core 2 duo vs i3

Hi

I have a acer 6930g with a core 2 duo p8600(2.4ghz) i am thinking of
changing laptop to an acer 5740 with an i3(2.13ghz).

Is the i3 faster than p8600, or would i need to go to i5??

also is the battery life the same for cpu's or does one use more power

BTW the gpu i have is nv9600gt, one in i3 would be atiHD5470.are these equal.

Thanks in advance

Karl

 

CPUmark 06 on the i3 is barely better than your current processor (2202 vs 2140) An i5 430 scores 2574, still hardly a huge difference.
Notebookcheck: Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist

On graphics cards the ATI may be slower than your current card, all depends on the actual memory used, clock speeds etc all of which vary by build and laptop manufacturer to play tunes with heat,, battery power etc.

Your best bet is look for a review with benchmark tests on your current and proposed new laptop as sold rather than concentrate on component performance that may not be fully realised in practice

 

It's not really worth the upgrade IMO.

 

i3 is a little bit faster but cooler and spends less power, but 9600GT is much faster than 5470.

Id recommend you to stay with your current laptop and wait for the new generation of CPUs and GPUs

 

Thanks for the info so far.

concerning gpu there is a version with a hd5650 is this as good as 9600gt?

karl

 

No- the one with HD5650 is far better compared to 9600M GT.

From notebookcheck.com:

Far Cry 2 high
9600M GT 18fps
HD5650 44fps

GTA IV medium
9600M GT 22fps
HD5650 42fps

Crysis GPU medium
9600M GT 25fps
HD5650 51fps

...and so on. You get the picture.
There's Aspire 5740G Owners Lounge with some tests available ( I started it so maybe I shouldn't advertise it but WTH )
Feel free to request any additional benchmarks- I own the notebook and as long as the benchmark is free I can perform a test.

 

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Save your money and go for an SSD !

 

If hes playing games this wont help him except in loading times, imho this is not a good option.

 

IMO SSD isn't a good idea now because it is almost definite prices will drop as SSD becomes mature therefore it is better to wait.

 

thanks for the info guys.

Now i'm totally confused.

link to machine i am thinking about now Acer Aspire 5740G LX.PMB02.001

 

No reason to be confused. The version with HD5650 is a lot faster than 9600M GT. I have the same notebook- 5740G with the exception of the CPU (I have Core i5 430) and I'm very pleased with it.
Core i3 is quite a good CPU- not an upgrade compared to what you already have but it's not what matters when gaming is concerned. I've seen people gaming with Core i3 and benchmarks were OK.
Aspire 5740G is one of the best mid range notebooks especially if you consider performance to price ratio.

 

This is great configuration and great machine. If I were you I'd buy it but this kind of configuration is not available in my country and my old laptop doesnt need an upgrade yet.

Read the review here, Notebookcheck: Review Acer Aspire 5740G Notebook

The one that you are considering has faster graphics but slower CPU so the heat output and noise should stay the same as in the reviewed model.

 

ok then

is it worth me buying the i5 version rather than the i3, is it worth the extra
£100? link to i5 Acer Aspire 5740G 698444.htm

 

As someone like me already said . . .

Put it simply, is 17% improvement in processor speed worth £100 to you?

Unless you do a lot of on-the fly encrypted communications or photo/video editing (I do do the latter) it is probably not worth the extra money.

The £100 would buy you a faster HDD or go part way towards a SSD either of which would deliver a difference you would see each time you boot

Do check the processor is the only difference though . . you are probably getting a bigger HDD or better graphics chip for that step up ?

 

Yes I'd also recommend you to wait for the next crop of Intel CPUs. The P8600's still a pretty great CPU, so much in fact apparently Apple chose it for their base 13.3" Macbook Pro model.

 

Apple just too lazy to redesign the board to load the Core i3s.
Anyway Apple sucks totally.
They are selling crapbooks at many times the profit margin of competitors and they are falling for it.
Seriously would you buy a Acer from me at 300 dollars more if I load 1 Linux Distro on it for you without Windows just like how Apple load OS X except with less fancy GUI?
I suspect those guys in Apple forums the usual bunch are actually Astroturfers.
It is not a new concept that companies does that especially those who can't compete on a Level Market playing field therefore I don't respond there anymore.
Core i3 330M beats most high end Core 2 Duos in performance especially when the applications are multithreading.

 

Nor is it a good idea to buy a new laptop, as a better one will be out for less next year. I will never have another machine with a rotating hard drive as the boot and programs drive. Unless you have a SSD machine, don't suggest others not spend $ on this very worthwhile upgrade.

 

What I mean is
1)Most people don't need the blazing speeds
2)Currently the price compared to conventional drives is totally insane (The cost of the SSD almost at the price of netbooks)
3)It is expected over 2 to 3 years when prices of flash RAM drop prices will drop and you will save yourself some heartache not to mention I am not sure if all the issues have been ironed out. But you can be sure the future is SSD.
Of course if you are too rich and need to spend your money away be my guest.
The 7200RPM drives prices have dropped to the level of 5400RPM drive so it is a good idea to get 1 now if you need to.
It won't offer you the blazing speed of SSD just slightly faster but it won't cost you an arm or a leg either.