Old hybrid with hi-ten fork, noticable difference to go chrome moly?

[MNRider]

I have an old Trek 700 hybrid (chromemoly main triangle) that needs a new fork. I can get an original hi-ten fork for next to nothing, or Dimension makes a replacement chromemoly fork that is about 140g lighter. Now I know the weight savings won't mean much on on old steel hybrid, but will the chromemoly fork make a noticable difference in the ride? Will it be any stronger? I really like this old bike for gravel roads and the like.

What I really want is to find a 730 of the same vintage which was all cro-mo with butted main tubes.

 

[dabac]

Stronger is never about material alone, it's decided by design, workmanship and material in unison. So no real way to tell. Likewise ride characteristics. All you know is if you replace with identical, your ride will remain as-is. The Cr-Mo fork may have a different geometry, and it'll be very difficult to correctly determine what part of the ride change that comes from the change in steel vs what comes from the other differences. If you're happy with the ride now, stick with an original fork. If you want to change the ride, try another fork.