Help me choose between these two laptops

[Stryyder]

Hello,

Looking at these two toshiba laptops primary difference here is processer Phenom II 940 Quad vs i5 460m

This laptop will be for general use and some gaming (mostly through STEAM)


I am concerned as some have said that the AMD processor is closer to an i3 in performance in single threaded applications any opinions?

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214045

vs

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214044

The A665 has a bigger hard drive backlit keyboard and a nicer finish however if the processor is a bottleneck why bother right?

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Definitely go with the second one,it has a faster CPU.
Phenom II P940 isn't bad but it doesn't perform as well as i5 460M.

 

[Stryyder]

Thank you. Been lurking for a while. I really knew the i5 is the way to go but I think I have been in denial because of some of the other features in the A665 vs the A660 like the backlit keyboard and bigger driver.

I have not found any benchmarks on that 1.7 ghz phenom and I was hoping someone had something to show me it performs better than I think it will but I think AMD made a mistake when they cut out that cache to keep power consumption down

 

[ssshjp]

P940 is a new model that you can hardly find review articles on. You could see the benchmarks of P920, which is almost the same as P940 except it is 1.6 GHz.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Phenom-II-X4-P920-Notebook-Processor.30326.0.html

Anyway, Phenom quad-core processor is good for some applications but not for gaming, especially compared to core i5 processors. If you want large hard drive, it is neither hard nor expensive to change one by yourself.

 

[Stryyder]

So now I am looking at this Acer which is an i5 with a ATI 5650..... but a 17"

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=34-115-866&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

$20.00 cheaper but its an Acer vs a Toshiba any thoughts on this one?

 

[Maziar]

That's also a great choice.
However,i think the Toshiba one has a better build quality

 

[Stryyder]

I agree especially since in the last 48 hours there have been like 6 acer laptop issues that popped up on the forum... Thanks going to buy that i5 toshiba

 

[Stryyder]

Best answer selected by Stryyder.

 

[ssshjp]

I believe the Toshiba A series is good in design and quality while L is just so-so.

 

[Stryyder]

I believe the Toshiba A series is good in design and quality while L is just so-so.

Better speakers better finish extra USB port backlit keyboard I actually like the A better but I am not sure I want to skimp on the processor.... I have been told that the i5 should blow this away especially in single thread apps.

So its either take the solidly built car with the fast engine or the flashier car with the ok engine. I am actually still torn. I am committed to buying one of them by the end of the weeked i am really flip flopping on this......