Practical Difference between i3 and i5 for Alienware Alpha?

[SPBHM]

I'll let you know i'm typing this with an i3 4370 so there is going to be some bias, but i'm not going to mislead you.

The i3 4130T is going to pretty much be hitting that 2.9GHz all the time. The i5 and the i7s have Turbo Boost, but since Intel states that their clock speeds can go"up to" 3GHz or whatever, that suggests that the actual base clock is much lower. It will probably be around 2.5Ghz on the base clock and that "up to" speed is for a single core only.

It doesn't really make sense to get anything but the i3 4130T.

the base clock is actually 2GHz and the TDP 35W for that i5, not very encouraging indeed and more expensive,

but still, without 100% load it should run closer to 3GHz than 2GHz while gaming, and perform overall a little bit better for ST and MT.

considering the GPU is just a 750 TI I think the i3 is fine.

 

[Enigmoid]

I'll let you know i'm typing this with an i3 4370 so there is going to be some bias, but i'm not going to mislead you.

The i3 4130T is going to pretty much be hitting that 2.9GHz all the time. The i5 and the i7s have Turbo Boost, but since Intel states that their clock speeds can go"up to" 3GHz or whatever, that suggests that the actual base clock is much lower. It will probably be around 2.5Ghz on the base clock and that "up to" speed is for a single core only.

It doesn't really make sense to get anything but the i3 4130T.

You greatly overestimate the amount of power these binned chips can use. Look at the laptop CPU specs 37W quads are rated for a significantly higher speed. If the OP is not using the igp (which he is not) he can expect to see huge performance gains.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1367?vs=1191

Its comparing the i3T vs. the i7T 35W but the i7 manages easily 2x the performance of the i3 in heavily MT tasks (CB, x264, 7-zip, POV ray, etc). The idea that the i5 or i7 will throttle is wrong (as long as the igp isn't used or something like AVX2).

The i5 is a solid upgrade over the i3 and if the price difference between is small (<$100) the i5 is, in my opinion, preferable. If the i3 is on a killer deal then the i3 is the choice.

At $399 the i3 is a steal.

 

[dbcooper1]

Even at regular price, the difference between the i3 and i5 will get you your SSD most of the RAM upgrade if you shop around.

 

[coercitiv]

My main rationale is that I want to do 1080p gaming for 2-3 year old games (+Dota 2, CS:GO). Have to stick with my current laptop at the moment, while waiting for Skylake to finally release (MBP).

This clearly calls for the i3 build.

 

[crashtech]

Even I hopped on the i5 train here before realizing that the GPU is soldered on the mobo. This fact indicates an i3 is best, since the GPU is going to be the limiting factor most of the time, especially on older titles.

 

[TeknoBug]

i5 4590T, very power efficient and should do the job- I'm looking into getting one someday too but Canadian prices for them are sky high (starting from $449 USD vs $699 CDN).

I love the i3 4130T too though especially when paired with a 860M, great processor for everday use.

 

[firewolfsm]

Look on slickdeals, there's a $70 rebate that takes the i3 version down to $330. Pretty much solves the whole thread.

 

[TeknoBug]

Look on slickdeals, there's a $70 rebate that takes the i3 version down to $330. Pretty much solves the whole thread.

The exchange rate from USD to CAD is pretty poopy but still less than $400 CDN for that, yet the ones that sell in Canada are almost twice the price as I mentioned in my last post and it's getting worse, time to make trips to the US to buy stuff.