you don't have ALL of those, you cannot upgrade.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

I really suggest the dual core for your needs.

 

Check out some Tom's Hardware benchmarks on multiple cores and their performance benefits. Though they are for desktop parts, they give you a very good idea of what kind of benefits a mobile quad-core would deliver:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/multi-core-cpu,review-31567.html