i3-6100u + GTX 950m VS i5-6200u + GTX 940mx

[Cyndro]

I'm trying to decide between two laptops. They are both the same price and overall spec, but one is an Acer F15 with an i3-6100u + GTX 950m and the other is a Lenovo 510 with an i5-6200u + GT 940mx. If you have any input on the Laptop models themselves (build quality, keyboard, noise/heat etc) that would be useful but which spec configuration do you think is better?

Ultimately the i3-6100u and the i5-6200u are the exact same part but the i5 turbo boosts from 2.3ghz to 2.8ghz (500mhz boost). I've heard differing opinions, with some saying this makes a significant difference, and some saying it makes no difference. I will be doing some gaming on this laptop so obviously the GPU matters, but the CPU matters also, especially with the kinds of games I like to play like Total War. I'm still wondering which configuration is better. Should I go with the i3 or i5 laptop?

 

[Oliver_21]

Let's just think a bit about ir

You are going to be playing GAMES which are very GRAPHICS INTENSIVE

Games = graphics graphics = GRAPHICS CARDS

Then you have to focus on the GPU

both the 940MX and 950M are low end GPUs, a better CPU will make a negligible difference

Just get the one with the better GPU, a 960M if possible

 

[Cyndro]

Let's just think a bit about ir

You are going to be playing GAMES which are very GRAPHICS INTENSIVE

Games = graphics graphics = GRAPHICS CARDS

Then you have to focus on the GPU

both the 940MX and 950M are low end GPUs, a better CPU will make a negligible difference

Just get the one with the better GPU, a 960M if possible

In some games the CPU matters more than the GPU. Some games are not GPU intensive at all but stress the CPU a lot.

 

[Oliver_21]

Let's just think a bit about ir

You are going to be playing GAMES which are very GRAPHICS INTENSIVE

Games = graphics graphics = GRAPHICS CARDS

Then you have to focus on the GPU

both the 940MX and 950M are low end GPUs, a better CPU will make a negligible difference

Just get the one with the better GPU, a 960M if possible

In some games the CPU matters more than the GPU. Some games are not GPU intensive at all but stress the CPU a lot.

Then why do you ask me?

Even so, the GPU has a lot of impact on the game and like I said it's hard to bottleneck a GTX 950M is a very low end performer

 

[jaguarskx]

The GTX 950m is significantly more powerful than the 940mx as indicated in the game benchmarks below from notebookcheck.net. Those are average FPS based on several laptops that generally have a Core i5 or Core i7 CPU; both of which would likely include both dual core and quad core variants.


http/tinyurl.com/zl5zorm


A core i3 and nVidia GTX 950m will likely have lower results especially if the game is dependent on the CPU as well. In general, between the two laptop it would be best to go with the Core i3 and GTX 950m combo because most games are more dependent on the GPU than the CPU. Games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim are examples of FPS game that are more reliant on the CPU than most other FPS games. Having said that though if you want graphics to look good, then you definitely want the laptop with the Core i3 and GTX 950m since graphics will be the bottleneck. If you were to play those two games with the lowest possible graphic settings, then I suppose it would not matter which laptop you buy since both should be able to play those games at almost 60 FPS.

If you are mostly into strategy games rather than FPS games, then sure get the laptop with the Core i5 and 940mx since the game engine must spend time to calculate the AI opponents' moves. For something like X-Com, I don't think it makes much of a difference since there are only a limited number of enemies on the map. However, if you are into playing the Civilization series with huge worlds and many AI enemies, then having a Core i5 CPU would be beneficial especially when dealing with AI opponents with many units.