CPU/Mobo Is a core i5 worth it over a core i3?

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Mr India

Mr India

Forerunner
There is nearly a 6k difference in 2 laptops with two diff cpus and few minor stuff. Both laptops have 1600mhz ram and a 256 gb SSD /1tb variant.
one has a Core i3-5010U 2.1GHz.
other has Core i5 6200U, 2.3GHz upto 2.8 ghz.

is it worth spending 6k more if i dont play games or do video editing etc. I only surf and use laptop for full HD media purposes but in both i enjoy a lag free experience. Is it worth if laptop will be used for 5 years max for the same purpose or should i save the 6k and go for the 5th gen i3 ?
 
For your usage an i5 would be a waste of money.

Some good points down in the comments. Go for the i5.
 
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1st things 1st, get the SSD variant- The speed bump is huge

As for the processor, Web pages keep getting heavier by the day.. The older gen broadwell i3 you have mentioned would be considerably slower than the skylake i5 on heavy webpages

Also keep in mind that the broadwell i3 will not support hevc h/w decoding and will struggle at anything above 720p hevc while the newer gen i5 will support gpu decoded hevc .. HEVC videos are fast becoming the norm over h.264 so if you plan to see the system for more than 1-2 years, the i5 6200U will be more than worthwhile
 
superczar said:
1st things 1st, get the SSD variant- The speed bump is huge

As for the processor, Web pages keep getting heavier by the day.. The older gen broadwell i3 you have mentioned would be considerably slower than the skylake i5 on heavy webpages

Also keep in mind that the broadwell i3 will not support hevc h/w decoding and will struggle at anything above 720p hevc while the newer gen i5 will support gpu decoded hevc .. HEVC videos are fast becoming the norm over h.264 so if you plan to see the system for more than 1-2 years, the i5 6200U will be more than worthwhile
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i compared both cpu on cpuboss and they gave a higher rating to the i3. im confused.

Also is the SSD worth it if no gaming or copying heavy files. does it help in surfing or watching HD stuff ?
 
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superczar said:
Also keep in mind that the broadwell i3 will not support hevc h/w decoding and will struggle at anything above 720p hevc while the newer gen i5 will support gpu decoded hevc .. HEVC videos are fast becoming the norm over h.264 so if you plan to see the system for more than 1-2 years, the i5 6200U will be more than worthwhile
Click to expand...

Eh this is not true! I'm playing 1080p HEVC just fine with an ancient i3 2100. No frame drops, no lag, no slowdowns.

The machine does have a GT 730 discrete GPU though which has partial support for HEVC. CPU usage is pretty high during playback - around 50-60%.
 
Chaos said:
Eh this is not true! I'm playing 1080p HEVC just fine with an ancient i3 2100. No frame drops, no lag, no slowdowns.
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It's probably the GPU helping or the higher clock on the desktop grade processor
an i5 4520 on my laptop cannot manage HEVC solely on CPU at all
OTOH, a much less powerful INtel NUC in my living room manages the same videos with very little CPU usage (because it is a Braswell that supports GPU decoding for HEVC)
 
superczar said:
It's probably the GPU helping or the higher clock on the desktop grade processor
an i5 4520 on my laptop cannot manage HEVC solely on CPU at all
OTOH, a much less powerful INtel NUC in my living room manages the same videos with very little CPU usage (because it is a Braswell that supports GPU decoding for HEVC)
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Its actually a shoebox sized HTPC with a 35W 2100T which is clocked at only 2.5GHz. The GPU might be helping it - but end result is that I don't think I need to upgrade this machine for HEVC.
 
You don't need to - However the OP (assuming he intend to use the system for videos) would be far better placed with the newer i5 vs the older i3
Coming to think of it, the Intel nomenclature model these days is completely messed up
It's next to impossible to determine if say a given i3 is better or worse than a given i7 without getting into the specific capabilities of the architecture generation they belong to
 
Mr India said:
i compared both cpu on cpuboss and they gave a higher rating to the i3. im confused.
Click to expand...

http://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-intel_core_i5_6200u-590-vs-intel_core_i3_5010u-473

Mr India said:
Also is the SSD worth it if no gaming or copying heavy files. does it help in surfing or watching HD stuff ?
Click to expand...

SSD is definitely worth it as the overall experience would be vastly improved no matter what you are doing. In a 6 generation old PC (Q9550 CPU + X48 Mobo), 2GB RAM + 60 GB Corsair SSD was considerably smoother than 6GB RAM + 7200 RPM HDD.

