I3 2310m vs i5 460m

[EddyCJ]

Should I buy an i3 2310m sandy bridge with hd 3000, or an i5 460m with an nvidia 310m? With a quick google I find that they should be similar performance.

 

[WR2]

Hello EddyCJ;


You're right. Intel HD 3000 graphics and Nvidia 310M are close enough to not notice the difference.
Nearly same for the CPUs. That 2.1Ghz i3-2310M has about a 15% "Sandy Bridge advantage" over the first gen i3/i5 CPUs like the i5-460M. That works out to be about 2.4Ghz vs i5-460M @ 2.53Ghz (turbo mode - single core to 2.8Ghz).

What are you going to be doing with the laptop?

 

[EddyCJ]

Well, I'm looking at the Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830t, it has a theoretical 9 hours battery life, hoping for a real world of 5 - which is good for me because I'm a student, and a day of college without a charger would be great!

The i5 laptop would be the Samsung QX410, it has shorter battery life, so if the performance is similar, I would go with the longer battery life.

To be honest, since I don't edit videos beyond casually, or music, or use Photoshop, I assume they both match my needs CPU-wise. And my budget doesn't stretch to a decent gaming laptop, but would I be able to play casual games such as Minecraft? And would newer games such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 be playable on the lowest quality settings? This isn't a deal breaker

I came to this forum because I couldn't find any articles for the HD 3000 graphics on the i3 processors, only the i5, so any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks.

 

[WR2]

Well, I'm looking at the Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830t, it has a theoretical 9 hours battery life, hoping for a real world of 5 - which is good for me because I'm a student, and a day of college without a charger would be great!

It will be really close to that 9 hour rating in classroom note taking mode with the Wifi shut down. With WiFi you're still looking at close to 8 hours, mostly thanks to the 6-cell Lithium-Ion 6000 mAh battery. Mostly batteries run in the 4400-4800 range.

 

[WR2]

Maybe 7hrs with WiFi is more accurate. Guesstimate based on this review:
Acer Aspire TimelineX 3830TG-6431 Review
Not an identical model of course, but i the same family.

 

[EddyCJ]

Nice, thank you, but do you have any idea of the real world HD 3000 Graphics performance on the i3?

And both processors would be able to handle multitasking many browser windows, word documents, and music things?

 

[WR2]

Both CPUs will handle all that stuff very nicely. They are nearly as powerful as some desktop quad core CPUs of a few years ago.
HD 3000 Graphics review
Nvidia 310M review
Nvidia GT 540M review

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830TG-6431 13" Notebook $700
Core i5 2410M(2.30GHz) CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 13.3" 1366x768 LCD w/ GT 540M graphics.

 

[EddyCJ]

3830 TG would be perfect - lightweight, fast, goodish graphics, long battery life, but I live in the UK, where it's not available. But I guess I'll give it until the new academic year is about to start, then see if it's been launched yet. Thank you!

 

[WR2]

Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830T-6417 13.3" Notebook $600
Core i3-2310M CPU & Intel HD 3000 model

 

[EddyCJ]

Why does america get all the good laptops!

 

[WR2]

The mostly come from China. So I don't know why there is no love for the UK.

 

[WR2]

Do you want to look into ordering one up from over here?
http/www.shipito.com/

 

[EddyCJ]

I will! you've been very helpful, thank you. if i can order from america, then my budget stretches further too. Thank you