I3 with 1GB vram or i5 with 512mb ??

[joshuatree]

I am buying a laptop for running a trading platform using two monitors. Streaming stock quotes and charts... intensive for processing, memory, and video ram (though not as much as gaming). 11 windows (1GB RAM) for that, plus Mozilla Firefox with about 10 tabs, plus Skype.

Which would perform better?

i3-330m (2.13 GHz) with a 1GB Radeon 5470 video card $596
or
i5-430m (2.26GHz) with a 512mb Radeon 4330 video card $560

Both are Dell Studio laptops (2 cores, 4 threads) with 4GB of RAM.

Thanks

 

[cia24]

i would go with the i5 for what you doing 512 is fine.

 

[joshuatree]

Would I notice much difference b/w 2.13GHz and 2.26GHz though? Granted, the i5 can turboboost up to 2.53GHz.

Both the i3 and i5 have only 2 cores and 4 threads in the laptop mobile line (versus 4C/8T for the i5 desktop CPU).

Both were released Q1'10 and feature memory connection speed 2.5GT/s via DMI.

This isn't gaming but does draw ~25 charts (constantly ticking). The software platform recommends at least 512mb per monitor (hence 1gb for 2 monitors) and graphics processing at least as good as the Nvidia 8800GT

Thanks

 

[cia24]

5470 is not even close to comparable to a 8800gt. laptop cards are week IMO i have a 5870 in mine and this works as good as an under clocked 5770.

 

[joshuatree]

I accidentally wrote that the video card was the same for both. It's actually the Radeon 5470 for the i3 and the 4330 for the i5 (just edited the entry above)

 

[cia24]

oh then i would go with the i3 one for sure. that is your best bet all the way i hoped this helped and good luck sir.

 

[joshuatree]

5470 is not even close to comparable to a 8800gt. laptop cards are week IMO i have a 5870 in mine and this works as good as an under clocked 5770.

So does that make you think this software IS highly graphics intensive? Or is their 1GB recommendation mostly because of the multiple monitors?

I know I'd be better off with a desktop but prefer to wait until the i7 desktop prices come down some

 

[WR2]

I think either one exceeds your actual requirements.
i5-430m will perform better with hyperthreading (2 cores/4 threads) for what you do compared to i3-330m (2 cores/2 threads).
If I were in your position I'd go with i5-430m, 6GB of RAM and stay with the stock Intel HD Graphics.

 

[lostandwandering]

Are you stuck on Dell and do you have a price tag? We may be able to find you something better for only a little more.

Like either of these two Acers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115733
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115732

 

[lostandwandering]

I think either one exceeds your actual requirements.
i5-430m will perform better with hyperthreading (2 cores/4 threads) for what you do compared to i3-330m (2 cores/2 threads).
If I were in your position I'd go with i5-430m, 6GB of RAM and stay with the stock Intel HD Graphics.

Just FYI, the i3-330M has HyperThreading: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=47663&processor=i3-330M&spec-codes=SLBMD,SLBNF

 

[joshuatree]

Are you stuck on Dell and do you have a price tag? We may be able to find you something better for only a little more.

Like either of these two Acers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115733
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115732

That i5-520m machine was the one I originally ordered, from TigerDirect 2 weeks ago and at a lower price ($800 -> $660 after Bing and eBates cash back). But they cancelled my order the next day because they had accidentally oversold & ran out!! It has caused me some headache trying to find a replacement around <$700. There aren't many laptops out there which have 1GB of vram.

I ordered this Dell Studio partly because they have high-def LED monitors with very high 1080p resolution... but will that be overkill for a 15.6" laptop? If the font is too small, I can adjust it down to a lower resolution, right? My old 14" laptop has only 768p right now, and it looks okay to me.

Would the 1080p resolution at least help out if I am also using a 2nd monitor 22" attached to the laptop?

Thanks

 

[lostandwandering]

I think 1080p is going to give you pretty small font on a 15'' screen. You can lower the resolution, but you are going to lose image quality. LCD's just aren't as sharp and clear looking when they aren't run at their native (standard) resolution. You will certainly gain more screen space from the 1080p monitor. But then the next question is if the 5470 is strong enough to power two higher res screens if the stocks application is as resource intensive as you say.

 

[joshuatree]

thanks everyone

I got the i3-330M and 1GB VRAM... The laptop's resolution is a bit too high for a 15.6" at 1050p, but I manually adjusted the font larger for Windows Explorer. For Firefox, I do have to hit control+ for each new web page (doesn't seem to stick throughout the browser). But oh well, I still prefer high crystalline resolution to a fuzzy 768p at this size.

 

[joshuatree]

Best answer selected by joshuatree.