Intel v. AMD and NVIDIA v. ATI

[TechnoWeenie]

Hello all,
I am new to the forum (actually, any forum). My boyfriend is an addict (Phelan1777), so I suppose I am now officially enabling him. Anyway, here goes:

I am getting a new laptop from HP because they messed up my old one in so many ways. I want to make sure I am getting a new one that is as good as the old one. They are already giving me some sweet upgrades as far as RAM, hard drive GB, and software. There are two differences I am concerned with. The new one would have an AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor for Notebook PCs QL-60 (1.9GHz) (old one had Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5550 (1.83 GHz)). The new one would also have an ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics video card (old one had 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS). I can upgrade the processor to an AMD Turion, but the HP woman said they seem to get a lot of complaints about them. If you are really curious, the old laptop was an HP Pavillion dv6700t Special Edition (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Special+edition&series_name=dv6700tse_series) and the new one is an HP Pavillion dv5z (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Versatile+performance&series_name=dv5z_series).

I use my laptop for word processing, Adobe, instant messenger, iTunes, storing photos, web surfing, etc. In other words, I don't overclock, game (does Spider Solitaire count?), or even watch a lot of UTube. So I would like to know if you think either of the above two hardware changes is a big deal, especially in light of the fact that I am getting those other upgrades I mentioned. Please, please, please don't use a lot of techno-jargon or numbers in your responses; I need practical, concrete examples of how these differences might actually matter to me in the real world (or not). Any opinions would be appreciated!

[phelan1777]

oh brother..............I think I need to disable PMs:D


<Runs and hides.:sofa:

[WhiteFireDragon]

i'll just let you know now that these kinds of questions won't get many response on this forum.

anyways, i personally would take the old intel processor. Even though it's a lower speed, intel dual cores is faster than an AMD dual core clock for clock. video card will not matter because nothing you do is graphically demanding. solitaire does not count as a game when it comes to video cards (only games that use 3D rendering will).

[Nasgul]

Yep, I'll agree with WhiteFireDragon as well.

CPU, the Intel Core 2 Duo is better and doesn't matter which video you get.

What's more important in my opinion is RAM, for Vista? Definitely a 3GB would be the optimal, my laptop has 2GB and while it's fast, I wish it had more RAM but I never thought Vista was going to be such power hog.

BTW, A/S/L?

[Miwo]

Alright, I am going to go against the popular flow here and make this simple.

Real World Answer: Go for the dv5z. Its not going to make a difference for what you do. The upgrades they are giving you in software, disk space, ram are WELL worth it if you are going to be running Vista. The dv5z they are offering you is also nearly half a pound lighter, which is definitely a good thing. Also, it has a HDMI port which is extremely convenient if you ever want to hook up your laptop on a bigscreen HDTV without having to deal with seperate cables and adapters for audio/video.

Practical Geek Answer: You should still go for the dv5z. Its based on around AMDs new Puma platform, which means fairly decent onboard graphics which simplifies laptop design. You don't need an extra discrete card that sucks up more power, adds weight, and space while giving you the same 3D Performance (8400M GS). Your CPU is marginally slower but you will lose out on synthetic benchmarks like SuperPi, PCMark, etc, but in all honesty its a T5500 for crying out loud - you are not looking to smash WRs. For web use, office work, some photoshop, and music/movie viewing the Athlon is fine. In fact, the 780g is a better option due to better hardware decoding for HD playback and movies. Free RAM upgrade from HP for Vista is well worth a slightly slower processor because Vista eats memory like crazy.

[Sparky]

Alright, I am going to go against the popular flow here and make this simple.

Real World Answer: Go for the dv5z. Its not going to make a difference for what you do. The upgrades they are giving you in software, disk space, ram are WELL worth it if you are going to be running Vista. The dv5z they are offering you is also nearly half a pound lighter, which is definitely a good thing. Also, it has a HDMI port which is extremely convenient if you ever want to hook up your laptop on a bigscreen HDTV without having to deal with seperate cables and adapters for audio/video.

Practical Geek Answer: You should still go for the dv5z. Its based on around AMDs new Puma platform, which means fairly decent onboard graphics which simplifies laptop design. You don't need an extra discrete card that sucks up more power, adds weight, and space while giving you the same 3D Performance (8400M GS). Your CPU is marginally slower but you will lose out on synthetic benchmarks like SuperPi, PCMark, etc, but in all honesty its a T5500 for crying out loud - you are not looking to smash WRs. For web use, office work, some photoshop, and music/movie viewing the Athlon is fine. In fact, the 780g is a better option due to better hardware decoding for HD playback and movies. Free RAM upgrade from HP for Vista is well worth a slightly slower processor because Vista eats memory like crazy.

:yepp:

You wouldn't notice the difference in the CPU speed, really, there isn't that much anyway to worry about, not for what you are doing. The extra memory would be more beneficial.

[phelan1777]

BTW, A/S/L?

beat it punk
I'll beat you with my Asus Rampage, then it will really deserve its name ;P.:slap:

[tiro_uspsss]

My boyfriend is an addict (Phelan1777)


BTW, A/S/L?

:para:... well i guess it *could* be a valid question :p: :rofl: :rofl: :up:

[[cTx]Hype]

Lol!!^

[phelan1777]

lol I got sigged.

[WhiteFireDragon]

lol i dont get it phelan. if ur her bf, then why dont you personally help her instead of having this post?