Budget laptop for college

[booploop]

Hello,
I am in need of a budget laptop and through careful research, I landed with these two in mind. They are about $400 each. I need a laptop for college work like writing papers and using the internet. I would also do some gaming like RTS games. My main concern is the two different processors and the graphics power behind them. Is it better to have a dual core thats faster or more processors like the AMD quad core thats slower but can be turbo boosted?
I was wondering which laptop is the better of the two; the Acer Aspire
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215257

or the Asus
http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/5218639.p?id=1218627594187&skuId=5218639&st=asus x54c-bbk19&cp=1&lp=1

 

[booploop]

Acer Aspire AS5560-7402
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215257

Also, the Asus has Intel HD graphics while the Acer has the Radeon HD 6520G which I heard is better. So from what I gathered, it seems that the Asus wins in processing power but the Acer can be turbo boosted. The Acer seems to win the graphics aspect as well...

 

[WR2]

Hello booploop;

The A6-3420M APU won't turbo when the HD 6520G graphics is in use.
But it's also the best deal you'll find in your price range.

For RTS, the A6-3420M @ 1.6Ghz isn't ideal - it's much better at FPS.
Which RPGs are you most interested in?


AMD Radeon HD 6520G review
http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6520G.55734.0.html

 

[booploop]

Im into Civilization type games, Anno series, and Age of Empires III. I rarely play MMOs.

 

[booploop]

The Acer (newegg) is about $399.99 while the Asus (bestbuy) is $379.99 but with taxes it comes out to $399.37

 

[WR2]

Civ5 and Anno 2070 (plus future games in those series) are out of reach of the Acer.
Not sure about Age of Empires III.

 

[WR2]

Age of Empires III forum post suggests the Acer will run the game OK.

 

[booploop]

Im okay with playing older versions of the games like Civ4 or Company of Heroes on okay settings. I just basically need to know which one would be the best bang for my buck seeing that they both are really close on price but seem to have their trade offs. BTW thanks for helping me out. Its been tough getting replies lately

 

[WR2]

No problem.

Apart from gaming - each of them does a good enough job in the home office/home entertainment/education type work loads.
For gaming - the A6-3420M / HD 6520G isn't ideal, but it's the best option in your budget range.

 

[booploop]

Best answer selected by booploop.

 

[booploop]

I went ahead and purchased it today. Thanks!

 

[WR2]

Get back to us and let us know how well it's working out for you.