Core i3-2310M or Core i5-2410M?

Core i3-2310M or Core i5-2410M? Obviously the i5 will be faster, but is it worth the money? I'm casually shopping a particular notebook model and they are available with the i3, 2GB RAM and 320GB HDD or $200 more for the i5, 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD. The RAM and HDD are not important (already have a spare 2x4GB DDR3 SODIMM kit and an SSD) so it is down to $200 more for the i5 over the i3.

Core i3-2310M

Core i5-2410M

Differences I've spotted are that the i5 is 200MHz faster at 2.3GHz versus 2.1GHz for the i3, plus the i5 has Turbo pushing it up to 2.9GHz. Also, the graphics core can Turbo 100MHz faster to 1.2GHz on the i5 versus 1.1GHz on the i3.

So, is it worth the $200 extra? It will be a general use secondary system for internet, video playback and maybe light gaming. When I say "light gaming" I mean stuff like WoW, LoL, Flatout, L4D2 with graphics turned down and at 1366x768 resolution. HD 3000 should allow games to "run" but I know and accept that it won't be anywhere close to the performance of my normal desktop rig.

Notebook I'm looking at is the Dell Vostro V131 since it is thin, light and small. Already have a Dell Latitude 13 so I know and like the form factor. I have smaller 12.1" and 11.6" notebooks plus have had 10.1" netbooks. Also have had 14.1", 15.4" and bigger. I feel that 13.3" at 4 pounds is a nice tradeoff for portability.

I'm tired of waiting for a notebook using an AMD A4/A6/A8 APU in a svelte chassis. HP, Gateway, Samsung and Acer all have 15.6" as their smallest offerings for the AMD APU. Lenovo has the 14" ThinkPad Edge E425 "coming soon" with up to A8 APU which is kind of close at 4.6 pounds, but still a bit bigger/heavier/bulkier. Likewise, Toshiba has their Satellite P745D/L745D 14" notebooks using the lower end A4/A6 APUs but they are even heavier than the Lenovo at up to 5.4 pounds for a 14" chassis! Really? At that weight I may as well get something like the Dell XPS 15z or similar thinner 15.6" notebooks.

 

No, it's not worth the extra money. You won't even notice a difference between the two for your uses.

 

Get the i3. It's not worth $200 for the i5. The major thing is the turbo boost and that's nice to have but not necessary. It's still a sandy bridge processor so its far superior to core duo processors. I say i3 for your uses. How much are you spending?

 

Dell wants $600 for the i3 and $800 for the i5. This is the Vostro V131. Interestingly, they only want $40 per additional year of on-site extended warranty, which seems to be rather inexpensive as far as extended warranties (and that being on-site) goes.

It would actually be for the wife. She saw a pic of it in red ($30 extra) and wants it.

 

For the wife? i3 2310M.

 

The only real difference between the two processors you listed is a small incremental bump in clock speed. And small increases in CPU clock speed doesn't really affect any kind of real-world performance you'd find in a computer... especially for the usage patterns you described. Definitely stick with the cheaper Core i3-2310 processor.

If you are really looking for a worthwhile use of your money to increase performance, take the $200 that you would have spent and buy an SSD instead. Check otu some of the videos in my signature, if you want an idea of what an SSD can do.

 

Dude lol no doubt the i3.

 

Reading comprehension fail. In the OP I said that I already have spare SSD & RAM. And yes, I know full well the benefits of an SSD, having had probably close to 20 of them pass through my hands in the past few years, plus I have a sticky at AnandTech Forums on SSDs.

So, Core i3 it is! This leaves just deciding whether $80 is worth extending the warranty from 1 year to 3 years (including on-site repairs), plus finding a deal. Missed out on a $50 off coupon that expired last week.

 

For $80, i would say do it. Better have it and not need it than...

 

No turbo boost on the i3. I'd say that's the primary difference for end users.

 

Get the i3 but check whether you can install an extra 2GB ram module...

 

The i3 will run cooler and yield you better battery life. The i5 will outperform the i3 in single threaded applications. Honestly for your uses, you will not see the difference, your bottleneck will be your graphics card (Intel HD 3000 GPU).

