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My laptop recently broke. Now I need to buy a new one before Christmas ends or more preferably before the end of next week.

My requirements and hopes:
RAM:
- 8GB OF RAM upgradable to 16
HARD DRIVE AND OPTICAL DISK:
- 1TB HDD 5400RPM - Any read+write ODD
CPU:
- AN I7 new gen; 5th-7th
- A 2.1 - 3.0 GHZ CLOCK 4 CORES
SCREEN & GPU/APU/IPU:
- 1080P
- Either AMD (4GB) or an IPU
- 15.6"

COMPANY + OTHER - DELL
- INSPIRON
- 500 - 750 / 650 - 750 US DOLLARS

I have found the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3FA3Z96648
CPU : I7 (2.50GHZ, 6THGEN, DUAL)
SCRN : TOUCH 1080P FHD 15.6"
RAM : 8GB DDR3L (UP TO 16) 1600
HDD : 1TB 5400RPM SATA
ODD : DVD±R/RW
GPU : 4GB AMD RADEON R5M335
MDL : DELL INSPIRON 15 5559

My only problem is that this is dual core. My last laptop was 4 core which I thought was low but then adjusted to, got hot a lot.

My tasks:

  1. Compile + edit with Maven. I have a near 300MB project so the PC got heated when I compiled.
  2. Play and run a minecraft server (same time). It has about 3 players on most of the time; but can go up to six (obviously more if I wanted)
  3. Play TF2.
  4. Video edit in Sony Vegas
  5. Run Adobe Photoshop, both CS2 and the connected CC
  6. Do a lot of homework (shouldn't be hard)
  7. Run discord and Skype almost all the time
  8. Occasionally Run Virtual Machines (XP,98,3.1,DOS 7.1)
  9. Run dual boot (Ubuntu,Steam OS etc as well as Hackintosh (barely))
  10. Download huge files (4-10GB) via Ethernet.

Will all of these tasks run smoothly in a dual core build? If not, are there any better dell inspiron laptops that will suit my needs?

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5
  • If someone suggested an alternative build, what would your maximum budget be?
    – Undo
    Oct 25, 2016 at 22:36
  • 1
    @Undo It was in my requirements: "500 - 750 US DOLLARS"
    – Roke
    Oct 26, 2016 at 3:10
  • Dual core can mean a couple of things. 1 it could be dual core, 1 thread per core. 2 it could be dual core, 2 threads per core (intel hyperthreading). 4 threads (2 threads/core) will perform as well as 4 cores (1 thread/core) The best thing to look for when judging performance is a benchmark (passmark is pretty good). There are other factors too like optimization and clock speed... But anyways, the things you run should work on a dual core, but I'd recommend a higher end dual core or a quad core.
    – 0-60FPS
    Oct 26, 2016 at 3:37
  • @0-60FPS I believe dual core in this usage means two cores.
    – Roke
    Oct 26, 2016 at 4:18
  • Just from looking around for a while, with Dell, 500-700USD being the limiters, I do believe that system is going to be your best bet. Even among refurbished Dell systems, dual core i5/i7's seem to be about it for the price range. This is more of an opinion than an "answer" so I am entering this as a comment.
    – NZKshatriya
    Oct 26, 2016 at 7:11

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