Question Intel i3-1115G4 (dual core) vs. AMD Ryzen 3 3350U (Quad-Core)

[MattiMor]

Hi everyone,

my wife will start to learn some coding with R-Studio (open source software) and she needs a new Laptop for it. She is absolute beginner and has no experience with coding yet.
Mainly she wants a Laptop so that she can bring it everywhere. It shouldn't be a too expensive one.

After some online research, I started to like the following 2 Laptop versions:
1) Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3350U (Quad-Core), RAM: DDR4-2400, 128GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6 , Windows 11
Link on Amazon
2) Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-36UT, 15.6" Full HD Display, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 (Dual-Core), RAM: DDR4-3200, 128GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6, Windows 11
Link on Amazon

Of course I will upgrade the RAM to minimum 8GB. Would it be even more beneficial if the RAM would be 12GB or 16GB?

Which of the 2 above is the better option? The Quad-Core with slow RAM speed, or the Dual-core (4 threads) with faster RAM speed?

Or is none of them really usable for beginner coding? Do you have any other suggestions then instead?

Thank you very much, guys.

Best regards
Mat

 

[Nighthawk117]

Hi everyone,

my wife will start to learn some coding with R-Studio (open source software) and she needs a new Laptop for it. She is absolute beginner and has no experience with coding yet.
Mainly she wants a Laptop so that she can bring it everywhere. It shouldn't be a too expensive one.

After some online research, I started to like the following 2 Laptop versions:
1) Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, AMD Ryzen 3 3350U (Quad-Core), RAM: DDR4-2400, 128GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6 , Windows 11
Link on Amazon
2) Acer Aspire 5 A515-56-36UT, 15.6" Full HD Display, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 (Dual-Core), RAM: DDR4-3200, 128GB NVMe SSD, WiFi 6, Windows 11
Link on Amazon

Of course I will upgrade the RAM to minimum 8GB. Would it be even more beneficial if the RAM would be 12GB or 16GB?

Which of the 2 above is the better option? The Quad-Core with slow RAM speed, or the Dual-core (4 threads) with faster RAM speed?

Or is none of them really usable for beginner coding? Do you have any other suggestions then instead?

Thank you very much, guys.

Best regards
Mat

As you suggest 4GB is completely inadequate, 8GB will do the job if you are on a budget. However if you've got multiple IDE's open, lots of browser tabs, any databases then you'd benefit from 16GB.

The RAM speed is largely irrelevant in the class of machines your talking about. What's important is the CPU, both are around the same performance in absolute terms, it's just one has fast cores and the other has more of them. From the links you've provided the 11th gen i3 model is over £200 more expensive than the Ryzen 3. If that's the case you should go for the Ryzen 3.

Both CPU's are capable of basic software development but full disclosure I've never used R Studio, I use Visual Studio and Android Studio. I can only speak from my own experience but compiling code would probably benefit more from the faster cores of the i3 rather than the 4 cores of the Ryzen 3. However as above don't pay more for it.

You say she wants to bring it everywhere, 15.6" aren't necessarily the most portable, have you considered 14"? Also do you have a budget? Amazon is showing me £642 for the i3 Aspire, if you can spend that money you can get a much better laptop than what you have there.

 

[Nighthawk117]

https://uk.store.asus.com/asus-zenb...nPpSPqL8Z4RkToQwroWbCmlVpbB36EfhoCw5IQAvD_BwE

Something like that would be much better value than the Acer's above. For 51% more money than the Ryzen 3, your getting up to twice the processing power (does depend on cooling), 4 times the RAM and 4 x the storage space.

 

[Flayed]

I wouldn't buy a dual-core in 2022

 

[Nighthawk117]

I wouldn't buy a dual-core in 2022

I would tend to agree, but they aren't that dissimilar in absolute terms because the Ryzen 3 lacks SMT.

I think I got my prices wrong, @MattiMor are you in the USA or UK?

 

[MattiMor]

I would tend to agree, but they aren't that dissimilar in absolute terms because the Ryzen 3 lacks SMT.

I think I got my prices wrong, @MattiMor are you in the USA or UK?

Neither nor... I am in Malaysia. But it's quite pricey here, so it is much more cheaper for me to buy at Amazon USA and ship it over here.
My budget (if possible, including RAM upgrade) is USD 450 +/- (which is ~2000 Malaysian Ringgit).

