I3 vs i5

[computernewb]

hi im planning on buying a laptop but need some information. My understanding is the i5 for a laptop is a dual core. So the question is how much better is the i5 over the i3 for laptops? Is it significantly better like the desktop i5?

thanks!

 

[SchizTech]

For second gen mobile i3 vs i5, the biggest difference is the presence of Turbo Boost in the i5, but not the i3.

 

[computernewb]

how bout for 3rd generation. is it the same?

 

[jaguarskx]

Both i3 and i5 are dual core CPUs. The primary differences that the i5 have are:

Turbo Boost - An automatic overclock allowing the CPU to run at higher speed as long as the temperature is not too high. If both cores are being used then the maximum clock speed is lower than if only one core is used.

Hyper Threading (HT) - These are more or less virtual CPU cores. There are some programs use them, but games do not use HT. Certain video encoding programs and 3D rendering programs can make of HT and can provide a 10% - 40% increase in performance depending on how well the programs have been designed to take advantage of HT.

My i5-2410m has a standard clockspeed of 2.3GHz. With Turbo Boost it can reach 2.9GHz when only one core is being used. With both cores being used it can reach approximately 2.7GHz. Both cases assuming the temps are not excessively high.

 

[jaguarskx]

how bout for 3rd generation. is it the same?

Same difference.

 

[SchizTech]

Third-gen i3s haven't been released yet aside from one low-voltage model, but the difference is the same re: turbo boost

 

[SchizTech]

Both i3 and i5 are dual core CPUs. The primary differences that the i5 have are:

Turbo Boost - An automatic overclock allowing the CPU to run at higher speed as long as the temperature is not too high. If both cores are being used then the maximum clock speed is lower than if only one core is used.

Hyper Threading (HT) - These are more or less virtual CPU cores. There are some programs use them, but games do not use HT. Certain video encoding programs and 3D rendering programs can make of HT and can provide a 10% - 40% increase in performance depending on how well the programs have been designed to take advantage of HT.

My i5-2410m has a standard clockspeed of 2.3GHz. With Turbo Boost it can reach 2.9GHz when only one core is being used. With both cores being used it can reach approximately 2.7GHz. Both cases assuming the temps are not excessively high.

The i3s also have hyper threading-- example:

http/ark.intel.com/products/53434/Intel-Core-i3-2330M-Processor-%283M-Cache-2_20-GHz%29

# of Cores
2
# of Threads
4

 

[jaguarskx]

The i3s also have hyper threading-- example:

http/ark.intel.com/products/53434/Intel-Core-i3-2330M-Processor-%283M-Cache-2_20-GHz%29

# of Cores
2
# of Threads
4

Ahh... yes, so they do...

Then it's only lower end Pentium CPUs that do not have HT. So it seems the only major difference is Turbo Boost.

 

[computernewb]

Best answer selected by computernewb.