How important is the number of cores?

Question

Iron

Hello! I choose a laptop, I can not decide between a dual-core i5 4210u and a quad-core mobile amd a6 or a8. I watched the tests - according to them, the dual-core i5 wins. Maybe someone has experience of real testing?

Answer 1

Clumsily written code will work about the same slowly :-)

Answer 2

i5 has hyper-threading, that is, there are two virtual cores per physical core. Read more on the wiki .
In addition, Intel processors contain much more various optimizations, the pipeline works more optimally, branch predictors and other lovely things that speed up calculations. That is, if your work involves a huge amount of computation on the CPU (compilation, mathematics, etc.), then you should choose Intel.
The only thing AMD processors win so far is the quality of integrated graphics and their APUs. So for toys, I would choose AMD processors.

Answer 3

Both are very budget friendly. On the i5, you will most likely have to buy a memory chip, since there will be no 2-channel mode (manufacturers save money). I have one of the laptops on i3 -2 cores 4 threads, the browser does not slow down but nothing more.

Answer 4

Intel's processors are still more compatible with Windows than AMD. Therefore, the system works more stable on them. And the best way to improve performance is to increase the memory and install an ssd screw. The latter, even quite seemingly brake laptop noticeably enlivens.

Answer 5

Plusan i5, he also has a good turbo boost. It helps just when you want "here and now", which is very important for a mobile computer.
Of the minor nuances, I want to note the compact power supplies that are equipped with models with "U" series processors. Much more convenient to wear and use.
As for real use, I can only share my impressions of the i3-3120M processor, it works fast enough, but everything is spoiled by a slow disk. When buying refused i5 because of the cost. You could safely buy an SSD for the difference, which I regret after the dollar jump.
AMD processor is needed only when there is nothing to play on =)

Answer 6

Depends on the task.
We bought (for the server) fucking nuclear Xions a few years ago. Missed. In our tasks, it turned out that frequency is more important than the number of cores.
We change the server - now the number of cores will be 8 times less, but the frequency will be higher.
Tests, assessments, comparisons are meaningless if they are not tied to your task. Specifically yours.