That said, a lot of laptops bundle with crappy SSDs that are barely faster than HDD's. For instance, the 512GB SSD in my work laptop (Lenovo) feels slower than the Corsair 60GB SATA2 SSD that I used a while back.
 
Lord Nemesis said:
http://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-intel_core_i5_6200u-590-vs-intel_core_i3_5010u-473



SSD is definitely worth it as the overall experience would be vastly improved no matter what you are doing. In a 6 generation old PC (Q9550 CPU + X48 Mobo), 2GB RAM + 60 GB Corsair SSD was considerably smoother than 6GB RAM + 7200 RPM HDD.

That said, a lot of laptops bundle with crappy SSDs that are barely faster than HDD's. For instance, the 512GB SSD in my work laptop (Lenovo) feels slower than the Corsair 60GB SATA2 SSD that I used a while back.
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Ok so il just get a i5 and be done with it for the next 5 years. here is the laptop i have choosen as it has Full HD and good performance at best price. It has 1tb and 128gb SSD at same price option. I think 1 TB is the way to go and upgrade to a SSD in 1-2 yearswhen 500GB SSD become quite cheaper.


http://www.amazon.com/HP-15-ay011nr-Full-HD-Generation-Windows/dp/B01CGGOZOM/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1462038933&sr=1-5&keywords=laptops&refinements=p_72:1248879011,p_n_condition-type:2224371011,p_n_size_browse-bin:2423840011|2423841011|3545275011,p_n_feature_three_browse-bin:9647486011,p_n_feature_eleven_browse-bin:13580796011

If i get the cheaper i3 here is my choice http://www.amazon.com/Asus-F555LA-A...011KFQASE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
 
I would also suggest going with the HDD model unless you know what SSD you are going to get. Swap out the HDD for a good SSD. You can also put the 1 TB HDD to good use by just getting a USB enclosure.
My sister did the same thing, bought a lappy with the HDD option and got the HDD swapped out for a Sandisk Extreme Pro 240GB while she was still at the best buy store.

Regarding CPU, I would suggest going with the Skylake series if you can. Should offer better battery life and performance compared to the older 5 series. My Surface Pro 4 equipped with i5 6300U/8GB RAM/256GB SSD feels considerably better performing than my work laptop equipped with i7 4600U/16GB RAM/512GB SSD in terms of overall experience.

While the difference in Intel desktop CPUs across last 5 generation is negligible, the mobile CPU's have been constantly improving with each generation.
 
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superczar said:
1st things 1st, get the SSD variant- The speed bump is huge

As for the processor, Web pages keep getting heavier by the day.. The older gen broadwell i3 you have mentioned would be considerably slower than the skylake i5 on heavy webpages

Also keep in mind that the broadwell i3 will not support hevc h/w decoding and will struggle at anything above 720p hevc while the newer gen i5 will support gpu decoded hevc .. HEVC videos are fast becoming the norm over h.264 so if you plan to see the system for more than 1-2 years, the i5 6200U will be more than worthwhile
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Thats hard to believe! What software and OS are you using? And file specs?
 
superczar said:
What's hard to believe?
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That a broadwell i3 cant play x265 HEVC. My laptop from 2007 with a core2duo played x265 720p smoothly at 50-60 cpu utilisation. Got a little hot, but played none the less. Thats why I asked. Not in the sense that you are reporting it wrongly, but rather that something is amiss in the whole thing and maybe we can figure it out. Hence the question on OS, Player and file specs.
 
My 2500k reaches 16% utilization when running 1080p x265 content and while playing 720p it reaches just 8%. I don't even have a dedicated gpu at the moment. Going by the thread i was expecting it to be way higher.
 
Not at all.. You are comparing a 5th gen i3 with a 6th gen i5 and not the other way round..

Party Monger said:
something is amiss in the whole thing
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I believe the missing link is the bitrate.. You may be possibly using a low bit rate hevc
Also do bear in mind that 8 bit HEVC is easier to decode while 10 bit (which is fast becoming the norm) is a lot more difficult to do with CPU grunt alone

As for the OP, the i3 will serve your needs fine if this is a secondary/tertiary machine meant primarily for browsing/productivity apps
I in fact switched from an i5 to a core M3 and don't mind the difference
If however you intend to use it for more than just that + if the price delta between the two is low (from what you are saying) then it should be the i5 all the way
 
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