Buying a laptop, specs are confusing me

Solution 1:

Either machine will do the job. The larger cache will mean the CPU will more often be able to get the data it's working on from cache, rather than having to reach out to slower RAM. How much difference will that make? That depends on the programs you run, but it's unlikely to make a huge difference on average. The faster FSB means that when the CPU does have to reach out to RAM, it gets the data a little quicker. How much difference will that make? That depends on the programs you run, but it's unlikely to make a huge difference on average. The clock speed difference makes a more predictable performance difference, at least if you're running CPU-bound tasks.

All in all, I'd say the two are pretty much equivalent for most uses. If you were doing large calculations that consume 100% of the CPU for long periods of time, or which couldn't quite fit in 1MB of cache but fit in 3MB or... then it would matter. As it is, spending the extra $200 isn't going to make much difference at all. Honestly, if you're going to spend some extra money, I'd focus on spending it on better physical build quality, getting a machine that is durable and reliable.

If the machines don't have enough RAM, that's another place where it might be worth putting a few more dollars.

Solution 2:

In the simplest terms a higher speed on the FSB move bits of data more quickly. The larger cache allows more data to be moved into a position where it can be accessed most readily by the CPU when the CPU is carrying out instructions that take longer than accessing data. The $200 is about going faster. If you can easily afford it, go for it. If you have other things you need to spend the money on, like eating for the rest of the week, and can live with a minor decrease in speed, the get the cheaper system. Also you probably want to take into account how long you expect to own this system before replacing it. If you plan to keep this for several years, getting the most speed you can now will better hedge you against processing demands later.