- Jan 23, 2015
- 4,076
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- 17,040
Hello,
I currently have an Dell Arrandale i5-450m laptop (with a fast SSD and 8 GB RAM, of course) that I use for web browsing, email, Skype, iTunes, and occasionally work in ArcGIS (mostly single-threaded processes). It's getting a bit long in the tooth, but still works fine for most of my needs. It does struggle a bit with loading/browsing multiple Chrome tabs, or when watching things in 1080p HD or streaming to my Chromecast.
I originally bought it with a secondary ATI graphics chipset, which went kaput the other day, leaving me stuck with the horrible Intel integrated graphics which are completely useless on the first generation chips. Would be about $80 to get a used replacement motherboard from looking around online. It is also in dire need of a new battery (lasts about 10 minutes) - $90 because it is a somewhat rare model.
I also have a Sandy Bridge i7-2820QM (at work - held back by its abysmally slow spinning-disk hard drive) and FX-8350 @ home (desktop/gaming system) that have tons of power in reserve when used for these same tasks most of the time.
So, some time in the not-so-distant future, I would like to begin a search for a new laptop, mostly for light-duty work, although I think I'm a somewhat demanding user at times.
My questions for you guys:
-Will Skylake offer noticeable battery life/speed/heat performance compared to current Haswell/Broadwell chipsets? Will the said 20% performance improvement be noticeable compared to my current computers?
-Would a modern mid-range mobile i5 be comparable to at least the mobile Sandy Bridge i7 in multitasking, or should I probably go i7?
-Are the Intel graphics worth a crap these days, or still useless for light gaming when I'm away from home? 2-3 year old games on medium settings and playable framerates would be entirely sufficient for me - I'm not expecting a GTX 970 equivalent. Or should I still try to find something with a secondary chipset?
I currently have an Dell Arrandale i5-450m laptop (with a fast SSD and 8 GB RAM, of course) that I use for web browsing, email, Skype, iTunes, and occasionally work in ArcGIS (mostly single-threaded processes). It's getting a bit long in the tooth, but still works fine for most of my needs. It does struggle a bit with loading/browsing multiple Chrome tabs, or when watching things in 1080p HD or streaming to my Chromecast.
I originally bought it with a secondary ATI graphics chipset, which went kaput the other day, leaving me stuck with the horrible Intel integrated graphics which are completely useless on the first generation chips. Would be about $80 to get a used replacement motherboard from looking around online. It is also in dire need of a new battery (lasts about 10 minutes) - $90 because it is a somewhat rare model.
I also have a Sandy Bridge i7-2820QM (at work - held back by its abysmally slow spinning-disk hard drive) and FX-8350 @ home (desktop/gaming system) that have tons of power in reserve when used for these same tasks most of the time.
So, some time in the not-so-distant future, I would like to begin a search for a new laptop, mostly for light-duty work, although I think I'm a somewhat demanding user at times.
My questions for you guys:
-Will Skylake offer noticeable battery life/speed/heat performance compared to current Haswell/Broadwell chipsets? Will the said 20% performance improvement be noticeable compared to my current computers?
-Would a modern mid-range mobile i5 be comparable to at least the mobile Sandy Bridge i7 in multitasking, or should I probably go i7?
-Are the Intel graphics worth a crap these days, or still useless for light gaming when I'm away from home? 2-3 year old games on medium settings and playable framerates would be entirely sufficient for me - I'm not expecting a GTX 970 equivalent. Or should I still try to find something with a secondary chipset?
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