Post#2 » Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:18 pm
The acer is the better machine because:
1) More ram (3GB vs 4GB) - as long as you use x64 version of windows 1gb more less swapping to disk. If you stick with the x32 version supplied you will likely only see 3-3.5gb of ram anyway, in which case its a moot point.
2) Better graphics card. The 9600m is (slightly) better than the ATI card. Expect to see maybe 3-4 FPS extra.
3) It's not Dell.
The CPU's are close. The acer has better power consumption and memory bandwidth, the dell has a higher clock speed but uses a little more power and in benchmarks has slightly less memory bandwidth. I doubt in real-world uses you would notice much difference between them, apart from the acer having slightly better EQ experience because of the slightly better GPU. (Maybe a few frames higher in game)
You would be much better off looking for an AMD A4/A6/A8 cpu as these have the much better integrated radeon 6xxx series GPU which would blow both the GPU's in the above machines. EQ dosent require much GPU, and even a sandybridge with HD2000 graphics provides enough oomph to have an ok experience.
I would say either would work with about the same end result. Buy the cheapest, and use the money you save to put in a SSD and you will be happiest.
Then again, I might have just made all the above up and I could be talking out of my evacuation chute.