I5-430m v. i7-720qm

[jgshepar]

I am looking to purchase a laptop that will hopefully play a few games and do minor photo and video-editing (family stuff). I understand that the video card is the key component. The two computers I am considering are as follows:

Toshiba
i7-720qm
4gb ddr3
500gb hd
NVIDIA GeForce 310M w/512mb
16" monitor

Asus
i5-430m
4gb ddr3
500gb hd
Radeon HD 5470 w/1 gb
15.6" monitor
2 year warranty
~$150 less

1. Will the dual core v. quad core make much of a difference since the dual core has a higher base speed?
2. Are both companies decent?
3. I think the 5470 is a better card, but also since the i5-430m has the new integrated intel HD built in on board wont the asus also benefit from switching between both (I think I read somewhere that it can).
4. The only game I really play is WOW.

 

[TheGman_GL]

1 - Yes. The Core i7 uses 1.6GHz when it's using all the cores, but when only using 1 or 2, it can overclock to 2.8GHz with turboboost. It's faster than the 4-way i5 procesor.

2- Of course!... in my list you are talking about number two and one respectively.

3- You would only see the benefit in energy saving terms. No performance gain.

4- Then if you want to play it in the highest settings neither one will be enough. Both can play modern games at low-mid settings.

(Personally I would go with the Asus one. Great company, great laptops, decent graphics card and great processor. Overall, pretty good laptops at a better price point.)

 

[jgshepar]

Thank you very much!

 

[jgshepar]

Best answer selected by jgshepar.