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Intel i3-1115G4 vs i5-1135G7?

je11693

je11693

je11693

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Hi everyone, I'm in the market for a new laptop and have a choice between two with the following processors and I had a few questions about them:

1. i5-1135G7 Processor - Quad-core - 2.4 GHz / 4.2 GHz - 8 MB cache. 8 GB DDR4 (2666 MHz)
2. i3-1115G4 Processor - Dual-core - 3.0 GHz / 4.1 GHz - 6 MB cache. 8 GB DDR4 (3200 MHz)

I assume a "quad-core" is better (please correct me if this is wrong), but then I saw the i3 has "3.0 GHz" - what does this mean and why does the i5 have less?

Both of the above laptops have 256GB SSDs and 8GB DDR4 RAM, however the i3 has "3200 MHz" - again, what does this mean and why does the one with the i5 have less? Does this mean the one with the i3 will be better?

Which do you think would have better performance? (the i5 one has a 14" screen, the i3 has a 15.6" screen, both are full HD 1920 x 1080p, and the i5 one is around £60 cheaper)
 
In short: The i5 will have significantly better performance.


Quad core is better - in simple terms it can do 4 things at once, rather than the 2 that a dual core can do.

The 2.4Ghz vs 3.0Ghz part is what is called the "base clock", which is a sort of average speed that the processor will run at. The 4.2Ghz vs 4.1Ghz is what is called the "boost clock" or "turbo", which is a speed that the processor can run up to for limited periods of time if it thinks it will get things done faster.

All laptop processors will also make use of speedstep or similar, which will lower the CPU speed even slower (e.g. down to 1.0Ghz or lower) to save even more power when the processor is not doing any real work.

Although the i5's base clock is lower, both chips will generally spend most of their time varying between the speedstep state, and the turbo states, depending on what is being done, making the i3's slightly higher base clock fairly irrelevant anyway.

The 8MB vs 6MB cache will help with performance slightly, but is fairly irrelevant as it's normally the case that quad cores have more cache than dual cores.

With regards to the 2666Mhz vs 3200Mhz DDR4 - faster is better, but it won't make a huge difference, and depending on the laptop (i.e. as long as it's an actual SODIMM memory stick rather than soldered onto the motherboard) it may be able to be swapped/upgraded later. The i5 will still perform better even with this slower memory.


Edit:
Just to put the performance into some kind of perspective, the i5 is almost twice as fast when doing lots of things at once
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-1135G7-vs-Intel-i3-1115G4/3830vs3877
 
Armageus said:
In short: The i5 will have significantly better performance.


Quad core is better - in simple terms it can do 4 things at once, rather than the 2 that a dual core can do.

The 2.4Ghz vs 3.0Ghz part is what is called the "base clock", which is a sort of average speed that the processor will run at. The 4.2Ghz vs 4.1Ghz is what is called the "boost clock" or "turbo", which is a speed that the processor can run up to for limited periods of time if it thinks it will get things done faster.

All laptop processors will also make use of speedstep or similar, which will lower the CPU speed even slower (e.g. down to 1.0Ghz or lower) to save even more power when the processor is not doing any real work.

Although the i5's base clock is lower, both chips will generally spend most of their time varying between the speedstep state, and the turbo states, depending on what is being done, making the i3's slightly higher base clock fairly irrelevant anyway.

The 8MB vs 6MB cache will help with performance slightly, but is fairly irrelevant as it's normally the case that quad cores have more cache than dual cores.

With regards to the 2666Mhz vs 3200Mhz DDR4 - faster is better, but it won't make a huge difference, and depending on the laptop (i.e. as long as it's an actual SODIMM memory stick rather than soldered onto the motherboard) it may be able to be swapped/upgraded later. The i5 will still perform better even with this slower memory.


Edit:
Just to put the performance into some kind of perspective, the i5 is almost twice as fast when doing lots of things at once
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-1135G7-vs-Intel-i3-1115G4/3830vs3877
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's really helpful. The i5 one also has more USB ports so sounds like it would definitely be the better option.

The ones I am thinking of getting now after ruling out the i3 one are the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i 14" (the i5 one in my original post) and a refurbished Dell Inspiron 15” 3000 with an i5-1035G1 Quad Core, 3.6 GHz, 6MB Cache, 8GB (1X8GB), 3200MHz DDR4 SoDIMM Non-ECC, 256GB PCIe M.2 NVMe Class 35 Solid State Drive.

Both are around the same price. I was curious which you think would be the better option?
 
Armageus said:
I'd go with the Lenovo IdeaPad 3i 14" - it's a bit newer, and the processor is better (as although they are both quad cores, the 1035G1 doesn't boost as high, and has a substantially lower "base clock" at 1.0Ghz)

https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compar...i3-1115G4-vs-Intel-i5-1035G1/3830vs3877vs3558
Click to expand...
Thanks again! One thing I noticed with that one is that for the Memory it says "4 GB DDR4-2667 MHz (SODIMM) + 4 GB DDR4-2667 MHz (Soldered)". Is this worse than the 1x8GB in the Dell or how should I interpret it?
 
je11693 said:
Thanks again! One thing I noticed with that one is that for the Memory it says "4 GB DDR4-2667 MHz (SODIMM) + 4 GB DDR4-2667 MHz (Soldered)". Is this worse than the 1x8GB in the Dell or how should I interpret it?
Click to expand...

The Dell is slightly better in that it I believe it takes 2 SODIMM memory modules which can both be removed and upgrade separately.

The Lenovo has 4GB of memory on the motherboard, and then 4GB in a SODIMM module. To upgrade you would have to discard the existing 4GB SODIMM module and replace it with a 16GB SODIMM for a total of 20GB.
It is however just the way things are going, with manufactures being forced to cost cut / and move to smaller form factors (e.g. with less upgrades) as that is what is being dictated by both consumers and regulatory requirements.

Personally I'd still go with the Lenovo - 8GB of RAM is ok for web browsing and normal casual use, and it has still got an option to upgrade in the future if needed.
 
Armageus said:
The Dell is slightly better in that it I believe it takes 2 SODIMM memory modules which can both be removed and upgrade separately.

The Lenovo has 4GB of memory on the motherboard, and then 4GB in a SODIMM module. To upgrade you would have to discard the existing 4GB SODIMM module and replace it with a 16GB SODIMM for a total of 20GB.
It is however just the way things are going, with manufactures being forced to cost cut / and move to smaller form factors (e.g. with less upgrades) as that is what is being dictated by both consumers and regulatory requirements.

Personally I'd still go with the Lenovo - 8GB of RAM is ok for web browsing and normal casual use, and it has still got an option to upgrade in the future if needed.
Click to expand...
Thank you, so the difference between SoDIMM and soldered is just whether or not you would want to upgrade it in the future? i.e. actual performance of a 1x8GB SoDIMM is the same as 4GB SoDIMM + 4GB soldered RAM?
 
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