[ahoier]

I've been looking into getting a laptop computer. I have a 500$ budget that I'm fairly determined to keep. I'm looking for a laptop that can run atleast @ 2.6-3GHz or somewhere around there, with a decent video card with dedicated memory.

One of the main obstacles has been determining what the jargon means in these specs listings and such, so yea, what is Core2Duo? Would a 1.6Ghz Core2Duo be equal to 3.2Ghz? Or would it be able to run a program/game/etc that requires 3.2GHz?

[telegramsam]

Forget about clock speed. Within the same architecture, clock speed makes a performance difference. But a Pentium 4 at 3.2Ghz will be OWNED by a Core 2 Duo E6300 which runs at 1.86 Ghz.

Core 2 Duo is Intel's latest and greatest. It's dual core based on the Conroe 65nm architecture--and it is FAST.

Clock speed is now a non issue.

I don't think that $500 is going to get you a Core 2 Duo. If you're going single core, I'd go with AMD's.

[ahoier]

Would that Core2Duo at 1.86 GHz be able to run a game that requires 3 GHz as it's minimum requirements? That's the only thing close to relate this to hehe.

[javer]

yes easily 1.86ghz=3.6-4ghz in effective computing power, my pc has a score that is just under the top cpu's according to futuremark, it whips a amd 64X2 5600 without any difficulty

[DoubleHelix]

You're not going to be able to play demanding games on a $500 laptop. The processor speed isn't the issue. The issue is the graphics adapter. In low-end laptops, you won't find one that meets those needs.