51-70k Confused - 3rd gen Intel processor or wait for 4th gen?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yaassh Dhamani

Yaassh Dhamani

Apprentice
Should I get a 3rd generation laptop now, when 4th generation processors are just around the corner that offer better battery life and performance?

I'm looking to buy the IdeaPad Y500
 
I purchased a y500 in march, not regretting the decision...

I got it for 65k with Full HD screen and 2gb GT 650m GDDR5, with 2 years on site, accidental damage protection and free bag...

I purchased one more GT650M,now I have 2 in sli...

Current indian model does not have full hd anymore, only has an upgraded GPU, gt 750m...

I've been told if ever my GPU stops working I'll be getting a new 750m in place of 650m...

So all in all I'm happy that I spent 65k on this, rather than 99k on alienware m14xr2
 
Yaassh Dhamani said:
Should I get a 3rd generation laptop now, when 4th generation processors are just around the corner that offer better battery life and performance?
Click to expand...

That depends on whether battery life is important to you.

If not, the performance increase isn't much. If you spend most of your day on the desk with a power outlet within reach, not so much. If you spend a lot of time on the road, then absolutely the upcoming ones are the way to go. Haswell's major achievement is power use and the increase in battery life is probably the one reason it is a proper 'tick' for Intel.
 
i say wait for 4th gen to launch and then buy 3rd gen when prices fall :D, unless battery life is very important to you then buy 4th gen.
 
Haswell's battery life increases significantly at idle or light load only on Y-series and U-series. (i.e. ultrabooks and tablets/hybrids) Other variants retain the old 2-chip solution.

More powerful laptops such as the Y500 featuring quad core only gain incrementally in both battery life and performance. The real gain are the HQ variants with Iris Pro graphics if you are not using dedicated graphics, it will increase battery life at full load (GPU+CPU) tremendously as basically it offers close to GT 650M performance without the 40W power penalty. If you are going for a more powerful dedicated graphics solution coupled to a quad core CPU, there's not much gain from 3rd to 4th gen however.

I know it is a little confusing, but basically first look at if you want a quad core CPU. Then see if you want something faster than GT 650M. If both answers are yes then you might as well go for a 3rd gen machine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom