Help deciding which laptop is "better?"

GR3453m0nk3y

Estimable
Jan 17, 2015
3
0
4,510
Hi everyone. First off thanks for any responses. They're all appreciated.

So my motherboard of my laptop took a dump on me. It would be $386 for a brand new one from the manufacturer. I can't find any used elsewhere. Considering the laptop's other minor issues, I'd rather just buy a new machine.

First I'll tell you what I'm using it for. I'm a mechanical engineering student. An average at-any-moment use would be running an AutoCAD program, Chrome, MS Word, and windows explorer. At most I'll be running two AutoCAD programs, Chrome, Firefox, MS Office (various), iTunes, uTorrent, Adobe, windows explorer, etc. My old laptop could barely handle that.

I have it narrowed down to two options. (For now. Who knows what else might show up).

First is i5-4300M processor, 3 MB cache, 2.6 GHz, up to 3.3 GHz; 8 GB RAM; Samsung 128 GB SSD, 1366x768 screen; Windows 7 Ultimate, and "hybrid graphics" (I don't know what that is). Currently bidding on eBay at $200 with 7 hours left.

Second is i7-2670QM processor, 6 MB cache, 2.2 GHz, up to 3.10 GHz; 4 GB RAM; Samsung 128 GB SSD; 1280x800 screen; Windows 7 (submodel?); Intel integrated HD 3000 graphics. For sale on eBay for $700.

So yeah. Any thoughts are appreciated.
 

GR3453m0nk3y

Estimable
Jan 17, 2015
3
0
4,510
But as well as speed I need power too... They're both super quick. I just wonder which will be able to maintain their speed given the RAM and cache size and whatnot. I'm not sure how to rate the importance of these things against each other.