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Intel Processor: Pentium or Core?

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Ktwo -  
Hello!

I have a big, super important question to ask everyone who really knows well about laptop processors.

I'm torn between two laptops:

- a HP Pavilion 14 Touchsmart, with an Intel Core i7-4500U processor (2 cores, 1.8 GHz frequency, 4 MB cache)

- an Acer Aspire E5-411, with an Intel Pentium Quad Core N3530 processor (so, 4 cores, 2.16 GHz frequency, 2 MB cache).

Knowing that I will primarily use this PC for office tasks (word processing, etc.), for internet browsing, and occasionally to watch videos/DVDs.

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Which one seems better to you and for what reasons?

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I want the PC to be fast, capable of handling multiple tasks at once, but if honestly, the Pentium is almost as good as the Intel Core, let me know! I know that the Intel Core i7 is very trendy, and I don't want to be advised just because of that; I truly want to know if there's a big difference between these two processors! Thanks a lot!

2 answers

  1.  flo88 Contributor
    Hello

    One should not reason in terms of cores in this specific case.
    The i(5 or 7) series is more powerful than the i(3) series, which in turn is above the Pentium series, which is above the Celeron series.......
    This is how the Intel lineup is structured.

    In terms of power, the i7 in question is twice as fast as the Pentium N3530
    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+N3530+%40+2.16GHz&id=2278
    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-4500U+%40+1.80GHz&id=1937

    In fact, there is no comparison possible.............

    On the graphics side, the built-in circuit on the i7 is also significantly superior to that of the Pentium.
    However, on the graphics side, it is indeed necessary to see if a dedicated card accompanies the PCs.

    Hello to you
    1. Ktwo
      Why shouldn't we reason in terms of the number of cores here?

      “The i(5 or 7) series is above the i(3) series in power, which itself is above the Pentium range, which is above the Celeron range...
      This is how the Intel range is architected.      ”

      I had read somewhere that Pentiums can sometimes be more powerful than Intel Core processors, and that the names "Pentium," "Intel Core," "Celeron," etc., do not indicate a generation but a range, and therefore do not specify the power of the processor, and that a processor from an older range (like Pentium) could sometimes be more powerful than a processor from a newer range (like Intel Core) given that new processors are regularly created, even in the older ranges, and that some are therefore newer than those in the Intel Core range...

      Do you think, otherwise, that the Pentium Quad Core N3530 could be fast enough for office work, web browsing, and possibly watching DVDs? Or will it lag?
    2. flo88 Contributor
      Do you think, otherwise, that the Pentium Quad Core N3530 could be fast enough for office tasks, web browsing, and possibly watching DVDs? Or will it lag?

      It is more than sufficient.

      I read somewhere that Pentiums could be more powerful than Intel Cores, and that the names "Pentium," "Intel Core," "Celeron," etc., do not indicate a generation, but a range.

      Exactly.


      And that therefore it did not specify the power of the processor, and that a processor from an older range (Pentium for example) could sometimes be more powerful than a processor from a newer range.

      That is rather false.
      A Core i5 760 for example, from the 1st generation Core, remains to this day significantly more powerful than the most powerful Pentium or Celeron from the current generation, which is the 4th unless I’m mistaken.

      In any case, in this instance, there is no generational gap.
    3. Ktwo
      I have read your comment, and there is one last thing I would like to know, can we consider that the Pentium we are talking about is almost as powerful as an Intel Core i3? I currently have an Acer laptop with an Intel Core i3 processor and I am very satisfied with it, so it would be great if the two processors were nearly equivalent!

      I think I will go for the Acer with the Pentium, because in fact the HP, which is almost the same laptop in every way, except that it has an Intel Core i7, is 400 euros more expensive and I find that quite huge...!
    4. lud
      @flo88(I know I'm late)
      I still want to point out one small thing: The Haswell architecture (4th generation) brought a significant performance boost in the entry-level market. Thus, a Pentium G3420 is almost equivalent to a first-generation i5 :) (a few percentage points of difference).
    5. margareth
      Which brand of laptop would you recommend?