 

Thanks for all the responses, guys!

Already downloaded the owner's manual. Unlike my Latitude 13 which has a single SODIMM slot, the Vostro V131 has dual SODIMM slots that are accessible on the bottom after removing a panel which also reveals the HDD. Very convenient for my purposes.

I wish more notebooks were like this, because IMO RAM/HDD are the most upgraded items in a notebook. While the design of the Vostro V131 looks superficially like my Latitude 13 on the outside, I'm glad they completely redesigned the inside. On the Latitude 13, have to do major surgery to get at the HDD, plus there is only one SODIMM slot even though the chipset supports two. Finally, the battery is some strange internal thing which while ultimately replaceable, still have to do major surgery to access plus very limited in size so no chance of an extended battery - and these older models (Adamo, Latitude 13, Vostro V13, Vostro V130) were known for poor battery life.

 

Assuming the i3 is not a super leaky chip.

I'd expect battery life to be almost identical.

 

i3's have Intel HD 2000 not 3000.
The difference is big.
Go for the i5.
If the i3 is 600 and the i5 is 800 why not?
Do it man.

 

That is true for the desktop chips, but not the notebook chips. All the notebook 2nd gen Core i3/i5/i7 have HD 3000.

 

for my wife celeron, and as long as the laptop looks cute, she is happy.

 

so 1st gen core i3 i5 i7 use the standart intel hd
2nd gen for mobile all use intel hd 3000, and intel hd 2000 only for desktop?

 

Cuteness rules where/when 'wife' enters the equation... cpu performance? Who needs performance... 'Is it cute?' is the critical question from 'W'.

 

No.

1st gen use the old HD.

2nd gen Core i3/i5/i7 mobile all use HD 3000.

2nd gen Core i3/i5/i7 desktop all use the HD 2000 EXCEPT certain models which use the HD 3000:
2600K
2500K
2405S
2125
2105
Basically any K CPU and any CPU part number ending in 5.

Note that I specifically stated i3/i5/i7. There are now Sandy Bridge based Pentium and Celeron CPUs. Those will have cut down video of some kind. Otherwise they seem quite nice. The Pentium is basically a Core i3 without HyperThreading and with what Intel calls merely HD video (not HD 2000). HD video does not support Quick Sync for transcoding, but is AFAIK otherwise just like HD 2000. The Celeron CPUs are like the Pentium, but at lower clock speeds for both CPU and graphics, plus only 2MB cache instead of 3MB. Then there is the single core Sandy Bridge Celeron which IMO isn't worth the silicon it is wasted on.

 

So...

In the meantime I have recently purchased a Samsung Series 3 11.6". Neat little bugger, albeit with possibly lousy battery life. Got it because it was HALF price, regular $699 but $350 with coupon.

However, I just discovered some hot deals on the Vostro V131, which is what I really wanted (both my wife and I).

$489
Vostro V131
Core i3-2330M 2.2GHz (100MHz faster than previous 2310M)
2GB RAM
320GB 7200RPM HDD
Dell Wireless 1702 (B/G/N + BT 3.0)
keyboard with gesture touchpad
Ubuntu

$599 after coupon
Vostro V131
Core i5-2430M 2.4GHz (turbo to 3.0GHz)
4GB RAM
500GB 7200RPM HDD
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 (B/G/N + BT 3.0)
backlit keyboard with gesture touchpad
fingerprint reader
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

The kicker is that with either of them I can get a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook for $99.

So, the Core i5 version is now looking a lot better. $110 more for the slightly faster CPU, more RAM/HDD, backlit keyboard, potentially "better" WiFi, fingerprint reader and Windows 7 Pro. Heck, Windows 7 Pro is worth that money alone!

These were the hot deals I was looking for. I may order one of these tonight.

 

My 3830TG came with the 2310M. It was pretty weak.

The 2520M I bought and installed made a huge difference. I say get the i5.

 

I did. The deals I posted in my previous post? I got the $599 one with the Core i5-2430M.