Which is better? A fast Core 2 Duo or a slow i7 processor?

[Riyock]

Hi I'm planning on buying a new laptop and am trying to decide between these two HP dv6t laptops:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&landing=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=High%20performance&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/lateralnav_high_performance_notebooks[/url]

If you customise them you get both of them around the same price with 4GB DDR3 Ram, 320GB 7200rpm HDD, 1GB nVidia/ATI dedicated. The difference is a
Intel Core 2 Duo P7550 (2.26GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB) or a i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB)

I intend to use the laptop as for multimedia purposes, able to easily handle audio and video and play the occasional game.

My question is will the i7 perform better than the core 2 duo despite its slower clock speed? I have heard that the i7 is better at multitasking but would it fall short of the core 2 duo when performing a single intensive task such as encoding an mp3 or playing a 3D game? Does the architecture of the i7 make up for the lower clock speed? Also is the i7 better at power management than the core duo?

Thanks!

 

[rimmer]

I would go for the i7, yes its a slower clock speed, but I believe they do more processing per "1MHz" so logically, I would imagine the 1.6GHz i7 to be probably over 2.5GHz in "core 2 Duo" terms if you get me.

Yes its a newer CPu, expensive too, but they're supposed to be really good and aparently use a different way of processing alltogether compared to the Cores and Pentium's etc. haven't read up on them properly yet.