SU7300 vs SU9600 for HP Touchsmart TMT2 Laptop

[idata]

I am about to purchase my Daughters first laptop, who has her heart set on an HP Touchsmart Laptop.

She in not interested in a gaming PC per se, but I am sure she will end up purchasing some titles that are

available for the XBOX 360 so she doesn't have to compete with her brother for playing time,

HP offers 2 chip upgrades to either the Intel(R)Core(TM)2 Duo SU7300 (1.30GHz, 800MHz FSB)

or the Intel(R)Core(TM)2 Duo SU9600 (1.60GHz, 800MHz FSB).

The SU9600 upgrade is an additional $200 and I am not sure what advantages the SU9600 may provide

that would make it worth the money.

Question: If these 2 chips were identical in all other ways, how much more speed

Would that .3 GHZ really make? Is the 9600 3X as fast or 20% faster?

Intel furnished me with the a comparison chart that pointed out the following architectural differences

Cache:

The SU7300 has 3(MB) Intel Smart cache while the 9600 was 3 (MB) of L2 Cache

Question: Is there a noticeable speed difference between these two types of cache?

Instruction Set:

The 9600 has a 64-bit instruction set while the 7300 has something called an SSE Instruction set extension.

Question: Would the fact the 9600 has a true 64bit instruction set make a noticeable difference in speed?

Intel Trusted Execution Technology: 9600 only

Question: Does this technology increase performance or reliability

This is not my area of expertise and with getting some informed answers I no matter what

I choose I know I'll always wonder if I made the right choice.

Any advice that you may offer would greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post!

[idata]

Sorry, i haven't got time to go through all your questions. But personally i cannot see any reason to pay $200 more for the SU9600.

Your best bet for researching laptops, instead of trying to undertand all the little tiny bits of info and all is to read lots and lots and lots of reviews!

BTW neither of teh CPUS will be GREAT for gaming, but may just about sufffice, the important thing is the Graphics... it all depends what games and what els eoyu going to be doing.

[idata]

I was pretty much leaning towards the conclusion that the SU9600 upgrade was not worth

the price as it did not appear to really add much more bang for the Buck.

Thanks for the advice!