I3-3110m vs i5-3210 (with GT 650)

[GodspeedFx]

For the tldr; version, skip to end of post =)


Ok, so I'm about to order a customized dv6t-7000 laptop from HP. My budget is just around 800. I have a 4% student discount and a $50 coupon to use. I am buying this laptop for gaming. I'm buying it mainly for Skyrim, but I'll also be playing games like Bioshock 2 and Diablo III. My main goal is very high settings in Skyrim (I can obiously live without ultra because of my $800 budget).

I've narrowed it down to 2 options, and this is where I hope the expertise of the forum that I search through all the time will come in =)

I'm going to bold the differences that are better.

System 1:

i5-3210 (2.5ghz w/ Turbo to 3.1ghz)
nVidia GT 650 2GB (GDDR5)
15.6" 1366x768 Brightview LED Screen
6GB DDR3 (will upgrade later)
640GB 5400RPM HD with 32gb mSSD HardDrive Acceleration Cache
Backlit Keyboard
Total: $803 (after tax and shipping)

System 2:

i3-3110 (2.4ghz, 3MB L3) no turbo, naturally
nVidia GT 650 2GB (GDDR5)
15.6" 1080p Anti-Glare Screen (drools)
6GB DDR3 (will upgrade later)
640GB 5400RPM HD
Total: 814 (after tax and shipping)

It's mainly because of that 1080p anti-glare screen.. I'd really like to have it as this will be my desktop replacement. Will I really take a big performance hit with the i3 instead of the i5? The only difference between the two seems to be the turbo-boost as far as I can tell. I know I could just go with the i5 and the mSSD and hook it up to an external monitor if I wanted better resolution, but then I run into the question of whether or not the GT 650 will give me the performance I want at those higher resolutions in the first place. Is 1080p overkill on a 15.6" screen?

tldr;

With a GT650 2GB GDDR5, which do you think is a better choice for Skyrim at very high with no video lag?

i3-3110m + 1080p screen
or
i5-3210 + 720p screen + mSSD cache + backlit keyboard

 

[nexmorbus]

To be perfectly honest.. if I ever suggested the i3 system to a customer over the i5 system for gaming, I'd quite my job and go into a forest to prepare for the zombie apocolypse.

 

[GodspeedFx]

Thanks for the speedy reply.. but just out of curiosity, what makes the i5-3210m soooo much better than the i3-3110m? The only difference as far as I can tell is that the i5 will boost your clock speeds under max load..

I'm not trying to disagree with you or anything, and I am currently leaning towards the i5 unless I hear otherwise.. I'm just curious! =)

 

[nexmorbus]

Turbo boost would usually be reason enough for me. I suppose the question is, do you want performance or do you want visual quality. Your answer there will determine if you want the marginal increase from the i5 or the 1080p anti glare

 

[Sakkura]

Is 1080p overkill on a 15.6" screen?

Depends how close to the screen you sit.

For a game like Skyrim, the better CPU will help. Even if the difference between Core i5 and Core i3 is a bit smaller in laptops than desktops.

 

[GodspeedFx]

Alright, thanks for all the help fellas! I'm ordering it right now =) If I ever get the urge for better resolution, I'll just hook it up to an external display.

 

[Brett928S2]

This topic has been closed by Brett928S2