New Computer Help

[carltonfan43]

I am looking at buying a new laptop.

can someone please explain to me what ram is and what GHz is.

The laptop i am looking at has 2gbRam and a Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz
is this good?

Thanks

 

[Mancey]

In basic terms, RAM represents the computers memory, the higher the number the more processes it can do simultaneously.

GHz is the processor speed, it determines how quickly it processes information.

Both raw figures you've given there aren't too bad for a notebook. What do you want to use it for?

 

[- PC -]

Looking at pr0n of course

 

[carltonfan43]

thanks
listening to music and surfing the net and msn and maybe playing a few games.

Is ram more important and ghz?

 

[finrod]

thanks
listening to music and surfing the net and msn and maybe playing a few games.

Is ram more important and ghz?

Generally, ghz is more important than RAM, but you'd still want to have a decent amount of RAM if possible (say at least 1GB for most stuff today, especially if you are running Vista). Note that ghz isn't always a good indicator of speed. A core 2 duo running at 1.6 Ghz will be much faster than a Pentium 4 also running at 1.6Ghz. But if you are comparing two Core 2 Duo processors, then the one with the faster speed will be the fastest.

For listening to music, surfing the net, and MSN, you could pretty much use any notebook from the past 3-4 years... so you don't need the latest and greatest.

Playing games is a different story though - but it also depends on what type of games you want to play. If you want to play some of the very latest games, then you'd probably want a recent PC (such as a core 2 duo) and 2GB of memory. On top of that, you'd want to make sure your laptop has a gaming video adapter in it, such as a Geforce Go 8600 or better.

 

[Mancey]

thanks
listening to music and surfing the net and msn and maybe playing a few games.

Is ram more important and ghz?

Pretty much any PC you buy these days is fine for surfing the net and a bit of multimedia, a notebook with the figures you've given will be much more than enough to do that.

As has been said, only compare GHz between PC's with identical model processors. As for ram, these days i don't think i'd like a PC with any less that 1gB of ram, 2GB is preferable.

As for playing games, firstly does it have a separate video card, or is it shared memory? Many cheaper notebooks have no separate video card and just use the computers RAM. If this is the case with yours, it won't handle most of the more graphically impressive games you get these days.

 

[manureid]

I just ordered this:

Model: HP PAVILION DV9000T, 17'' WXGA+,
Geforce Go 7600 256MB Dedicated VRAM,
Intel T7200 Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz,
2GB DDR2 667 RAM,
240GB 5400r SATA HD,
Dual Layer DVD+|-R/W with Lightscribe,
Vista Home Premium,
Wifi 802.11G,
Bluetooth,
Integrated Webcam,
3.78KG Weight,
2 Yr Onsite Warranty.
$1499

Seemed pretty good from some of the research I did? I am no expert though.
Not going to be used for huge gaming, mostly Net/Office/DVD's etc

Thoughts?

 

[Mancey]

Again it'll be fine for what you describe there, office work, net surfing, multimedia. It'll even play games without hungry system requirements.

Just don't expect to play crysis on it or anything.

 

[mighty mick]

thanks
listening to music and surfing the net and msn and maybe playing a few games.

Is ram more important and ghz?

generally what youve stated is good but for playing games a dedicacted graphics card will be the go.

do not buy anything that states onboard or shared video ram.

as for another thing to be careful of is the green nividia sticker on laptops, most genuine graphic card stickers will have a card number underneath it. many other nividia stickers relate to the graphic accelerator on the laptop, therefore not being a videe card with its own ram.

 

[mighty mick]

I just ordered this:

Model: HP PAVILION DV9000T, 17'' WXGA+,
Geforce Go 7600 256MB Dedicated VRAM,
Intel T7200 Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz,
2GB DDR2 667 RAM,
240GB 5400r SATA HD,
Dual Layer DVD+|-R/W with Lightscribe,
Vista Home Premium,
Wifi 802.11G,
Bluetooth,
Integrated Webcam,
3.78KG Weight,
2 Yr Onsite Warranty.
$1499



Seemed pretty good from some of the research I did? I am no expert though.
Not going to be used for huge gaming, mostly Net/Office/DVD's etc

Thoughts?

good pick up mate it will do you fine, crysis is having trouble on full blown gaming pcs. so its not the game to compare for a laptop

 

[HBK619]

What would be the cheapest computer or laptop that would play Crysis competently?

 

[RooBuoy]

What would be the cheapest computer or laptop that would play Crysis competently?

You could build a pretty decent computer for around 1000-1200 which would be able to play Crysis at a good level.

