Confused about what is "better"...

[jdg199]

Thanks to those that have already helped me in the other thread but here are some more specific questions which may help others too.

Processor CPU
i7 2630QM (2.0ghz) is £20 cheaper than the i5 2540M (2.6ghz) and £85 cheaper than the i7 2620M (2.7ghz).

Obviously, you pay the extra for the clock speed but is there a benefit of having the quad core over the dual core even at a slower speed?

Graphics card
(On the Optimus chassis) The 2gb 555m card is cheaper than the 1gb 540m (£8)
That doesn't seem to make sense.

Memory (RAM)
I think this is being discussed elsewhere but I'll include here anyway.
2x2gb Kingston is £16 more than 1x4gb samsung.
Not using the system as an extreme gaming machine, is it worth going for the kingston? Surely only using the one slot makes more sense!?

Bluetooth & Wireless
If you go for anything other than Advanced N-6230 inc bluetooth, does that mean the machines have no bluetooth functionality at all?

Anti-Virus
Any opinion on the options here. I know some protection programmes can have a severe affect on the performance of the system but I haven't got any experience on which is better or worse at a all

Enigma III 540 vs. Optimus
Most of my choices I can replicate to very similar cost across both of these machines. Obviously, the screen size is the main difference. Is there any other differences that should be considered between the two? Any preference from people out there that have considered both and chosen one or the other?

Thanks again!
John

 

[JonnyPx]

1) If you do highly threaded applications like rendering or photo/video editing, a quad core is a definite benefit. Newer games also use multiple cores too.
2) Graphics card- Who cares? It might be a mistake, but the 555m is definitely faster than the 540m, so buy it before they change their mids lol!
3) Ram - I think if you have it over 2 slots it means its slightly faster when doing applications and that, but its not really worth the £16 upgrade
4) Not sure
5) I personally would go with Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security 2011, about £25, its been voted very very good by many sites
6) I am considering both. My dad may buy one for work, and bem for Uni later. the Optimus is obv heavier, so harder to mov aobut, but you get more real estate on your screen obv. It depends on how much you would move it. i may personally go for the 15.6 becasue while it doesnt have the gt555m, it is lighter and more easy to carry between lectures.

 

[vanthus]

You don't need to buy any anti virus programs.ms security essentials is all you need along with windows firewall.
I also use malwarebytes,which Is also free.

 

[Studentguyct]

two things working together tend to be better than one thing working on its own, this is true for most components so keep that in mind. 4 cores> 2 cores and 2 sticks of ram> one stick of ram (if its the same total)