i3-370 vs i5-430

Can anybody shed some light on whether the performance difference would be noticeable between the 2 processors? I'm looking at a few different versions of the U30JC. I know the i3-370 is a newer version, but it's also an i3... Aside from over-clocking (which i don't do), what's the difference?

Also, do you guys think an upgrade from a 5400rpm to a 7200rpm is worth the money or will it kill battery life and produce too much heat?

Thanks in advance, GT

 

What do you plan on using your computer for? And what is the cost difference between the CPU and HDD upgrade? Typically HDD upgrades are variable in battery life and heat depending on the model used (ie. some 7200RPM might consume less power and hence give better battery life and lower heat, compared to 5400RPM).

 

The i5 will destroy the i3. But, it really depends on your needs. If you surf the web and write docs, you'd never know the difference.

There is exactly 0% difference in battery life between a 7200rpm and a 5400rpm.

 

There is negligible difference in battery life and heat between modern 5400RPM and 7200RPM drives. Definitely go for the 7200RPM drive, it will make more of a difference in everyday responsiveness than the processor.

The i3-370M and i5-430M are going to have very similar performance . . . it doesn't really matter which one you go with. I would pay attention to other components of the notebook.

Which two notebooks are you looking at? Links.

 

The HDD upgrade doesn't cost much. Xoticpc has it for about 30 dollars (although it goes from a 500gb 5400 to a 320gb 7200. space doesn't matter as I have an external). Is the performance difference between 5400 and 7200 generally noticeable?

I plan on using the computer for some games (maybe some SC2, lots of word processing/excel and web browsing.

The CPU upgrade to the i5 is about 180 bucks. Im just not sure whether it's the right thing to do to get one with the new i3-370m, or the older i5-430m if I'm not going to be using the turbo boost functionality..

Thanks, GT

 

That is a lot of money with a processor upgrade - just go with the i3; it can handle all the tasks you listed with ease.

But get the 7200RPM drive and make sure you have 4GB of RAM or so.

 

Nope, the i5-430M does not destroy the i3-370M at all. The i5 is clocked at 2.26GHz but can go up to 2.53GHz, while the i3 is clocked at 2.4GHz. They both have 3MB cache but the i3 has a faster system bus (4.8GT/s vs. 2.5GT/s). Even at full load the difference between the two shouldn't be significant.

 

Okay so I should definitely up to the 7200rpm since the upgrade is pretty cheap and I won't feel any negative effect in battery life.

Charles - i'm looking at the U30JC-B1 and possibly upgrading the hard drive, or i'm looking at the U30JC-A2B which is the i5 version. Both are found at the links below on this Canadian site.

https://www.a-power.com/product-17324
A-Power.com - Buy Asus U30JC-A2B Intel Core i3-350M (2.26GHz) 4GB DDR3 320GB HDD 13.3" LED nVidia Optimus G310M HDMI Windows 7 Professional 64bit Notebook #16919 - U30JC-A2B - Canada

 

http://www.a-power.com/product-16919

 

Thanks for the links. I would go for the B1 model - they both have the same warranty and I can't see spending extra for the i5-430M processor over the i3-370M; there won't be any practical difference.

The A2 model also has W7 Professional vs. the B1's Home Premium, but unless you have a specific need for Pro it really makes no difference either.

You can upgrade the hard drive yourself later on if you don't want to spend the money now. Then you could take the internal drive and put it in an external enclosure. However if you don't plan on upgrading, I would just get the 7200RPM drive - it will have a much faster access time than the 5400RPM and that makes a big difference in everyday use.

 

awesome, thanks for the help everyone.