Dell M6400 Processor Choice

Hi all,
I've been contemplating getting a mobile workstation. For better orworse I'm looking at Dell; good performance from them in the past.I'm after solid performance over a three year payback. And lookingat getting a better graphics card or additional ram with money'saved'.

What processor to select? Is there a bottleneck that lays hidden inthe choice between cache ram speed/size, graphics card size or adisc speed that needs to be addressed to solid performance for themoney spent?

The lower priced/spec'ed processors have a lower cache. Is that allthere is in the decision? The easiest additional spend is the \$130;the \$380 not so bad; the \$690 seems a bit steep.

intel processor summmary specs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...ore_2_microprocessors

Dell reference:
http://configure.us.dell.com/d...c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

Dell's options in processors are (Coretm 2 Duo ) in \$USD:
P8400 (2.26GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1067MHZ) Dual Core [Included in Price]
P8600 (2.40GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1067MHZ) Dual Core [add \$60]
P8700 (2.53GHz 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz) Dual Core [add \$60]
T9400 (2.53GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1067MHZ) Dual Core [add \$130]
T9550(2.66GHz 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz) Dual Core [add \$130]
T9600 (2.80GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1067MHZ) Dual Core [add \$380]
T9800 (2.93GHz 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz) Dual Core [add \$380]
X9100 (3.06GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1067MHZ) Dual Core [add \$690]
Quad QX9300 (2.53GHz, 12M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB) [add \$890]

Realise this is a bit detailed, but if i'm going to commit to ahigh end mobile workstation I dont want to throw the money away andlive with the consequences for three years.

Thanks in advance

SolidworksAdministration