Computers & Electronics

any diff btwn i3 and i5 for everyday internet/youtube/video usage ?

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  • Jun 13th, 2012 5:22 pm
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Dec 25, 2010
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any diff btwn i3 and i5 for everyday internet/youtube/video usage ?

Apologize for my stupid question (which was probably answered trillion times already), but am thinking of getting a new laptop, and would like your opinion if I would see any difference between an i3 laptop (with Intel 3000 built-in graphics), as compared with an i5 ? The usage will strictly be for general internet access, playing hd youtube vids and an occasional movie. No gaming at all :-0

So many thanks.

Cheers :)
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Sr. Member
Jun 26, 2004
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You won't notice any difference at all until you start doing some heavy multitasking.
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Jun 12, 2003
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Markham
no difference for media consumers

media producers on the other hand...
ShadowVlican
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Dec 25, 2010
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mikeo007 wrote: You won't notice any difference at all until you start doing some heavy multitasking.
Thanks - much appreciated. OK, another stupid question: If I have many tabs opened in Firefox, would that fall under "multitasking", and requiring an i5, or i3 would still be fine ?

ShadowVlican wrote: no difference for media consumers
media producers on the other hand...
Only a "consumer" here :o
Sr. Member
Jun 26, 2004
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oldpro wrote: Thanks - much appreciated. OK, another stupid question: If I have many tabs opened in Firefox, would that fall under "multitasking", and requiring an i5, or i3 would still be fine ?



Only a "consumer" here :o

Nope, those tabs are just sitting there idle. Unless you've got a youtube video or something running in every one of them.
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Dec 25, 2010
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mikeo007 wrote: Nope, those tabs are just sitting there idle. Unless you've got a youtube video or something running in every one of them.
Good stuff - thanks again for your help :) An i3 laptop it is then.
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Apr 30, 2011
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RICHMOND HILL
You don't even need an I3 for these tasks. If you're looking to save some more money, an AMD A6 or A8 series CPU should be good enough.
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loserga wrote: You don't even need an I3 for these tasks. If you're looking to save some more money, an AMD A6 or A8 series CPU should be good enough.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions :)
Just two quick follow-up questions:

1) will A6/A8 laptop heat up more than i3 based laptop ?

2) If i3 is an "overkill" for my basic use, would an E450 based laptop also do ?

Many thanks to all who helped - much appreciated.
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Apr 30, 2011
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RICHMOND HILL
loserga wrote: You don't even need an I3 for these tasks. If you're looking to save some more money, an AMD A6 or A8 series CPU should be good enough.
Admittedly the A6 and A8 series still retain the same heat dissipation problems that the Athlon and Phenom processors shared, and are also less energy efficient compared to the i3's on idle. However, when it comes to HD media playback, they become almost as efficient as the i3 processors because of the off-loading of such tasks from the CPU to the GPU. I suppose you will be watching YouTube videos often, so that works in your favour.

This is my source of information btw: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di ... -i3_8.html, http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/di ... -i3_9.html

I would not recommend the E-450, as it uses the Brazos platform designed for netbooks. You'd get high efficiency, but very low performance. Startup alone has taken nearly a minute, from my own experience with the neighbour's laptop.

Of course, if you mean find a i3 laptop for cheap, buy it by all means. I grew up using AMD processors and I've found the same problems in each new computer: high heat generation, slower than some of the cheaper Intel processors (with the exception of the atrocious Celeron), and not very energy efficient overall. On the other hand, AMD-equipped laptops are usually at least $100 cheaper than Intel ones.
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Mar 31, 2005
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If that's all you want to do with it, I agree that you can get a way cheaper setup that will give you what you need. I got a dual-core HP laptop on Kijiji for $150 last year that will play any video that I throw at it. With it going to my spare LCD and adding $30 in cheap RAM I can watch movies (Netflix or from my NAS) and use the laptop and no issues with lag or anything.
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Apr 30, 2011
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TotallyKiller wrote: If that's all you want to do with it, I agree that you can get a way cheaper setup that will give you what you need. I got a dual-core HP laptop on Kijiji for $150 last year that will play any video that I throw at it. With it going to my spare LCD and adding $30 in cheap RAM I can watch movies (Netflix or from my NAS) and use the laptop and no issues with lag or anything.
A late generation Pentium Dual-Core would be a good option then. Not sure how little you can get them for these days though.

Edit: If you're looking to buy now, buy this and be done with it: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=4938

I can't find a better deal atm. Laptops are way overpriced right now.

Edit: I take that back. Future Shop has some good deals on refurbished i3-2### laptops: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/ ... 8980f5en02
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loserga wrote: A late generation Pentium Dual-Core would be a good option then. Not sure how little you can get them for these days though.

Edit: If you're looking to buy now, buy this and be done with it: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=4938

I can't find a better deal atm. Laptops are way overpriced right now.

Edit: I take that back. Future Shop has some good deals on refurbished i3-2### laptops: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/ ... 8980f5en02
Like I said - Kijiji. And no more than $100-200

Can't tell where you're from, but here's some Calgary examples (sticking to widescreen with dual core, posted within 5 hours of this post):

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z388010632

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z387982745

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