Dual core Centrino Laptop

[Starrx05]

I'm wondering if current applications, like MS Office, Photoshop, DVD burning apps, etc can take advantage of Intel dual core CPUs? I'm looking to get a dual core, 1.6Ghz, 1GB RAM, built-in video from Dell. I already have their Inspiron 6000 1.66Ghz, 2GB RAM, 128MB ATI video. The RAM runs at 533Mhz DDR2 but the dual core can take up to DDR2 667Mhz.

 

[Rubycon]

Not necessarily faster but run more than one program simultaneously smoother.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Not necessarily faster but run more than one program simultaneously smoother.

Yep, for example if you use something like Winamp, WMP, Napster while you work you're much less likely to have glitching in the playing when you open a Word document or do something to an image in PhotoShop.

For any one task running by itself the Core Duo will run the same or only slightly faster than a Core Solo at the same clock speed.

 

[Starrx05]

But the dual core doesn't have a dedicated video card. Upgrading that can be costly, a 128MB ATI is like $80-100. Also it only has WGA while the single core has SXWGA screen. I can swap the RAM though...

 

[DaveSimmons]

Not sure what you're asking. We explained how and when the dual-core would be faster for non-gaming apps.

For gaming the key is of course having a good video card. What is the model of the ATI in the 6000 you have now? That $99 at Dell should get you a Radeon X1400 for the Core Duo which is a decent low-end card.

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: Starrx05
But the dual core doesn't have a dedicated video card. Upgrading that can be costly, a 128MB ATI is like $80-100. Also it only has WGA while the single core has SXWGA screen. I can swap the RAM though...

You're not comparing apples to apples. If you did, then as everyone said, a dual-core will be a lot smoother in running a lot of applications.

 

[EagleEye]

smoother, but not worth it.