AMD Phenom II N930 vs Intel i5 480M

[marav]

Hello,

I can't decide which computer to buy:

Dell Inspiron with AMD Phenom II Quad-Core N930
http://www1.euro.dell.com/es/es/domestica/Portátiles/inspiron-m5010/pd.aspx?refid=inspiron-m5010&s=dhs&cs=esdhs1&ref=lthp

or

Dell XPS 15 with intel i5 480M
http://www1.euro.dell.com/es/es/domestica/Portátiles/xps-15/pd.aspx?refid=xps-15&s=dhs&cs=esdhs1&ref=lthp

I use the computer for day a day tasks: internet browsing, music, video streming, downloading... And usually 2-3 tasks at the same time.

I'm specially concerned with laptops with heating problems.

What would you suggest?

Thanks a lot!
Regards from Spain,

María

 

[BaronMatrix]

If they're close in price tossing a coin will work as you won't really see any difference in perf. I'm partial to AMD as a company but either one will work well.

 

[WR2]

Hola! marav

Your links to the laptops did not work. XPS 15 - Inspiron M501R

It will probably be the other features besides the CPU that makes one laptop more interesting than the other.

 

[WR2]

Both have 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard disk and a discrete video card.
XPS has Geforce GT 420M. Inspiron M501R has Mobility Radeon HD 550v.

CPUs:
XPS has Core i5-480M 2.66hz. Inspiron M501R has Phenom II Quad-Core N930 2.0Ghz.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
Intel Core i5 M 480 @ 2.67GHz = 2711
AMD Phenom II N930 Quad-Core = 2524
Core i5-480M is just slightly more powerful than the Phenom II N930

Dell XPS has JBL laptop speaker set.

I could not find any review on the specific models you're looking at.
But here are some reviews on others in the same XPS 15/Inspiron M501R families
Dell XPS 15 reviews
Dell Inspiron M501R

 

[bearclaw99]

i5 480m hands down. It will win by a bit when all threads are used, and have a significant advantage when 1-2 cores are used due to Turbo Boost

The AMD N930 will never exceed 2 ghz on any amount of cores period. I did the research myself when buying a laptop with a i5 460m and I compared the two closely

Btw, Passmark isn't the most reliable chart in the world. My i5 460m which is a bit slower than the 480m gets 2800+ on Passmark

 

[Pc Guru_07]

i5 480m all the way.

 

[marav]

Thank you all for your detailed answers. I'm actually a bit confused because I think I like more the Inspiron, but the XPS seems to be a better option. So, I'll have to make up my mind!

Regards

 

[someguynamedmatt]

I personally prefer the Phenom II. Just my opinion, though. With it, you get a straight quad core; you don't get an Intel dual core hyperthreaded up to a quad.