I'm heading to college next year and like most students will be taking a notebook with me. I'm having a hard time choosing between a single and duel core processor. I know duel processor is the new sex and what not, but if I'm only going to be running programs like winamp, vent, firefox, or any other "minor" program, do I really need the duel core or will the single core be able to handle it?
edit: I only have 1500 dollars to play with. Also I'm thinking AMD makes a better single core processor, amirite?
Better Gaming Processor for Notebook
Last I checked with single core i.e. turion vs pentium m's they were pretty much neck and neck for performance. But Intel won out with better battery life (as they had the whole centrino chipset dealio going for them).
If it were me, I'd go dual core anyway (preferably the laptop version of core 2 duo), as not only do they have the obvious advantage of multi tasking better over single core, but even the new single core versions (i.e. core solo) have architecture advantages over the 'last generation' of mobile chips.
I'm not sure what AMD has in the mobile arena currently, but I'm guessing that Intel is blowing it out of the water for battery life and performance.
But its up to you, if you want to save cash then by all means go for the cheaper option (just be sure you can tolerate its performance for the next few years).
Dan
If it were me, I'd go dual core anyway (preferably the laptop version of core 2 duo), as not only do they have the obvious advantage of multi tasking better over single core, but even the new single core versions (i.e. core solo) have architecture advantages over the 'last generation' of mobile chips.
I'm not sure what AMD has in the mobile arena currently, but I'm guessing that Intel is blowing it out of the water for battery life and performance.
But its up to you, if you want to save cash then by all means go for the cheaper option (just be sure you can tolerate its performance for the next few years).
Dan