I3 vs I5 Couple of Questions

I am considering buying a Toshiba M640. One issue in customizing the notebook is the processor. I know the I3 will be enough for all of my day to day uses. Those include basic web surfing, email, pics and music along with home office use. I am considering adding the Blu-Ray burner for watching and burning disc here and there. Is the I3 fully capable in those regards? Would the I5 provide any significant advantage here? My other question is battery life. I have read that the I3 will provide better life though I haven't really found any real data on how much better. If anyone has any knowledge on just how much difference I would really see in time off of the charger it would really be helpful. Thanks.

 

Someone more knowledgeable than me will come along, but I'd venture to say that it won't make a difference at all for the blu-ray burner and if there is a difference in battery life it would be tiny. I don't even think there would be a difference, they both are 35w CPUs and except for when the i5 is turboboosting (not often for normal tasks) they are running at pretty close to the same clock speed - 200 or 400 MHz or whatever the difference is shouldn't really show up in battery life, as they are clocked down when on battery unless you are doing something stressful like gaming.

 

Even integrated Intel cards can help with Blu-ray decoding. The i3 should be fine.

 

Get the best processor that you can afford. I made that mistake with one of my systems and am paying for it now.

Everything runs smoother with a better processor.

 

That's just going to waste you tons of money. There's no need to get a processor with far more processing power than you need. Unless the CPU is the bottleneck in your system for your uses (it won't be), things won't "run smoother" with a more powerful processor.

Instead, you could use the money you saved from sticking to a Core i3 (rather than, say, a Core i7) to buy an SSD, which really will make things run quicker and smoother (because the HDD is often the bottleneck of your computer).

Obviously, that is a different story if, say, you're running a statistical number-crunching program that maxes out the CPU - then, get a powerful CPU that will give you tangible benefits.

 

An i3 should be fine for you, but if you can afford an i5 go with that
And as MidnightSun said, an SSD would give even more performance gain.

 

Again, if you have the money why upgrade to i5. The OP does "web surfing, email, pics and music along with home office use" which is not CPU intensive at all, and hence he should never spend more money for the CPU. With the money saved, he could get a bigger/faster HDD or even a small SSD. Also, the "slower" CPU will give more battery life, how much depends on the screen size of the Toshiba and overall power consumption of other components.

 

Thanks everyone. If the I3 is capable of handling Blu-Ray task it will be more than enough processor for this notebook. My biggest motivation for the I3 was not cost. It is only a $100-$200 upgrade depending on which I5 is chosen. One review I read suggested that the I3 along with integrated graphics only would see much better battery life even with a 7200 RPM drive. Of course, with the Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics I would think that battery life shouldn't be effected much when doing simple task. So this reviewer my be off the mark suggesting that configuration for "much longer battery life"when compared to the I5, Nvidia graphics, and 5400 rpm drive of his test unit.
I don't really even know that the switchable graphics would be that much of an advantage for me. I am not a gamer at all. It's just that I have never had a notebook with a discreet graphics card. i thought it might be worth adding for 95 bucks if were useful for the occasional movie and the Optimus system kept me from taking the hit on battery life. I assume the card would make a difference if I were to output the video to a television?
One other question. Can anyone tell me how much difference may be noticed in battery life when comparing a 48Wh 6 cell to a 61Wh 6 cell.

 

For $100-200, you could upgrade your current HDD to a SSD and see a much more significant benefit. A discrete GPU would be useless for you, so save that $95. As for the battery, you would notice a significant difference since the 61WHr has 27% more capacity than 48WHr and hence you would get around 27% more battery life.

 

Thanks Sgogeta4, so if the graphics isn't going to come into play with the Blu-Ray there isn't any reason to get that either. So I guess it's core i3, 4gigs ram, 7200rpm drive, and Blu-Ray. That will save me a few hundred bucks. Thanks guys.

 

Unless you plan on editing Blu-Ray, the i3 will be fine.

 

Thanks guys