I5 3210m vs i7 3610m

[seanc18]

Im trying to determine if the i7 3610m is worth an extra 70 dollars versus the i5 3210m. I am on a tight budget and I am trying to lower the price of the laptop as far as possible while not sacrificing much graphics power. I will be using an nvidia 670m, im just wondering if theres a noticable difference in FPS if I were to save 70 dollars and et the i5. If so, is it worth the money for the i7? thanks.

 

[rds1220]

It depends on what you are going to be doing with your laptop. The I7 is a quad core mobile processore. The I7 will be a quad core with 8 threads the I5 is a dual core with four threads. The point is the I7 is a little more powerful the question is do you need that extra power.

 

[raytseng]

for games, no change, it's all about the video card choice.

 

[seanc18]

I'm aware that video cards are essentially the determining factor in frames, but the i5 has a lower max clock speed on 2 cores versus four. I'm inexperienced with mobile gaming, i'm just wondering if the sacrifice in frames would be significant, or if not, noticable. Many modern games are utilising 4 cores, thats mainly what i'm worrying about.

 

[rds1220]

Most games are NOT using four cores. Most are only using one or two cores. There are only a few games like BF3 and I think Skyrim that benefit from the two extra cores. For most games a mobile I5 would be fine.

 

[amuffin]

What games?

 

[seanc18]

Best answer selected by seanc18.

 

[seanc18]

Alright thank you, I will be saving the extra money and going with the i5. I appreciate all your help.