Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 or P8600?

[dman777]

I am thinking about getting a laptop(customizing). For the CPU I can't decide between a "Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6400 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)" or a "Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (2.40GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache)". The best video card I can get for this laptop would be a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450. Would I see a difference between the T6400 and P8600 even with that video card? Should I go for the lesser T6400 and save the money if the ATI video card would be the bottleneck?

 

[Guest]

I have the same question.... have you been able to decide?

 

[The Third Level]

P8600 is a medium-voltage Penryn core with more cache, higher FSB, and clock speed. The T6400 is standard voltage Penryn and is the loser in all 3 catedories.

You will probably see a decent amount of difference in everyday use and less heat release and longer battery life, but not a huge difference in gaming.

 

[gagan_90]

no you dont need p8600 processer for 256 mb grabhic card.t6400 work freindly with this

 

[rnhavens]

My decision was made from the capabilities of the two.

The 8600 supports VT-x, and the P45M chip set supports VT-d; I picked the 8600 because it will run VMs faster. Not to mention those other three points the poster above me made.

 

[Guest]

I have a similar question.

I'm thinking about buying a Dell studio 15 laptop. It comes with a 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphic card. I can choose between the Intel Core 2 duo T6400 (2GHz, 800 MHz FSB 2 MB L2-cache) or the more expensive Intel Core 2 duo P8600 (2,53GHz, 1066 MHz FSB 6 MB L2-cache).

Should I spend extra money on the better processor or is it useless because the graphic card will be a bottleneck?

Some advice will be very much appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[telecom_specialist]

I have a similar question.

I'm thinking about buying a Dell studio 15 laptop. It comes with a 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 graphic card. I can choose between the Intel Core 2 duo T6400 (2GHz, 800 MHz FSB 2 MB L2-cache) or the more expensive Intel Core 2 duo P8600 (2,53GHz, 1066 MHz FSB 6 MB L2-cache).

Should I spend extra money on the better processor or is it useless because the graphic card will be a bottleneck?

Some advice will be very much appreciated, thanks in advance!

I am in a similar dilemma and I guess after a lot of delibrations I have decided to go with the p8600. The 80 quid is worth it and because of the faster bus speed and better performance of the graphics card and less heating , I dont think we need to mull over this!
Spend that 80 quid and breath a sigh of relief. Its faster, much more efficient and you wont need an upgrade for a while !

 

[ajar]

I think, since both processors use same PM45 chipset (bus running at 800 MHz), that more expensive isn't necessarily better (i.e. faster). RAM speed is 1066 (with P8600 configuration) but you'll use only 800, which matces T6400 perfectly. Videocard isn't the issue, since Studio 15 is not a gaming machine. There is also an issue of OS. Newer machines have difficulties chewing up XP (SATA drivers and stuff), Win 7 is rather expensive and Linux ok, but not so compatible. If you're just using office applications, buy a cheaper machine. It'll do well (as any Dell). For gaming, buy XPS or Alienware. And for 80 quid you can get a lot of accesories instead (more RAM or so).
Of course, it's your money.