Laptop Question

[orgo.love]

Hi.

I found this forum to have quite a few experts when it comes to computers.

I'm looking to buy a laptop. Several retail outlets give customizing options, and here's my question...

In regular gaming needs, is there a difference between the type of processors, as long as it's a core 2 duo?

i.e.: What's the difference between the following?
Pentium(R) Dual-Core Mobile Processor T3200 (2.0 GHz)
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P7350 (2.0GHz) [add $121.00]



Also...

I was told that once I have a 4gb memory, what's important is the graphic card over all else.

Thing is, to keep a budget under 800 yet have a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, I decided to skimp on the display and get the default instead of anything else...

15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)

instead of

15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1680 x 1050) [add $71.00]
15.4" diagonal WSXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Infinity Display (1680 x 1050) [add $118.00]



....



So the final tally is:
$796.99

for:
HP Pavilion dv5t Entertainment PC
Pentium(R) Dual-Core Mobile Processor T3200 (2.0 GHz)
4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
250GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit)/64-bit
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
webcam
dvd r/rw



Is this a smart buy?

[Dyndrilliac]

This should be in the hardware/software forum, not general chat. That said...

A dual-core is a must, and while a high speed processor is nice (ghz is what measures processor speed), the throughput is what is most important. The throughput is determined by the cache, or the buffer of instructions that the chip can process in a single cycle. The 2.4ghz dual-core processor that came with my notebook has a combined cache of 4MB (2MB per core).

Also, I would recommend not going with Nvidia, especially on a laptop. I went with an Nvidia 8600m GT on my Dell Inspiron 1520, and while I fortunately haven't been subject to the infamous Nvidia 8xxx failures as most people have, the drivers are horrific. Nvidia has the worst drivers ever. I crash in games some and get lots of occasional stutter because the drivers fail and have to restart. Although, aside from that, it has been nice (but I'm one of the few, the net is crawling with Nvidia 8xxx series horror stories for notebooks). As it stands, I wouldn't rely on their track record.

The wireless card you chose doesn't support wi-fi, so if you only have a cheap wireless router or were planning to use it in combination with wi-fi hotspots, you will be disappointed. Most wi-fi comes in the 802.11b/g flavor, not 802.11n, which is what your wireless card supports.

Also, on a 15.4" display, I recommend a display that can go up-to at least a resolution of 1440x900 pixels.

Other than that, everything looks fine. On my Dell I went with 2GB of ram instead of 4, and I've been doing fine.