 

[carltonfan43]

Just thought i would post the full details of the notebook
i don't know what alot of it means and with people asking about the graphics on it is this good or not?


Model: Acer Aspire 4920G-3A2G25Mn Notebook

Processor: Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology
Chipset: Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset
Graphics: ATI® Mobility RADEON HD 2400 with up to 512MB of HyperMemory (256MB dedicated)
Audio: Dolby-certified surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers, Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement featuring Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker technologies, Intel High-Definition audio support, microphone, S/PDIF support
Keyboard: Acer MediaTouch keys + Volume Control Wheel, Seamless touch-pad with ergonomic buttons, 4-way integrated scroll key with launch & programmable keys
Camera: Integrated Acer CrystalEye webcam featuring Acer PrimaLite with enhanced low light technology, Acer PureZone technology with two built-in stereo microphones featuring beam forming, echo cancellation, and noise suppression technologies
Fax: Built-in 56Kbps international fax/modem
Connectivity & Communication: 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) LAN & Intel 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, IEEE1394 (Firewire) port / S-Video port / Consumer IR, Express Card /54 slot (no PC Card slot), 5-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD), Four USB 2.0 ports
Casing: Acer Gemstone design with Holographic cover, Jewel Keys, CeramiFinish & Enlightner Media Flow
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5450 (1.66GHz, 2MB cache, 667MHz FSB)
Display: 14.1-inch WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT , 200-nit brightness (1280 x 800 resolution)
Memory 1: 1GB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM
Memory 2: 1GB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM Hard Drive: 250GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi drive (Dual Layer): Read: 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-R, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 6X DVD-ROM DL (dual layer), 6X DVD-R DL (dual layer), 6X DVD+R DL (dual layer), 6X DVD-RW, 6X DVD+RW, 5X DVD-RAM
Write: 24X CD-R, 16X CD-RW, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R DL (dual layer), 4X DVD+R DL (dual layer), 6X DVD-RW, 8X DVD+RW, 5X DVD-RAM Battery: Long life Lithium Ion battery up to 2.9 hrs life
Dimensions: 344 x 246 x 37/42 mm (W x D x H)
Weight: 2.68 Kg

 

[mighty mick]

Just thought i would post the full details of the notebook
i don't know what alot of it means and with people asking about the graphics on it is this good or not?


Model: Acer Aspire 4920G-3A2G25Mn Notebook

Processor: Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology
Chipset: Mobile Intel PM965 Express Chipset
Graphics: ATI® Mobility RADEON HD 2400


Audio: Dolby-certified surround sound system with two built-in stereo speakers, Dolby Home Theater audio enhancement featuring Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Live, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker technologies, Intel High-Definition audio support, microphone, S/PDIF support
Keyboard: Acer MediaTouch keys + Volume Control Wheel, Seamless touch-pad with ergonomic buttons, 4-way integrated scroll key with launch & programmable keys
Camera: Integrated Acer CrystalEye webcam featuring Acer PrimaLite with enhanced low light technology, Acer PureZone technology with two built-in stereo microphones featuring beam forming, echo cancellation, and noise suppression technologies
Fax: Built-in 56Kbps international fax/modem
Connectivity & Communication: 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) LAN & Intel 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, IEEE1394 (Firewire) port / S-Video port / Consumer IR, Express Card /54 slot (no PC Card slot), 5-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD), Four USB 2.0 ports
Casing: Acer Gemstone design with Holographic cover, Jewel Keys, CeramiFinish & Enlightner Media Flow
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5450 (1.66GHz, 2MB cache, 667MHz FSB)
Display: 14.1-inch WXGA Acer CrystalBrite TFT , 200-nit brightness (1280 x 800 resolution)
Memory 1: 1GB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM
Memory 2: 1GB PC5300 DDR2-SDRAM Hard Drive: 250GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi drive (Dual Layer): Read: 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-R, 24X CD-RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 6X DVD-ROM DL (dual layer), 6X DVD-R DL (dual layer), 6X DVD+R DL (dual layer), 6X DVD-RW, 6X DVD+RW, 5X DVD-RAM
Write: 24X CD-R, 16X CD-RW, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD+R, 4X DVD-R DL (dual layer), 4X DVD+R DL (dual layer), 6X DVD-RW, 8X DVD+RW, 5X DVD-RAM Battery: Long life Lithium Ion battery up to 2.9 hrs life
Dimensions: 344 x 246 x 37/42 mm (W x D x H)
Weight: 2.68 Kg

the bold video card bit would worry me, we sell a hp for similar specs, but it has a hdmi port for hi-def and upto 1 gig of video after the initial 256 meg of video ram.

check out the 9518tx i think