i5-2410M vs. i5-4210U

[Twski]

Which one is better? If possible, break it down in various performance categories (gaming, general usage, etc)

I got the chance to trade my Asus notebook with a i5-2410M for one Acer with a i5-4210U. I have no performance problems with mine, which I bought 3 years ago... except for gaming. It does not have a dedicated graphics card, and we all know how the Intel HD 3000 is for running games. The newer one doesn't have a dedicated either, but it has the updated HD Graphics 4400. Both are 8GB RAM. The Acer is bigger, has more battery life, but that isn't the point.

Will the newer i5-4400U compensate for its lower clock (which is 1,7Ghz, 2,7 with Turbo Boost; vs 2,3Ghz, 2,9 with TB)?

I'm already leaned towards the Acer because of the better size, better battery, lighter body. But if I'm not going to get a substantial performance boost, it's not worth the work of installing all my programs again (they are a lot)... and the main drawback: Acer comes with a japanese keyboard (this is why the owner wants to trade it), but its not thaat bad.


Thoughts?

 

[Construkt]

The i5-4210U should outperform it across the board. Don't worry about CPU clock. It doesn't matter how fast data is moving if it's not moving very much at a time.

The i5-4210 has better integrated graphics, newer instruction set extensions, it's more efficient (consumes less than half as much power as the 2410M), runs cooler, and has a much better memory controller. The 4210U should always come out at least a little ahead of the 2410M.

You can see a bit more detailed breakdown here

 

[jaguarskx]

In terms of CPU performance there is not much of a difference. While there is a 200MHz difference at the fastest clockspeed the increase in overall performance of the 4th generation Core i5-4210u basically erases the perceived 200MHz performance gap. At the lowest clockspeed, the older 2nd generation Core i5-2410m would perform better, but the purpose of Turbo Boost is to increase the base clockspeed when there is a demand for the CPU.

In terms of the integrated Intel HD graphics core, the Intel HD 4400 in the i5-4210u is definitely better than the Intel HD 3000 in the i5-2410m. Intel has been increasing the performance of their integrated graphics core by an average of 20% per generation. That means the 4th generation Intel HD 4400 would be on average a little over 40% more powerful than the 2nd generation Intel HD 3000. However, actual performance varies from game to game so it is possible the performance increase can be less than 40% or greater than 40%.

Be aware that the Intel HD 4400 is still relatively weak compared to a low end dedicated GPU. The Intel HD 4400 is less powerful than the GeForce 820m.

 

[jaguarskx]

I actually have a laptop with a 2nd gen Core i5-4210M (Lenovo Y470) and a 4th gen Core i5-4200u (Dell Latitude 3450). I disabled the dedicated GPU in both laptops so that only the integrated Intel HD 3000 and Intel HD 4400 would be used. I have Skyrim installed on both laptops and I used the same custom tweaked INI file to play the game on both laptops. Basically 1366x768 resolution (since that is the max on the Y470) and low shadows. I have a mod that displays the current FPS (FPS Counter).

I tested both CPUs and iGPUs by running around in Whiterun during the same time of the day for a few minutes; between 12pm - 1pm.

Core i5-2410m + Intel HD 3000 = 22 FPS min / 44 FPS max / average seems to be about 30 FPS.
Core i5-4200u + Intel HD 4400 = 29 FPS min / 51 FPS max / average seems to be about 39 FPS.

 

[Twski]

I actually have a laptop with a 2nd gen Core i5-4210M (Lenovo Y470) and a 4th gen Core i5-4200u (Dell Latitude 3450). I disabled the dedicated GPU in both laptops so that only the integrated Intel HD 3000 and Intel HD 4400 would be used. I have Skyrim installed on both laptops and I used the same custom tweaked INI file to play the game on both laptops. Basically 1366x768 resolution (since that is the max on the Y470) and low shadows. I have a mod that displays the current FPS (FPS Counter).

I tested both CPUs and iGPUs by running around in Whiterun during the same time of the day for a few minutes; between 12pm - 1pm.

Core i5-2410m + Intel HD 3000 = 22 FPS min / 44 FPS max / average seems to be about 30 FPS.
Core i5-4200u + Intel HD 4400 = 29 FPS min / 51 FPS max / average seems to be about 39 FPS.

Thank you so much for your time in testing this. Seems like I'm going to trade it

 

[jaguarskx]

In case you plan on playing Skyrim, below is my tweaked SkyrimPrefs.INI file that is located in the C:\Users\"Your User ID"\Documents\My Games\Skyrim folder. To disable shadows for improved performance change the below values in RED to 0.

[Launcher]
bShowAllResolutions=1
uLastAspectRatio=3
bEnableFileSelection=1
[Imagespace]
iRadialBlurLevel=0
bDoDepthOfField=0
[Display]
sD3DDevice="Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000"
iTexMipMapSkip=1
bFXAAEnabled=0
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=3072.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=4096.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=650.0000
fLightLODStartFade=1025.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=3600.0000
fShadowBiasScale=0.5000
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=0
fInteriorShadowDistance=2000.0000
fShadowDistance=1000.0000
iShadowMapResolution=256
iShadowMaskQuarter=0
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=3
iAdapter=0
iSize W=1366
iSize H=768
iMultiSample=0
iMaxAnisotropy=1
iPresentInterval=1
bFull Screen=1
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=2300.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=1800.0000
fGamma=1.0000
iShadowFilter=0
bShadowsOnGrass=1
fDecalLOD2=750.0000
fDecalLOD1=500.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=0.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
bTransparencyMultisampling=0
iWaterMultiSamples=0
bDeferredShadows=0
iShadowMode=0
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
bDrawLandShadows=0
bDrawShadows=1
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
iScreenShotIndex=0
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=0
fGrassStartFadeDistance=2000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=400.0000
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultActors=15.0000
fLODFadeOutMultItems=10.0000
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15.0000
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
[Decals]
bDecals=0
bSkinnedDecals=0
uMaxDecals=0
uMaxSkinDecals=0
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=0
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=12500.0000
fBlockMaximumDistance=75000.0000
fBlockLevel1Distance=25000.0000
fBlockLevel0Distance=15000.0000
fSplitDistanceMult=0.4000
bShowLODInEditor=0
[BlurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=0
[BlurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=256
iWaterReflectWidth=256
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1
[MAIN]
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
bGamepadEnable=0
bCrosshairEnabled=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
[Interface]
fMouseCursorSpeed=1.0000
bDialogueSubtitles=1
bGeneralSubtitles=1
bShowCompass=1
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=2
[Controls]
bUseKinect=0
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0420
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.9000
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=1
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=375
[SaveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID7=0
fVal6=1.0000
uID6=0
fVal5=1.0000
uID5=0
fVal4=1.0000
uID4=0
fVal3=0.7500
uID3=466532
fVal2=1.0000
uID2=554685
fVal1=0.8000
uID1=1007612
fVal0=1.0000
uID0=94881
[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000
[General]
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
[Trees]
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=40