Question i5 8th gen for 2024 and beyond?

[Exploding PSU]

Quick question, is an 8th gen i5 (i5-8365U to be precise) still viable in 2024?

I understand there's a form that I can fill out, but I'm not here looking to buy a new laptop. A friend of mine is going to uni, and he's got a laptop with that CPU, and wondering if it's still good enough for the next 3 years-ish... Basically until he finishes college.

His use case includes : general browsing, Google Docs, office stuff, YouTube, Spotify, watching "movies", and other everyday stuff... Most of the things are done online. No rendering, no editing, no compiling, absolutely zero gaming.
His major doesn't require anything CPU-heavy (the most intenstive task, after reviewing his plans, is probably running IBM SPSS, and even then we assume it's only for the basic stuff). Even if he needs some grunt power, he can always use my PC to do his thing, the laptop really is only going to be used when he's at the campus or out and about.

Look, I know there are may good choices for a laptop these days, but you know, money saved money earned...

ninja edit : added use case, sorry

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

8th-gen Intel is still viable for the still current Windows 11 and everyday home and office tasks. It is the earliest gen CPU to officially support Windows 11. Worst case scenario the next-gen Windows will release and his 8th-gen CPU will not support it; however, his school requiring such is highly unlikely.

 

[hotaru.hino]

And worst case, you can load Linux Mint on it. You can find alternatives for a lot of apps you'd use on Windows, if the actual app doesn't have a Linux version.

 

[NedSmelly]

For the applications you mentioned: the answer is yes, it’s still viable. SPSS can run on a potato.

Perhaps the more important consideration is the age of the battery (8365U is laptop spec), which likely needs replacement.

 

[beyondlogic]

Quick question, is an 8th gen i5 (i5-8365U to be precise) still viable in 2024?

I understand there's a form that I can fill out, but I'm not here looking to buy a new laptop. A friend of mine is going to uni, and he's got a laptop with that CPU, and wondering if it's still good enough for the next 3 years-ish... Basically until he finishes college.

His use case includes : general browsing, Google Docs, office stuff, YouTube, Spotify, watching "movies", and other everyday stuff... Most of the things are done online. No rendering, no editing, no compiling, absolutely zero gaming.
His major doesn't require anything CPU-heavy (the most intenstive task, after reviewing his plans, is probably running IBM SPSS, and even then we assume it's only for the basic stuff). Even if he needs some grunt power, he can always use my PC to do his thing, the laptop really is only going to be used when he's at the campus or out and about.

Look, I know there are may good choices for a laptop these days, but you know, money saved money earned...

ninja edit : added use case, sorry

It will be fine for general use any slow downs he would only have to add ram/ or better nvme.

Most applications are ram greedy.
Which is common cause for slow down that and the storage near end of life.

3 things that will most likely need changing

Ram/ storage/ thermal paste may dry out in 3 years apart from that should run fine.

 

[Exploding PSU]

8th-gen Intel is still viable for the still current Windows 11 and everyday home and office tasks. It is the earliest gen CPU to officially support Windows 11. Worst case scenario the next-gen Windows will release and his 8th-gen CPU will not support it; however, his school requiring such is highly unlikely.

And worst case, you can load Linux Mint on it. You can find alternatives for a lot of apps you'd use on Windows, if the actual app doesn't have a Linux version.

For the applications you mentioned: the answer is yes, it’s still viable. SPSS can run on a potato.

Perhaps the more important consideration is the age of the battery (8365U is laptop spec), which likely needs replacement.

Ah, that's good to hear, thank you... I don't think he even cares about what version of Windows is on the laptop, and I don't think having "the newest version" of the OS is a requirement at all for his studies. That being said, the laptop still runs Windows 10, do you think he should update it to Windows 11? Common wisdom states that older OS is lighter, so maybe Windows 10 is a better match for his laptop? He did say he's been receiving those "upgrade to Windows 11" alerts though...

The laptop can still manage about 4-5 hours... It's only used sparingly like every once in a while. I know battery degrades whether it's used or not, but the figure still quite decent if you ask me...

It will be fine for general use any slow downs he would only have to add ram/ or better nvme.

Most applications are ram greedy.
Which is common cause for slow down that and the storage near end of life.

3 things that will most likely need changing

Ram/ storage/ thermal paste may dry out in 3 years apart from that should run fine.

Got it... It has 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage... Considering most of his work is saved in the clouds, massive storage isn't really necessary... I'll admit I'm not good at taking apart laptops (especially one that isn't mine), maybe I'll take it to a shop to get the thermal paste checked...


Again, thank you so much!

 

[beyondlogic]

Ah, that's good to hear, thank you... I don't think he even cares about what version of Windows is on the laptop, and I don't think having "the newest version" of the OS is a requirement at all for his studies. That being said, the laptop still runs Windows 10, do you think he should update it to Windows 11? Common wisdom states that older OS is lighter, so maybe Windows 10 is a better match for his laptop? He did say he's been receiving those "upgrade to Windows 11" alerts though...

The laptop can still manage about 4-5 hours... It's only used sparingly like every once in a while. I know battery degrades whether it's used or not, but the figure still quite decent if you ask me...



Got it... It has 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage... Considering most of his work is saved in the clouds, massive storage isn't really necessary... I'll admit I'm not good at taking apart laptops (especially one that isn't mine), maybe I'll take it to a shop to get the thermal paste checked...


Again, thank you so much!

you may not have to take it apart to upgrade the storage or ram sometimes on the bottom there are hatches for upgrading ram and nvme slot for additional storage there should be a model number on the bottom of the laptop

as for windows 10 to 11 he should upgrade it before 14 October 2025 thats when support ends for windows 10

before you run it to shop to get the thermal paste checked

temps with this

https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[Exploding PSU]

you may not have to take it apart to upgrade the storage or ram sometimes on the bottom there are hatches for upgrading ram and nvme slot for additional storage there should be a model number on the bottom of the laptop

as for windows 10 to 11 he should upgrade it before 14 October 2025 thats when support ends for windows 10

before you run it to shop to get the thermal paste checked

temps with this

https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Alright... I've checked it, the laptop doens't have any hatches to upgrade the RAM or the SSD, the underside is one piece, and I'm too afraid to take it apart, never worked on laptops before..

Checked the temps with hwmonitor, and the CPU temp maxed out at 75C-ish, and never really went above that... I used CPU-Z's "stress CPU" option while checking the temps... I guess no worries about the theral paste for now?

Also, tested the battery by running YouTube non-stop at full brightness, it lasted about 6 hours... I know it's paltry runtime compared to today's laptop, but I assume it's still good enough for now, right?

One thing to worry about is small ants kept creeping out from the hinges...

 

[beyondlogic]

Alright... I've checked it, the laptop doens't have any hatches to upgrade the RAM or the SSD, the underside is one piece, and I'm too afraid to take it apart, never worked on laptops before..

Checked the temps with hwmonitor, and the CPU temp maxed out at 75C-ish, and never really went above that... I used CPU-Z's "stress CPU" option while checking the temps... I guess no worries about the theral paste for now?

Also, tested the battery by running YouTube non-stop at full brightness, it lasted about 6 hours... I know it's paltry runtime compared to today's laptop, but I assume it's still good enough for now, right?

One thing to worry about is small ants kept creeping out from the hinges...

Yeah that's not good if ants coming out the hinges they can kill the laptop

Temps seem fine battery life is fine.

To preserve battery life run it all the way down to like 5 percent before charging battery's have a certain amount of cycles keeping the cord in will kill the life quicker.

You can find out if the ram and storage by checking the model number of the laptop