is 1.4 ghz enough?

ucapplicant · 08-23-2009, 02:18 AM

im looking to buy a laptop right now and am interested in the acer aspire 3810 timeline. Everything about it seems great except its processing speed is only 1.4 ghz (intel core 2 duo processor su9400). i only plan to use it for word processing, internet, music, videos, etc. I don't plan on gaming. Also i'm currently a mechanical engineering major, but might switch to computer science. Will a 1.4 ghz processor be fast enough for me or should i start looking for a different laptop?

Chipmoney · 08-23-2009, 02:24 AM

that's pretty slow. It would probably be enough but if you start running too many applications I'm sure you would notice the speed difference between that and say a 2 Ghz processor.

ASUhopeful · 08-23-2009, 05:47 AM

The timeline is excellent, it has 3gb also and 8 hours of battery life! Its crazy. I have a Msi X320 with 1.6 ghz but its an intel ATOM so ghz isn't always better its the chipset and the timeline would be faster by a little. Believe me go with the timeline.

don9992 · 08-23-2009, 08:06 AM

For your purposes it'll do fine. The processor is on the slow side, but it has two cores and you don't sound like you're planning to stress it very much. Like the man said, you probably don't want to be running a lot of apps at once, but otherwise you should be in good shape.

srunni · 08-23-2009, 11:42 AM

Yeah, that's fine. Processor speed is rarely a bottleneck in computers these days. In fact, when laptops are running off of battery power, their processors are usually throttled by the operating system to below 1 GHz (to prolong battery life).

SingDanceRunLife · 08-23-2009, 12:13 PM

You shouldn't get an Acer...

ucapplicant · 08-24-2009, 01:46 AM

why not? (10 char)

SingDanceRunLife · 08-24-2009, 11:09 AM

They're pieces of crap as far as computers go.

OperaDad · 08-24-2009, 02:17 PM

I have a 1.66 ghz pentium core 2 duo laptop. It is fine for Microsoft Office, surfing the internet, playing videos (not video games). Make sure you get 2 to 3 gb of RAM, and you should be fine. You may want to ask the CS department what programs are run on student's computers, and if any of them are really taxing.

ab2013 · 08-27-2009, 11:29 PM

The SU9400 saves power ... it consumes 10W of power vs. 35W in most notebook processors, with exception of the P series. On the other hand, I wouldn't worry about it being terribly slow, but it definitely won't be a speed demon.

Quote:

pentium core 2 duo laptop

OperaDad: Are you confusing the Pentium Dual-Core processor with the Core 2 Duo processor? The 2 processors are completely different.

Specs:
SU9400: 1.4 GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB
T6500: 2.1 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB (found in most $650-ish laptops at the retail store)

Processor speed is misleading these days, because often it's the processor core that determines whether a processor is more efficient and faster. 3 GHz Pentium 4 processors from 5 years ago are no where near as fast as the Core 2 Duos these days.

OperaDad · 08-28-2009, 03:25 PM

Sorry about the mistake. Unless you are running games or other very demanding applications, processors from a few years ago are more than capable of word processing, internet, and playing music/videos. You might get a little more "snap" with the latest processors (pages display in less than a second vs. 1 to 2 seconds), but connection speed tends to be the limiting factor, not processor speed.

ab2013 · 08-29-2009, 09:03 PM

^The processor the OP was talking about is a new one, btw, but yes I totally agree with OperaDad. But if you're an engineering major you do need the power of modern processors, because engineering tasks (from what I've heard) require it, but even still you definitely don't need the fastest ones on the market today.

Chipmoney · 08-30-2009, 01:05 AM

It is a new processor, but it is a low voltage processor that is meant to maximize battery life and minimize heat output. It is not as fast as the Core2Duo's GHz to GHz.

ab2013 · 08-30-2009, 08:03 PM

^Yes but it is supposed to be fast enough.

BUT you might as well wait for a while and use the computer you're using now (if it's not urgent), because Intel is going to release a whole new line of laptop CPUs in a few weeks (mid September from what I've heard) ... They're replacing the Core 2s with Core i3, i5, and i7. The Core 2 Duos have been selling for a while now and are due for an update.

fruitflavor · 09-02-2009, 10:08 PM

if you're engineering student most laptops don't have processing power for engineering applications so you'll be stuck in the lab