i5 3210m with GT 640m vs i7 3610qm with GT 630m

[AlienUFO]

Both of those laptops have basically the same price, in my country. However, I am wondering which one I should choose:

Option one:
i5 3210m
GT 640m 2gb
4gb RAM
750gb 5400rpm
15.6" screen with 1366x768
Win 7 Pro
2 year warranty

Option 2:
i7 3610qm
GT 630m 1gb
4gb RAM
750gb 7200rpm
15.6" screen with 1366x768
No OS
2 year warranty

I will mostly be using the laptop for general stuff, but I will also be gaming on it a lot. So I need a cheap all round laptop. I might upgrade the screen in the future to a full HD screen.

Thanks for the help.

[idiot101]

If you can confirm that the GT640M is based on the newer Kepler design, then the i5 with the GT640M is the better combination. The gaming performance would be better than the older GT555M.

NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Having a quad-core processor will not benefit gaming as the bottleneck here would be the GPU. The GT630M is much weaker for gaming.

[ralchevd]

I'd rather choose the i5 one, not only because the 640m, but the licensed Windows. Good luck!

[maverick1989]

Yeah you would need to spend another hundred off bucks to get the OS. Get the i5 and 640m.

[Bronsky]

I5 (10 char).

[Syberia]

I am going to have to go against the grain and recommend that you get the quad. Contrary to popular belief, games DO take advantage of more than 2 threads, and will only continue to do so more and more in the future. For instance, BF3 on a 64-player map has a minimum framerate of 30-35 with a mobile i5, but can get a constant 60 fps with an i7 quad. GTA4 is, of course, another obvious example that comes to mind. You can raise the "bad console port" argument all you want, but that doesn't change the fact that it needs 4 physical cores to run with decent frame rates. Skyrim, with a few .ini tweaks, will also take advantage of 4 cores, especially in AI-heavy locations like cities.

Future games will probably get more CPU-heavy, as the standard gamer moves on to having a quad-core system. I base my advice on this - while you can always lower graphics settings to run a game on a lower-end GPU, there's often not a lot you can do short of getting a new laptop or replacing your CPU (if that's an option) if you find yourself CPU-limited. I'd expect the i5 to start to be unable to maintain good fps in modern games in about a year's time, while the i7 should last you 3+.

Is there any way you can find an i7 model with a stronger GPU? I'm hesitant to recommend a dual-core in 2012.

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[rmutua]

If i were you id ask myself what games you plan on playing with it the 640m is better then the 630m for sure but if you plan on playing really complex games on the highest setting possable then the 640m and the 630m would both bottem neck anyways.... id pick the i7 just because its one thing less youll have to upgrade if you plan of gaming with everything maxed and have 50+ frames. Lastly some games are really cpu heavy espically if there have alot of AI. But in the end its up to you i just think having more then 2 threads helps alot. But youtube fps rates for both cpus when they have the same gpu in them playing the same game.

[AlienUFO]

Thanks for all the replies. So yeah, I am considering the 640m one now. It is much easier to upgrade the CPU later on, if that need arises. However, because I want to upgrade to a full HD screen, I think the 640m will be much better.

But, it seems the 640m laptop has increased a little bit in price. But I think it is worth the extra saving to get that laptop. However, I can get the 630m one with much more RAM and a better HDD for cheaper than the 640m one. So that is another factor. Seeing that my needs are mostly having a general entertainment laptop, I think the 640m one is better.

[tommytomatoe]

Thanks for all the replies. So yeah, I am considering the 640m one now. It is much easier to upgrade the CPU later on, if that need arises. However, because I want to upgrade to a full HD screen, I think the 640m will be much better.

But, it seems the 640m laptop has increased a little bit in price. But I think it is worth the extra saving to get that laptop. However, I can get the 630m one with much more RAM and a better HDD for cheaper than the 640m one. So that is another factor. Seeing that my needs are mostly having a general entertainment laptop, I think the 640m one is better.

It isn't easier to upgrade the CPU later on. Mobile CPU are more expensive than mobile GPU. With laptop hardware, get the best available that is within your budget. Aftermarket upgrades will cost lots of money and in a year or two, the CPU upgrade you'd buy is two of three year old tech by then. Not to mention that the added cost would be hundreds over your current budget.

Lastly, most consumer grade laptops don't have user replaceable CPU and GPU, thus another reason to get the best available within your budget. The parts are usually soldered on. You'll have to check your particular models to be sure.

The quad core will last you longer than the dual core. :-)

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[maverick1989]

The GPU will be your bottleneck so going quad won't matter.