Quad Core vs Dual Core

[Shelf]

I have been looking at notebooks recently and have narrowed down my choices to two, an Acer and an HP. I look mainly to do light gaming (probably only MMOs like WoW) and browsing.

Acer: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115732
HP: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834157113

As can be seen, the two laptops are nearly identical, not only in components but also in price. The main differences are that while the Acer has an i5-520M, Ati 5650, and 320 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, the HP has an i7-720QM, GT 230M, and 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

So, the HP has a much stronger processor than the Acer, but its graphics lag slightly behind. The size of the hard drive does not matter, and I'm not sure how much of a difference the 5400 vs 7200 yields. But I digress.

Which leads me to my questions:

First, I have seen it claimed that although WoW does not utilize more than 2 cores, the new i7 will "turbo boost" cores to compensate for programs that only utilize single or dual cores. To what extent is this true, and does the "turbo boost" compete with the dual core when being used for a game like WoW?

Given the slightly weaker graphics but stronger processing of the HP compared to the Acer, which would be a better choice to purchase?

Any insight is much appreciated.

[Unionoob]

well.. thing is both are nice but I am pretty sure you can upgrade that weaker CPU to something harder in laptop still so imo that would even reduce CPU changes and make Acer better.

I got my self an older Acer model and I kinda like it. + it has better price.

[nwo]

Strictly for WoW, the Acer laptop would be better. Dual cores outperform quad cores, especially since the quad core in this case is lower clocked. Not sure how much you would be able to turbo boost the i7, but I'm sure it would be around 2GHz with 2 cores. Also, the graphics card that the Acer laptop has is better than the one HP has.

I would personally go for the HP laptop. Quad cores mean more CPU power for the future, I but a laptop every 3-5 years so you want to be set for a while since you can't really upgrade much. You always have turbo boost if not all 4 cores are utlitized so that it keeps up with dual core's performance. Also, the 7200 rpm HDD is a very nice plus. My acer laptop I am using right now originally came with a 160GB 5400 rpm drive. I upgraded it to a WD 320GB 7200 rpm and I can definitely see a performance difference because I can actually multi-task now. I can also run HDD scans (such as malware, spyware, virus) without taking a big hit on my (gaming) performance.

If you decide to go with the Acer laptop, you can always upgrade the CPU later down the line, but you really won't have to because that CPU and graphics card are both really good so by the time it comes to upgrade your CPU, it will be time to upgrade your graphics card as well which means you have to get a new laptop.

Once again, from a gamer's perspective, Acer would be a better choice since it has a faster CPU and a better graphics card. From a multi-tasking point of view, HP is better since it has quad core and a 7200 rpm hard drive, neither of which will yield better gaming performance in comparison to the Acer laptop.

[Cilraaz]

Dual cores outperform quad cores, especially since the quad core in this case is lower clocked.

I can't say I agree with this as a blanket statement. Dual core vs Quad core doesn't really matter (for WoW). It's all about the core speed. A faster dual core will outperform a slower quad core. A faster quad core will outperform a slower dual core. A dual core and quad core with the same core speeds will be roughly the same in performance, but the quad should pull slightly ahead.

I'm going to preface my response to the OP with my typical "unless you have a reason why you absolutely need a laptop for WoW, don't use a laptop for WoW". An equivalently powered desktop will typically destroy a laptop in performance. That said, if you absolutely must use a laptop, I agree with nwo's choice of the Acer due to the faster CPU.

[nwo]

I can't say I agree with this as a blanket statement. Dual core vs Quad core doesn't really matter (for WoW). It's all about the core speed. A faster dual core will outperform a slower quad core. A faster quad core will outperform a slower dual core. A dual core and quad core with the same core speeds will be roughly the same in performance, but the quad should pull slightly ahead.

Yeah, my bad... What you said is what I have been saying in other threads, just came out wrong in this one. I meant to say that in this case the dual core would be faster, since it has a significantly higher clock speed than the quad core (50% higher to be exact).