Gaming Laptop CPU

sja360

sja360

sja360

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i just wondered whether a i7 720QM 1.6Ghz with 1 core able to turboboost to 2.8Ghz is better than say going for a i5 430M with its 2.53Ghz but with dual cores.
I feel as though the i7 and its quad cores would be maybe wasted although it would feel nice and smooth in windows. Has anyone used both a i7 and i5 processor?

Also anyone have any opinions on the Toshiba A660-15T? (has the Nvidia GT330M gpu)
 
I'm not saying the GT330M would be bad for gaming (tho it is pretty average) - just that both of those CPUs would be far more than was required to drive a GT330M - so as far as gaming does it wouldn't really matter.
 
Depending on the games you play and the resolution of the laptop - the GT330M is around half the speed of the desktop 8800GT - above 1280x type resolutions it will struggle unless you turn detail/quality settings down.

If your serious about gaming you'd really want atleast a GTX260m or GT335M (GT350M better) or ATI Mobility Radeon 4850/5750.
 
yea i've read that its better sometimes than the GT330M. also the GT335M isn't that big of a leap i think compared to the 5650/GT330M
Think i'll try find a decent laptop with the Ati 5650.
cheers guys.
 
sja360 said:
i just wondered whether a i7 720QM 1.6Ghz with 1 core able to turboboost to 2.8Ghz is better than say going for a i5 430M with its 2.53Ghz but with dual cores.
I feel as though the i7 and its quad cores would be maybe wasted although it would feel nice and smooth in windows. Has anyone used both a i7 and i5 processor?
)
Click to expand...

i would like to know this too, Im not really up to speed with these new processors. Is the turbo boost up to 2.8gig actually any good(or is it a gimmick), would i be better off with something that has a generally higher clock speed for 3d work and games?.

Also, I noticed yesterday that PC world(in store) were advertising there I7s as 2.8ghz when thats actually there turbo speed boost, it seems a bit misleading.
 
To be frank, i7 in a Laptop is not great.
I5 still has multi-threading, plenty of power for games, and far better power/power save/battery life should you need the battery to last.
I would not go lower then the 520 i5 though.
 
sja360 said:
yea i've read that its better sometimes than the GT330M. also the GT335M isn't that big of a leap i think compared to the 5650/GT330M
Think i'll try find a decent laptop with the Ati 5650.
cheers guys.
Click to expand...

Not a huge leap but the shader capabilities are around 50% better which helps a lot in newer games.
 
Just wondering how does a 5470 compare with a 330M? I've heard the 5470 to be superior but this sounds like BS.
If you're interested in the 13" form factor, Acers timeline 3820TG looks up to the job
 
hamehax said:
Just wondering how does a 5470 compare with a 330M? I've heard the 5470 to be superior but this sounds like BS.
If you're interested in the 13" form factor, Acers timeline 3820TG looks up to the job
Click to expand...

from what notebookcheck quotes as the 3dmark 05 score its less than half the power compared to the GT330M. i know its only a score but if its about 7000 points under a GT330 the 5470 cant be that good....
also the acer laptop you quoted if its £700 or so its not worth that much i think unless you must have the smaller 13" screen.
 
For gaming I'd go for i5, have i7 myself and it does shine in Football Manager over my desktop C2D but in other games it's not that hot. Of course that was a figure of speech since it actually does run very hot in my machine, in this killer weather it reaches 80C which is why I ordered a cooler pad. Now I do occasional media work so it does have advantages for me over i5, but if it's purely for gaming then I'd go for latter one for its performance/heat/consumption ratio. Also in case of Dells they seem apprehensive putting decent graphics cards with i7 because of heat issues mentioned and i5 usually get ATI 5650s etc.
 
Not quite related but I just wanted to ask you guys what's the most powerful processor that's worth running alongside a 310M? Was looking into a 540M but it looks to be overkill. Money would be better spent on a SSD it seems.
 
Probably any i3, i5 or i7 mobile CPU would be more than enough, anything higher than a 2gig dual core (intel core 2 or AMD) or 1.5gig if its one of the i3 or higher basically unless its an intel atom.
 
Rroff said:
Probably any i3, i5 or i7 mobile CPU would be more than enough, anything higher than a 2gig dual core (intel core 2 or AMD) or 1.5gig if its one of the i3 or higher basically unless its an intel atom.
Click to expand...
The default CPu in this case is a i3 350M but I can upgrade it all the way up to a i5 540M. Maybe the i5 430M. Would there be a noticeable performance increase in doing so? Also what's the difference in power consumption like between i3 and i5 models?
 
The only real difference between the i3 and i5 mobile CPUs is the ability to use turbo mode (on i5) to enhance performance for short periods. Power wise and base performance is near identical. Purely for gaming with a 310M you'd probably see no difference between any of them that are running over 1.5-1.6gig or so.
 
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