A6-3420m vs. i5 2450m (Which is more important?)

[splatstrike23]

Hi, I am looking into buying a laptop for myself (I am in high school) for web browsing, videos (youtube), gaming, micro. office, etc.
So I was wondering which laptop would be more bang for the buck. I have an option of getting

1. Acer Aspire AS5560G-7809 NX.RURAA.001

So this laptop comes with a 1gb 7670m DDR3 graphics card and A6 3420m quad core 1.5ghz processor for the price (around $400). I am assuming that for my purposes, and since this computer can play battlefield 3 on medium, I think it is ideal.

However, I also found this laptop and am interested in it:

2. Acer Aspire V3-571G-6602

This laptop is also very good since it comes with
with an i5 2450m processor and a geforce GT 630m. I WOULD go for this laptop, BUT it costs about $200 more...

SO MY QUESTION IS: which one is more bang for the buck?
PLEASE ANSWER ASAP!!!

 

[nbelote]

The Amazon one is being sold by Tigerdirect anyway (it's all over your page) so it'll be the same price.

 

[nbelote]

If you are going to game on laptops you have to understand their life expectancy: 2 years at absolute maximum. You'll be pushing yours in order to play medium/high settings today. In two years, you'll be stuck on low or unable to play at all. That's how it is.

Every 6 months to a year I "trade up." I sell my current rig, as close as I can to what I paid (not always possible) and put the money toward a new laptop. I understand that you cannot as you are a teenager, but that's how you stay current in the laptop gaming field.

Edit: You'd have to go with a $1000 machine to push the true 2 year limit, and even then you'd be lucky. Some can get away with weaker machines... like the one with the 7730m, I bet it could last 2 years... but that's extremely rare, and I'm still not 100% sure that GPU could handle it... you would need to kick the CPU in that lappy up to an i7 and cut off HT do make it actually work in your favor, plus kick the RAM up to 16GB of PC3-16000 to get any true muscle.

 

[splatstrike23]

If you are going to game on laptops you have to understand their life expectancy: 2 years at absolute maximum. You'll be pushing yours in order to play medium/high settings today. In two years, you'll be stuck on low or unable to play at all. That's how it is.

Every 6 months to a year I "trade up." I sell my current rig, as close as I can to what I paid (not always possible) and put the money toward a new laptop. I understand that you cannot as you are a teenager, but that's how you stay current in the laptop gaming field.

Edit: You'd have to go with a $1000 machine to push the true 2 year limit, and even then you'd be lucky. Some can get away with weaker machines... like the one with the 7730m, I bet it could last 2 years... but that's extremely rare.

I understand, but I'm fine with driving the apu into the ground since it'll still get the job done for everyday matters.
Besides, if in a year or two, it's really struggling, I could just overclock it to get some fps back. (with a cooling pad of course)
But yes, I see your point and I will keep that in mind.

 

[nbelote]

That APU very well can be overclocked in its current state, just be careful. PC3-12800 is all that motherboard can handle, though it should support up to 16GB and that will be helpful in the near future.

You'll be okay with the Lenovo, much better off than with an APU that's got a 6520g in it that can't even play Diablo 3 on Low without trouble (that's the best laptop you can get for $400, link below):

http/www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3443247&Sku=S203-156311

 

[nbelote]

6520g's are terrible. There's one floating around this house, that laptop I linked? The CPU part of the APU is fine, it just can't game for ***.

 

[nbelote]

Simply put, I think you'd be better off in the long run with the Lenovo with the A10 than the A6-based APU with the 7670m... that current-gen APU is LOADS better than the one with the A6 you've listed yourself... I have one of those, it's good but it's slow for games, and the 6520g isn't helping. You would get your 2 years out of the A10, not so much out of the aging A6 that you cannot overclock for any good purpose other than just overheating your laptop with no real gain.

 

[splatstrike23]

Simply put, I think you'd be better off in the long run with the Lenovo with the A10 than the A6-based APU with the 7670m... that current-gen APU is LOADS better than the one with the A6 you've listed yourself... I have one of those, it's good but it's slow for games, and the 6520g isn't helping. You would get your 2 years out of the A10, not so much out of the aging A6 that you cannot overclock for any good purpose other than just overheating your laptop with no real gain.

Ok thanks a lot for all your help!

 

[splatstrike23]

Best answer selected by splatstrike23.