So I'm buying a laptop, and I have everything pegged except for the choice between two processors.

First there is the 2010 Intel® Core™ i3-350M 2.26GHz (3M cache), that is the basic one they will be giving me.

Now for $200 dollars... I can upgrade to the 2010 Intel® Core™ i5-520M 2.40GHz (2.93Ghz Turbo Mode, 3M cache).

Is it even worth it to get the upgrade? I really don't know anything about processors..

thanks in advance.

...5>3

Of that 200 bucks, I'd say 150 is profit for Dell. Don't do it.

From just doing a google search, if you aren't doing any serious gaming, just go with the i3. A small performance improvement with the i5, but not worth the price increase.

umm...nope, not worth it. You can always get the i3 and later upgrade to i5 by buying the proc only and selling the i3 proc

go with the i5, the i3 has no turbo boost and is only marginally better than C2D.

If you're not gaming (and when I say gaming, I mean Crysis, CoD:MW2, and other high-end games, not WoW or CS:S which any solid PC can handle) go with the i3, you really won't notice a day-to-day difference when the i5 unless gaming.

Definitely not worth the money. As a rule of thumb, RAM is more important than the processor, I find, so make sure if you're getting a new notebook it has at least 4 GB of RAM and you should be good to go.

i3 is more than enough.

never go cheap on the processor. Its the hardest thing to upgrade, usually impossible (with the time frame which sockets change). And the corei3 is not a good processor. However, for an extra $200, you should be in the corei7 range, like the corei7 620M (2.66GHz, 4MB L3, 1066MHz). Dell is known to overcharge for processor upgrades.

-i dont think its worth it, but at the same time if this is all dell offering i dont think dell is worth it. Look at lenovo.

not worth it. $200 for that is outragious!

Ya like ppl said, unless your planning on doing gaming during ur stay at the university, which u shouldnt rly unless u have loads of time, then i3 is prob enough.

200 is a pretty big jump to i5, im assuming your buying from dell or some overpricing company if its that much of an increase. If you really do want i5 or i7 even, another brand might be a good choice as dell and the likes tend to overprice. You can probably get a good i5 or possibly i7 depending on whatever price your getting charged which im guessing is nearing the 1000 mark if not more.

$200 man thats a txtbook right there or like 5 iclickers haha don't doo it