2.8Ghz Dual Core or 2.0Ghz Quad Core?

[ejaone]

I am looking to buy a new laptop. My budget is in the $1,600 range. I use my for both work and play (mostly World of Warcraft).
I saw an MSI Quad Core on Newegg for this price. It has a Q9000 (2.0Ghz) CPU, 4Gb Ram, 320Gb 7200rpm HD and an ATI 4850 video card.
But I have had good luck with ThinkPads in the past. So I built a W500 with T9600 (2.8Ghz) CPU, 3Gb Ram, 250Gb 7200rpm HD and an ATI v5700 video card.
Which is the better laptop for now and which will be the better laptop in 3 years?

 

[Maziar]

The second notebook has a V5700 which is a workstation card

For that budget go for this one:
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5797-custom-notebook-built-clevo-m570etu-first-week-p-2540.html

 

[ejaone]

That machine has a P8600 (2.4Ghz) CPU, 2Gb Ram, 250 Gb 5400 rpm hard drive. It does have a better Video card with the nVidia GeForce GTX 280M.
So my question was do I go with the slower Quad-Core or faster Dual-Core processor?

I am leaning towards the Quad-Core thinking that in 2 years, more applications will take advantage of multiple cores. Three years ago when I bought my current laptop (ThinkPad z60M 2531-MTU) I was really happy with it for a long while. Only lately there are times when I think that it's slowing down a bit.

What I would like is to get a box that I hope will last me 3 to 5 years of solid performance.

With that in mind, which way would you go? Quad at 2.0 Ghz or Dual at 2.8 Ghz?

 

[Maziar]

It depends on what u do really,most FPS games don't need more than 2 cores,but some games like Flight Simulator X,World in Conflict,Company of Heroes(mostly the strategic games)benefit from a quad core.
So as i said it really depends on what u do,a 2.8 Dual core will be faster than a 2.0GHZ quad core by a significant margin in most games/apps.

 

[melinapayne]

The second notebook has a V5700 which is a workstation card

For that budget go for this one:
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5797-custom-notebook-built-clevo-m570etu-first-week-p-2540.html

that is NOT a $1600 budget computer

 

[lostandwandering]

that is NOT a $1600 budget computer

He didn't ask for a budget system and the maziar recommended is only $100 over. Plus the op stated a $1600 range not a limit. Sorry If I seem like I am attacking your post but you didn't offer anything constructive. If you have a better option, share it please.

As far as the system maziar recommended, it is only a little more expensive and if the op wants to game, it is far more competent. I think I would add an extra 2 gb of ram to it though.

 

[Maziar]

that is NOT a $1600 budget computer

mate did u even read his post ? he said he needed a laptop with $1600 price,and that SAGER model is a little more expensive(depending on the specs) and it beats both of the laptops that he has selected by a significant margin.

 

[melinapayne]

its over by 100 bucks, dude!

 

[lostandwandering]

its over by 100 bucks, dude!

Again, he didn't say that it was a 1600 limit. If he did then I say you have a point. Let the op chime in here with his feelings.

Now to answer the original question, the majority of games and programs still only take advantage of two cores. For the vast majority of programs, the 2.8 dual will be the better option.

 

[melinapayne]

yeah, i agree with the 2.8 as well