Buying a new computer, I've talked to a few people about it and narrowed it down to these two options. The main differences are the price ($30 more for the top one on a $700-$800 system), processor, and battery. Battery and price don't really make that much difference to me, I'm really trying to figure out if the processor makes any difference. Any help is much appreciated!
XPS 15 - L502X ($760)
Processor: Intel Core i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
6 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics
6 Cell Primary Battery
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000
Keyboard with Gesture Touchpad
125V Power Cord
130W A/C Adapter, 3P
XPS 15 - L502X
Processor: Intel Core i5-2520M (2.50GHz, 3MB Cache)
750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
6 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB graphics
9 Cell Primary Battery
Keyboard with Gesture Touchpad
125V Power Cord
130W A/C Adapter, 3P
What do you plan on using the computer for? Watching movies, surfing the internet, excel, playing World of Warcraft???? I believe the Dell XPS series was built with gaming in mind, but I could be wrong.
Go with the i7 (6MB cache).
Mainly movies/tv (want to be able to plug it into my tv and watch shit on there), surginf net, excel, and playing World of Warcraft. Well, not WoW, but I'm sure I'll pick up a game at some point.
And Flake, I was leaning towards that, but is there a reason that one's better? I found a lot of sites talking about cache and shit, some said oooo more MB = better, others were like "meh"
For your use it probably won't be a huge difference between the 3MB and the 6MB (that's probably L3 cache as well, in addition to any L2 cache, which is probably another 2MB). In very simple terms, memory and various CPU instructions are stored in the cache, stuff that is accessed repeatedly which helps accessing that data/instructions/memory more quickly. Larger cache size and higher processor clock speeds are beneficial for accessing memory faster.
These are the exact same setups except processor and battery cells. I'd go with the i7, as its a better processor, and it has a higher cache. Laptop battery life sucks, so the difference (at least to me), isnt that great. You can also look into buying a 9 cell battery for the i7 laptop, it will give you the best of both.
You def need a laptop? Desktops are much better. Plus you can build your own
I dropped $3,500 on my desktop. No fucking idea why but it's sweet.
you build it yourself?
and DM, take a look at these scores
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2630QM+%40+2.00GHz
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-2520M+%40+2.50GHz
The bottom link has a chart with both processors, you can see that the i7 is a better choice. Since they are similarly priced laptops the second chart on each page isn't really helpful.
I used to always build my own, but for this one I went with liquid cooling (CPU and GPU block) and I didn't want to do the plumbing myself. I would fuck it up, I know it.
I wanted to get a desktop, but I was computer-blocked by my parents on that front.
Ah okay, thanks man, appreciate it! Kinda pissed my parents wouldn't spring for a desktop vs laptop. Oh well, what can ya do?
Those computer cases are epic. I miss my geekier days :(
The TIE fighter is awesome hahah
Not helpful at all, but I bought a Dell XPS 17 laptop last year. i7 1.6GHZ processor, 6GB RAM, Radeon HD 5730. Now the laptop packs quite a punch, and is able to handle any video games, access databases, and video editing I throw its way, but I've never hated a computer this much. The computer constantly drops the wireless connection, audio codecs crash, the computer crashes and restarts at least once a day on average. It is constantly asking to check the hard disk for corruption yet when it does, it crashes. The actual laptop case is falling off. I could go on and on, but frankly it's a huge mess. One of my friends has the same laptop and is having similar problems. I'm planning on sucking it up and using it for one more year, but after that I'm trashing it and getting a new computer. Just my two cents on Dell laptops and why I won't be buying another one.
P.S. My custom-built desktop that is half the price, and close to four years old still beats it in performance. :D
I'd help but everytime I weigh in on something laptop related I get called an apple fanboy
just be ready to buy my new computer ....i want a mac.
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