i3 vs i5 both performance both at 2.60Ghz ?

[Lance de Jesus]

i5-4200u vs i3-3130m

Im just curious how an i3 2.60 Ghz differs with a U series i5 1.6Ghz up to 2.6Ghz?
I know i5 has better power management but how about the cpu performance? Is the i5 weaker since it is a U series? And does it have any impact on GPUs(middle class laptop GPUs for example)?

 

[Sakkura]

The U just means it tends to run at lower clocks and use less power. At the same clocks, their performance is very similar. It would be perfectly identical if they were from the same generation.

As for the GPU, the Core i5 has a bigger, beefier GPU but it again runs at lower clocks to conserve power.

 

[Lance de Jesus]

So basically they have the same performance? So I should just get the one with the lower price?

When you said, i5 has beefier GPU did u mean the integrated graphics? So the i5 has better integrated graphics ayt. How about if Im buying one with dedicated graphics like gt 740m? will the two processors have different effect?

 

[Sakkura]

They have very similar performance, yes. But the Core i5 does use a lot less power, so in some cases that may be worth paying a premium. More battery life and less cooling needed.

The beefier GPU is the integrated graphics yes. But do note that the smaller GPU in the Core i3 runs at higher clocks - in the worst case scenario MUCH higher clocks.

With dedicated graphics, the GPU side of the equation becomes unimportant. The evaluation of the CPU performance remains the same - they're pretty similar.

 

[jaguarskx]

i3 CPUs do not have Turbo Boost so if the clockspeed is 2.6GHz, then both cores will run at a max speed of 2.6GHz.

The i5 and i7 CPUs have two speeds; normal base speed and Turbo Boost. The i5-4200u has a max base speed of 1.6GHz so if you were to deactivate Turbo Boost the CPU would not go above 1.6GHz.

While the i5-4200u has a max Turbo Boost speed of 2.6GHz, that only applies if only one core is being used, if both cores are being used then the max speed is below 2.6GH like maybe 2.4GHz; it uses some algorithm to determine what speed the CPU will run at.. That is done to basically keep overall heat output and power consumption down.

 

[Sakkura]

The Core i5 will run at slightly lower clocks much of the time, but on the other hand it has slightly better performance per clock since it has the newer Haswell architecture. So that kinda balances it out.

 

[Lance de Jesus]

thanks for the answers. last question do either of these bottleneck a gt 740m? Something like League of legends, Dota 2, Dead Space 3, etc

 

[Sakkura]

No, they should be easily capable of keeping up with a 740M.

 

[Lance de Jesus]

No, they should be easily capable of keeping up with a 740M.

Thanks! You've been a great help!. Last last question since ill buy a laptop this week and i really cant decide.
Would I gain performance on League of legends or Dota 2 if a go for an ivy bridge i5-3230m(2.60 up to 3.2Ghz) instead of the haswell i5-4200u(1.6 up to 2.6Ghz)?

But since u said the i5-4200u could easily keep up with the gt 740m. I guess additional speed from i5-3230m wont add anything?

 

[Sakkura]

Yeah I don't think you need the extra performance. Certainly not for Dota 2 or LoL.