AMD A6-3420M or i5?

[srobs1105]

So I'm currently looking at getting a new laptop, mostly it'll be used for uni work so Word, Excel, Powerpoint, ChemDraw, EndNote etc then normal things listening to music, streaming/downloading TV and films and some minor photo editing.
Also a bit of gaming, mostly The Sims 3. I'm looking at two laptops

http/www.johnlewis.com/231653331/Product.aspx?SearchTerm=RecentlyViewedList

http/www.johnlewis.com/231570289/Product.aspx#BVRRWidgetID

They both have 6Gb RAM and 750Gb HD the only differece is the processor, and the price.

One has the Intel Core i5 2450M and is £100 more than the other which has AMD Vision Quad-Core A6-3420M.

I was wondering if it's worth stretching my budget and spending the extra money for the i5 or will the AMD do the job for what I need?

Thanks.

 

[acerace]

I'll take the AMD system. It seems you only do everyday task and play some games. The Vision APU can handle that easily.

 

[srobs1105]

Thanks!
I've been looking round for ages not really knowing what I needed, at one point I think I convinced myself I needed an i7...

 

[acerace]

Thanks!
I've been looking round for ages not really knowing what I needed, at one point I think I convinced myself I needed an i7...

No no, that's too much for your usage as of now. 😀

 

[Guest]

This would be a better choice:

http/www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_TimelineX_5830T_1114400.html

 

[srobs1105]

What makes it worth the extra money?

 

[acerace]

What makes it worth the extra money?

None I think. If you want to go Intel, better you take the i5 than this i3.

 

[jaguarskx]

The AMD laptop is better for games due to the slightly more powerful integrated graphic core, but the weak CPU core will slow down anything that is very CPU intensive.

The Intel laptop is the opposite. It's dual core CPU is much more powerful than the AMD APU so CPU intensive tasks will take less time to process. However, integrated graphics core is weaker, but still capable of playing games that are not very demanding on graphics. For example, the Mass Effect trilogy is playable with the Intel HD 3000; I tested those games on my laptop.

 

[whyso]

Can you get a laptop with a 3rd generation intel cpu. The hd400 will be better than the a6 gpu (about equivalent to an a8 gpu). The cpu performance will be much much better.

 

[whyso]

Can you get a laptop with a 3rd generation intel cpu. The hd400 will be better than the a6 gpu (about equivalent to an a8 gpu). The cpu performance will be much much better.

 

[dscudella]

Can you get a laptop with a 3rd generation intel cpu. The hd400 will be better than the a6 gpu (about equivalent to an a8 gpu). The cpu performance will be much much better.

HD4000 is not equivalent to the 7640G of the A8 but is better than the A6's. Also, the only difference between an IB i3 & i5 is the Turbo of the i5. If you can find an A8/A10 then that would be better than any of intel's offerings (except of course an i7QM). Otherwise, get a 3rd Gen i3/i5

 

[whyso]

HD4000 is not equivalent to the 7640G of the A8 but is better than the A6's. Also, the only difference between an IB i3 & i5 is the Turbo of the i5. If you can find an A8/A10 then that would be better than any of intel's offerings (except of course an i7QM). Otherwise, get a 3rd Gen i3/i5

The difference between the Hd 4000 (in an i5) and the a10 is about 30-40% [look at the anandtech review or on notebookcheck] (with good ram which many cheap laptops don't have --ex ones with 6GB cant run properly in dual channel mode and will suffer). The a8 has 256 shaders at 496 turbo 685, the a10 has 384 shaders at the same speed. The a8 is a significant step down in terms of shader power (should be about 70% the performance of the a10). The hd 4000 in a cpu with a higher gpu speed (1.1 Ghz+) will be very equivalent to the a8 gpu.
a8 vs i5 ivy go ivy
a10 vs i5 ivy go a10
a8 vs i3 ivy go a8

Assuming similar costs.

Try if you are getting an amd notebook to make sure the ram is running properly in dual channel mode (4 gb or 8 gb not 6 gb).

What is your budget? (cannot load links).

 

[dscudella]

"On average, the performance of the HD 7640G GPU is comparable to a dedicated Radeon HD 7610M and is even faster than the HD Graphics 4000 as found in Intel’s Ivy Bridge."

Quoted straight from Notebookcheck.