(2.4 Ghz i3) to (1.8 Ghz i5) Increase or decrease in perf?

As the title states. I'm planning on trading my dad laptops. I do audio production and gaming. I have an i3 and the cpu is clocked at 2.4 ghz and he has an i5 clocked at 1.8. How much of a difference will this impact performance? For better or worse?

Im curious because I had a desktop a while back and it had a Core 2 Duo @ 2.8 and I went to this i3 @2.4 laptop and the cpu sucks in comparison to the desktop...I was originally thinking the i3 would be a increase since it was newer architecture.

I would still think on the graphics side its definitely an upgrade because the i3 uses Intel HD Graphics and it sucks...it doesnt even use opengl. The other uses a Nvidia GeForce GT 740M.

The difference between the desktop and laptop is multifaceted. Desktop probably had faster hard drive, dedicated video, and optimized for performance versus laptop optimized for battery life.

And the core i3/5/7 each do graphics onboard. The slower the cpu, the more impact the graphics will have on overall performance. Core i3 are budget machines, for basic tasks. They are not really suitable for gaming or video and music production. The core i5 will suit better in these areas.

pparks1 said:

The core i5 will suit better in these areas.

Click to expand...

Thumbs up, agreed. But that being said, my Pentium D (see specs below) functions amazingly well for all my audio production needs. i.e. Cubase, SoundForge, Cakewalk etc...all work very well with lots of VST plugins like TH2, Guitar Rig, Studio Devil, Amplitube...

Always doing 1080p video production every day too on it, without issues. Sure it could be faster, but it goes. When doing the really long time-length stuff like full movies, then I break out my father's i7 laptop.

Desktop computers are typically always faster. This is because they are designed to use more power. The average desktop CPU uses about twice as much power as opposed to a laptop. They also include more transistors, which leads to a larger L3 cache for the CPU, Components, and Software to take advantage of.

Modern applications, including drivers, have also seen great improvements with how they handle various tasks as well. Companies like Nvidia, ATI are now writing drivers specifically geared towards optimization of major game titles.

pparks1 said:

The difference between the desktop and laptop is multifaceted. Desktop probably had faster hard drive, dedicated video, and optimized for performance versus laptop optimized for battery life.

Click to expand...

pparks1 said:

And the core i3/5/7 each do graphics onboard. The slower the cpu, the more impact the graphics will have on overall performance. Core i3 are budget machines, for basic tasks. They are not really suitable for gaming or video and music production. The core i5 will suit better in these areas.

Click to expand...

Yeah so ive heard they're more of budget machines since I brought it. It was a quick buy and not much thought went into it. At the time I figured an i3 would be better going from the C2D...also was kind of already sold on the 17' inch display with the full keypad/numberpad. My careless thoughts told me well it should at least be able to play modern games. I was wrong and I was so disappointed when it came to the Intel HD Graphics.

MasterChief said:

pparks1 said:

The core i5 will suit better in these areas.

Click to expand...

Thumbs up, agreed. But that being said, my Pentium D (see specs below) functions amazingly well for all my audio production needs. i.e. Cubase, SoundForge, Cakewalk etc...all work very well with lots of VST plugins like TH2, Guitar Rig, Studio Devil, Amplitube...

Always doing 1080p video production every day too on it, without issues. Sure it could be faster, but it goes. When doing the really long time-length stuff like full movies, then I break out my father's i7 laptop.

Click to expand...

I use Ableton with lots of VST plugins myself. Certain plugins like Zebra or Diva for example will leave the CPU meter all over the place its a must for me to freeze the track.

ectech said:

Desktop computers are typically always faster. This is because they are designed to use more power. The average desktop CPU uses about twice as much power as opposed to a laptop. They also include more transistors, which leads to a larger L3 cache for the CPU, Components, and Software to take advantage of.

Click to expand...

ectech said:

Modern applications, including drivers, have also seen great improvements with how they handle various tasks as well. Companies like Nvidia, ATI are now writing drivers specifically geared towards optimization of major game titles.

Click to expand...

I think this is more where I went wrong. For the desktop the GPU was a XFX Geforce 8800 GTS, with a XFX motherboard itself it was fast...the motherboard seemed defective at times or could of been a bad PSU...it worked for 2 years though. Right after that I went to the i3 laptop so as you pointed out everything felt much slower. Also thanks for mentioning this...it was an assumption I had, but I was not sure...


Thanks everyone for replying. I guess Ill be running True Image for a chunk of the day to move lol.

i use my 2.5 I5 (see my sys specs) and almost all games and programs run well
it can run PAYDAY2 and even call of duty ghosts -it did but with some lag- !!!
if you gonna use it only for surfing net or just typing , printing or other simple tasks I3 would be a good choice
but if you intend to use it for gaming or even graphic designing I3 won't satisfy you