Which of these processors is the best one?

Hello, I'm deciding between two laptops, one with an AMD processor and another one with Intel. The processors are these I write below:

Phenom II N970 quad-core
i5-520m

I'm told that the 520m might be better than the N970 even considering that this last one is quad-core. What do you think about it? How is 520m better? Thanks in advance!

 

you have to state your use case:

do you do video/audio/image editing? CAD work? etc.

if you're just a regular video watcher, internet user, word/excel person, then the i5 is the better choice because the single-threaded performance will kick the n970s butt

 

Passmark processor benchmark:

N970: 2736
520M: 2359

Which systems are you looking at?

The 520M is a dual core with 4 threads, the N970 is a quad with 4 core and 4 threads.

 

Hello, Generic User, thanks for answering!

My mistake, I should have specified my case. What I'm looking for is the best overall capabilities of the processor. I'm not going to use it for a specific task, maybe only image editing; photoshop and corel draw. Not more than that I guess. Should I choose the i5 with 2 cores and 4 threads then? Thanks!

Hello Mr.Mischief, I'm deciding between HP Elitebook 8440p and Acer As5552-7803. The specifications are the same than in these pages.

As I stated above, I'm looking the best overall capabilities, since I'm not going to use the laptop for a specific task, maybe photoshop or corel though. Thanks!

 

Howdy!

The 8440p has a much better video card. The Nvidia 3100M in the HP is twice as fast as the ATi HD 4250.

I like 8440P better, because it's easily upgraded, very well built, and the faster video card. Either would be a solid choice though.



NVIDIA Quadro NVS 3100M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

ATI Radeon HD 4250 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

The 8440p is better because its made out of metal and 14" period.

Also, I think the CPU will give you better battery life.

 

well IMO when it comes down to small differences in the hardware you'd better look at how each laptop is actually made/feels, i.e. comfortable keyboard, tough hinges of the display, the display itself, etc.

and while I'm not a big fan of HP (had one), I'd definitely take it before any Acer...

P.S. I also think 2 threads per core is BS ... but anyways, not that important yet.

 

+1 completely agree.

 

Are the processors the only thing you are basing your decisions off of? You also have to consider the LCD (HP likely has a matte, while almost all Acers are glossy), the keyboard, feel, build quality. It's hard comparing an entry level business machine with a consumer machine.

Overall the last generation AMD quad cores get utterly run over by Arrandale i5's as they have no turbo boost. Even in multi-threaded applications, the i5 comes close. And overall the i5 will run cooler, and consume less power.

 

Going to have to say the i5-520M on the HP Elitebook. You will find that the HP is just going to rock the AMD CPU in the Acer and its build quality is just so much better.

 

the intel one has much better option for upgrade , 3 years from now, you can pick up an i7 640M for very reasonable price. and you still have a fast laptop.

can not say the same for AMD. ( but I reallywish they can make great laptop CPUs)

 

Ok, so far all of you have convinced me about getting the 8440p.

In this decision, the processor is not the only important thing to me. I also mind about the rest except the RAM and the HDD size since I'm planning to upgrade to 8gb of RAM and a SSD.

I've got another question for all of you: what would you choose between 8440p and 2540p with i5? I could get that one too, hopefully.

Thanks in advance!