i3 350m + ATI 5650m (1GB DDR3) vs i3 370m + Nvidia 310m (1GB DDR3)

Resolution: 1366x768 for both.

Games I plan to play are Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and the occasional FPS (call of duty modern warfare 2 / black ops, battlefield bad company 2, etc). I will be playing SC2/D3 99.9% of the time though.

All other things equal, how do these two setups compare?

I know the ATI 5650 is a good card that will handle these games without a problem... but how will the 310 perform?

Thanks in advance.

 

310 is waaaaay behind 5650.
310 has 16 CUDA (shader) cores.
5650 has 400 stream processors (which more or less correspond to 80 shader cores).

 

Get the one with the HD5650 its much better than the 310m

 

Yeah, HD5650 and 5730 are powerful and not so expensive. You might regret buying the 310m.

 

Thanks guys for the responses.

I realize the 5650 is A LOT better than the 310m.

But I was just hoping the 310m can manage with Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, etc.

I've seen some videos of a CULV SU7300 + 210m doing just fine with StarCraft 2, CoDMW2, BBC2, etc (granted, on low to medium settings)... is it safe to assume an i3 + 310m will at least match that performance?

That's all i'm looking for really... just wanted to make sure with you folks first..

But don't get me wrong, if there are just too many advantageous reasons to go with the 5650, I will do so..

The reason why I am praying the 310m is enough is because it will allow me to get a true ultraportable at a reasonable price:

Laptop #1-

Acer 4820TG $899.99
14" 1366x768
Core i3 350m
ATI 5650m
4GB DDR3
DVDRW Drive
4.9lbs & 0.94" – 1.0” thick

Laptop #2-

Asus U35JC $819.99
13.3" 1366x768
Core i3 370m
Nvidia 310m
4GB DDR3
3.74lbs & 0.6"-0.98" thick

 

The 310M is basically equal to the 210M, but the i3 is a big step up over a CULV C2D. However, the 5650 is a big step up over the 310M, and I'd say the extra cost is justified.

 

hey there haha

the biggest deterrent for me the extra weight/footprint of the 4820TG... in addition to the unneeded ODD...

while the 4820 is only $70 more for a much better GPU, the extra 1.16lbs, width, thickness, depth, and unnecessary ODD is making the decision tough for me.

 

Well, you can always replace that bay with a hard drive!

 

This is my personal opinion, performance increase of 5650 over 310m completely justifies the extra 1.16lbs. Plus You can always swap the ODD with OBHD caddy for a second HDD, or more preferable, a small SSD for system and HDD for storage.

 

that was totally my plan if i was going to get the 4820

was going to put in an 80gb intel g2 as the main, then transfer the original hdd into the odd via hdd caddy.

i guess im just having a hard time swallowing the fact that i will have to "settle" for a bigger laptop than i originally wanted.

i just figured as long as the 310m is enough for diablo 3 and starcraft 2, the lack of GPU power would be offset with a lighter, thinner, sleeker notebook that i originally wanted.

its a shame the 3820TG isn't coming to the USA... 13.3".. 4lbs... no ODD.. i5 + 5650... dual cooling system... sigh lol

 

The 5650 is great. My laptop in my sig arrived a few days ago and I've managed to test some games on it. All Orange box games run maxed out, even at 1080p! Lost Planet and Just Cause 2 run at almost high settings at 720p. I'm just about to try Crysis as well and see how that goes.

Even when overclocked the gpu never goes above 56 degrees. It runs really cool and quietly.

 

5650 for sure ... excellent gaming performance..

 

Where do you live? The Acer 4820TG with the Core i3 350m + HD 5650 is $799 in the USA, not $899. Unless, I am missing something here.

 

Well, that's exactly what I did with my laptop (although it's a bit bigger, 17inch, and the Intel is 160GB ).
Unfortunately, 310m is not enough for Diablo3 or Starcraft2. Besides, wouldn't You like Your new laptop to be more futureproof, just in case some more nice games show up?

Another thing is that You can always order a laptop online, if it's not available in Your country. That's exactly what I did: my MS-1727 is hardly available in Australia, where I live, so I ordered it from the US.

 

You'll want the 5650, it's pretty much a good 4 to 5x better than the Geforce 310M.

 

My mistake, you are correct.

That's all I needed to know! Thank you.

U35JC preorder canceled.

4820TG will be bought instead .

5x better









My only decision now is to decide which configuration suits my needs...

i3-350 (2.26ghz)
ati 5650
$799

or

i5-540 (2.4 - 2.6ghz)
ati 5650
$899

hmmm.. $100 is kinda steep for a 6-15% clock speed increase..

lackofcheese tells me for my needs, the i3 will be more than enough and it will not bottleneck starcraft 2 or diablo 3.

what do the rest of you say?

 

Do you have any other options in the CPU confoguration?

 

The i3 would be more than enough and would not bottleneck SC2 or Diablo3 ... however, the i3 is only slightly better than the previous Core2Duo cpu's.

I'd personally go with the i5 option if possible because then you'd have a 'true' contemporary mid-range gaming rig and it performs much better in contrast to the i3.

Most games are gpu dependent, and the 5650 would be able to handle everything you throw at it nicely, but coupled with i5 it would give you some leverage in 'future-proofing'.

 

i do not believe so. its just i3 350 vs i5 450. anything more i will need to mod myself.

getting the i5 450 would really give me that much more future proofing for $100?

any thoughts on getting the i3 350 and upgrading to the i5 560 / 580 myself later on down the road? more expensive option but i think that would yield better returns on my money...

 

Get the i3 option and upgrade when You really need it. For now, i3 will suffice.

 

that settles it.

thanks everyone for your help/input!

 

Most CPU's are not upgradable especially in the thin and light laptops. They're soldered to the mainboard, if that's what was meant by "upgrade".

But the i3 should be more than adequate for those games you mention.

 

CPUs are not soldered in these new TimelineXs.

 

This has changed since the total amount of laptops sold worldwide has exceeded the total amount of desktops sold worldwide. That would be many years ago. In today's world, differentiation among CPUs and GPUs for laptops is equal to the differentiation of these components for desktops. We see standardized sockets for mobile computers (Socket M, Socket P, Socket 989 etc), as well as MXM standards for mobile GPUs (today's standard being MXM3.0 A and B). I dare to say that this trend will continue to develop, and in the future ALL manufacturers of PC components will focus more on the mobile market.

 

haha marecki's the man

i will get the i3 for now... save the $100...

and like ya'll said, if the i3 isn't enough for my needs, the i5 likely won't be either since the performance increase is so marginal..

i'll take the $100 i save now and put that towards a meaningful cpu upgrade like the i5 580m later on

thanks folks!