Quick! Desperately need help on processor advice

[blankall]

The choice is betwen

AMD Phenom II Triple core N830 2.1Ghz 1.5MB L2 cache

and

a Sony Vaio I5 series.

Can anyone help? Need to make a decision quick.

[blankall]

Should add:

This model of I5 is only a dual core processor, while the Phenom is a triple core (obviously by the name)

[Azure]

What do you want to do with it?

[blankall]

office and play comp games like SC2

They are both the same price and the I5 is a 430 model if that helps.

I am looking at paying $800 for either. If there is something better you can recommend in that price range, I am all ears.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Azure]

Tough choice. I've always like Intel and had good experience with them.

But they seem like similar processors. Don't know performance wise which would be better.

Intel has been the bigger player in the market. Dominating a lot more than AMD is.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Azure

Tough choice. I've always like Intel and had good experience with them.

But they seem like similar processors. Don't know performance wise which would be better.

Intel has been the bigger player in the market. Dominating a lot more than AMD is.

so in general similar enough processors that it would come down to preference?

No clear winner?

[Azure]

Which I5 processor would it be?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Azure

Which I5 processor would it be?

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=Acer

This one. There is also a sony vaio at London Drugs for the same price.

[-TC-]

I've got a Phenom in my box and it's rock solid. I've always liked AMD's architecture.

FOr gaming you should be more worried about video card/GPU's

[OBCT]

I'd go with the AMD (I've also stuck by them over the years with good success).

-TC- is right... the difference probably isn't huge for games/word/internet. Whichever you prefer will work just fine.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by blankall

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=Acer

This one. There is also a sony vaio at London Drugs for the same price.

Processor Speed: 1.20 GHz

The AMD processor is better at 2.1

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Azure

What do you want to do with it?

Oh the usual stuff, go for walks, dinner, movies so on and so forth. I want this to go somewhere but don't want to apply any pressure either. I figure we will just have fun and see how it turns out.

[I_H8_Crawford]

Same specs otherwise?

Go for the one that has better video card.

[photon]

The i5 base clock is 1.2GHz but will burst up to 1.73GHz.

Passmark has the N830 at 2006, and the i5 430UM isn't listed but the core i5 520 is listed at 1605 and that one's base clock is 1.06GHz, so the 430UM is probably a bit faster, so I don't think the difference between the two is going to be that great.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

The Intel one also has half the power rating (18W vs 35W) and also includes the graphics controller on the chip (rather than a separate chip for the AMD), for even more power savings. The AMD doesn't have the turbo functionality either so will run at full speed all the time.

I think the Intel chip is a better product.

[Hack&Lube]

Starcraft 2 can only make use of 2 cores so any more cores is worthless for that game unless you have a high end i5 or i7 processor that can use unused cores to turboboost the clockspeed.

You should not be considering ANY Sony VAIOs unless it is through this $200 or $400 off deal.

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/sony-...-500-a-924013/

Quite frankly, the F series VAIO customized with 128GB SSD and i7-720QM CPU for $900 (After $200 coupon) is the best money can buy if you want the Sony route. All the brick and motor store VAIOs will not give you this discount or the SSD which makes all the difference in the world. The cheapest i7s I've seen cost $1500 at Bestbuy and London Drugs.

Choosing a laptop is about the whole package, not just the CPU. You need to consider all other things so if you have other alternatives, it would be best to look at everything in perspective.

***edit sorry looks like deal is expired or something now, I can't add it to cart.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Azure

What do you want to do with it?

None of your damn business!