Can't Choose Between i5 or A10. Need More Specialised Help

[Cumminsc9]

Hi there, as the title suggests I'm looking at laptops to help me with my course at University (Software Engineering)

The two laptops I have in mind currently are;

Intel Core i5-4210U Processor
Windows 8.1
Memory: 8 GB
Hard drive: 1 TB SSHD
NVIDIA GeForce GT820M (2 GB DDR3)

and

AMD A10-5750M APU
Windows 8.1
Memory: 8 GB
Hard drive: 1 TB SSHD
AMD Radeon 8750M (2 GB DDR3)

They are both extremely similar part from processor and graphics card. I'm not really interested in the graphics card on either laptop. It's just a nice addition. So the problem is I am a Software Engineer starting my first year at University and I need a capable laptop that I can program on using Netbeans, Eclipse and Visual Studio. However I'm unable to choose which processor to go for as the Intel i5 has two cores but makes up for the missing two via Hyperthreading whereas the AMD A10 has 4 cores and a higher clock speed.

I'm unsure which one would be more suitable for the task at hand.

Any help or light on the matter would be greatly appreciated and would go to helping me make up my mind on which to purchase.

Many Thanks!

 

[boosted1g]

In real world the i5 will do doughnuts around an a10. Since you dont care about graphics performance then i5 is the obvious choice.

 

[burdenbound]

Either one should do what you want just fine. The i5 is going to be stronger but I am unsure of how each of those graphics cards do against one another. If you don't plan on playing games I would just go with the intel, but I will be honest I haven't done much research on either of these.

 

[Calculatron]

The i5 is a bit faster, and is more energy efficient.

The AMD solution may have four actual cores, but they are actually two modules, so two pairs of cores sharing the same decoder. It *might* be better at certain threaded tasks, but the I5 is going to be overall better.

 

[iBUYPOWER - Jason]

Hey!

The only issue with this i5 is the "U" designation at the end of the title. Compared to the i5-4200M, the i5-4210U is closer to a i3-xxxM series. The "U" are processors meant to increase battery life and used in thinner form factor laptops.

In reality, it's more of a comparison between an A10 and a i3 Intel Processor. It's hard to say which processor will be better for your needs.

I have an i3 laptop at home and it's starting to show signs of slowing down (granted it wasn't fast to begin with). I'd probably go with the A10 if I had to choose.

 

[jaguarskx]

From the perspective of each individual CPU core in the Core i5 and A10, the Intel core is more powerful assuming the same clock speed. The Core i5-4210u can hit 2.7GHz when only one core is being used and the A10-5750m can hit 3.5GHz when only one core is being used. When two core are used the highest clockspeed generally decreases by 200MHz; so that means 2.5GHz for the Core i5 and 3.3GHz for the A10. I think if all 4 cores in the A10 is used the highest clockspeed would be 3.0GHz or 3.1GHz.

Despite the actual difference in clockspeed, Intel CPUs can process more data and instructions than AMD APUs can. Therefore, the each CPU core in the Core i5 should be a bit more more powerful than each CPU core in the A10 despite the difference in clockspeed.

I think the only instances where the A10 would actually perform better (or equal to the Core i5) is if the programs used are capable of using all 4 cores in the A10 APU. Therefore, you need to find out if the programs can use more than 2 cores.

If the programs can use all 4 cores of the A10 APU, then they will likely run faster with the APU. If the program can only use 1 or 2 cores, then they will run faster with the Intel CPU. Three cores.....? My bet would be Intel.

The main difference between Intel "M" and "U" model CPUs are lower clockspeeds to reduce power consumption. That naturally means lower performance, but better battery life if that matters.

The primary difference between a Core i3 and Core i5 CPU is that Core i5 has Turbo Boost which acts like an automatic overclock. Without Turbo Boost the i5-4210u will run at 1.7GHz, but with Turbo Boost that CPU can run as high as 2.7GHz when a single core is used (about 2.5GHz with both cores used). The Core i3 lacks Turbo Boost so if there was a "Core i3-4210u" CPU it's max speed would be 1.7Ghz.

It's a bit of a tough choice without knowing how many cores the programs can use, but even if that is known, it would still be hard to judge without seeing any benchmark comparisons. Given the known performance difference between Intel and AMD's individual CPU cores, I would go with Intel.

From a graphics performance point of view, the Radeon HD 8750m is a bit more powerful than the GT 820m. However, the game must support DX10 or DX11 in order for the Radeon HD 8750m to be active. As an example, Skyrim is a popular game that is only DX9 because it was designed to run on consoles as well. Because this if you were to play Skyrim with the A10-5750 laptop, only the integrated Radeon HD 8650g will be used to play the game. The Radeon HD 8750m will be inactive.