I basically agree with not buying a dual-core in 2022, I was just scared in 1 Youtube video where that dude said the RAM would be slow. But I wasn't sure, so I better ask you Pro's

 

[MattiMor]

As you suggest 4GB is completely inadequate, 8GB will do the job if you are on a budget. However if you've got multiple IDE's open, lots of browser tabs, any databases then you'd benefit from 16GB.

The RAM speed is largely irrelevant in the class of machines your talking about. What's important is the CPU, both are around the same performance in absolute terms, it's just one has fast cores and the other has more of them. From the links you've provided the 11th gen i3 model is over £200 more expensive than the Ryzen 3. If that's the case you should go for the Ryzen 3.

Both CPU's are capable of basic software development but full disclosure I've never used R Studio, I use Visual Studio and Android Studio. I can only speak from my own experience but compiling code would probably benefit more from the faster cores of the i3 rather than the 4 cores of the Ryzen 3. However as above don't pay more for it.

You say she wants to bring it everywhere, 15.6" aren't necessarily the most portable, have you considered 14"? Also do you have a budget? Amazon is showing me £642 for the i3 Aspire, if you can spend that money you can get a much better laptop than what you have there.

Both links showing similar prices, USD 334.99 vs. USD 337.99

 

[Nighthawk117]

Neither nor... I am in Malaysia. But it's quite pricey here, so it is much more cheaper for me to buy at Amazon USA and ship it over here.
My budget (if possible, including RAM upgrade) is USD 450 +/- (which is ~2000 Malaysian Ringgit).

I basically agree with not buying a dual-core in 2022, I was just scared in 1 Youtube video where that dude said the RAM would be slow. But I wasn't sure, so I better ask you Pro's

Ah that makes more sense, the links were redirecting me to Amazon UK and the prices for these models were much higher, the i3 was $758 which I thought was crazy
Yeah the RAM isn't the fastest, but it's the least of your concerns at this price point.

Both links showing similar prices, USD 334.99 vs. USD 337.99

If you can spend $450, now I would have no idea about import fees in Malaysia, but since you have no choice but to upgrade the other's anyway they aren't really $338. My two cents would be to get neither of them and pick the mid range model:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-46...&qid=1661437490&sprefix=,aps,107&sr=8-14&th=1

That's $450, gets you a vastly superior 6 core/12 thread CPU, comes with a 256GB SSD rather than 128GB and gets you 8GB of DDR4 instead of 4GB. I do basic programming on an 8GB machine, that will be enough to get you started. You can drop another 8GB in there at a later date, but you will have the more modern 6 core chip that will last a lot longer than the CPU in the other systems.

It also ships directly from Amazon and not marketplace sellers like the other two.

 

[MattiMor]

This is how the links looks for me (here in Malaysia):

1)

2)

3)

 

[MattiMor]

Ah that makes more sense, the links were redirecting me to Amazon UK and the prices for these models were much higher, the i3 was $758 which I thought was crazy
Yeah the RAM isn't the fastest, but it's the least of your concerns at this price point.


If you can spend $450, now I would have no idea about import fees in Malaysia, but since you have no choice but to upgrade the other's anyway they aren't really $338. My two cents would be to get neither of them and pick the mid range model:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-46-R3UB-Display-Quad-Core-Processor/dp/B09J1MXS2Z/ref=sr_1_14?crid=240PTCTZQERIJ&keywords=acer+aspire+5+a515-56-36ut,+15.6"&qid=1661437490&sprefix=,aps,107&sr=8-14&th=1

That's $450, gets you a vastly superior 6 core/12 thread CPU, comes with a 256GB SSD rather than 128GB and gets you 8GB of DDR4 instead of 4GB. I do basic programming on an 8GB machine, that will be enough to get you started. You can drop another 8GB in there at a later date, but you will have the more modern 6 core chip that will last a lot longer than the CPU in the other systems.

It also ships directly from Amazon and not marketplace sellers like the other two.

That's a great suggestion, that helps me a lot. Yes, I can consider your suggestion (3rd screenshot).

 

[Nighthawk117]

This is how the links looks for me (here in Malaysia):

1)

2)

3)

I went onto Amazon US and so it looks like that for me too. The last model at $450 is the best value in my opinion.

 

[MattiMor]

I went onto Amazon US and so it looks like that for me too. The last model at $450 is the best value in my opinion.

Good morning guys,

Just to let you know, I bought this model on Amazon.com at $450 + Import Fees $60, and I'm super happy with it. I saved more than $100 compared to local buy here in Malaysia.
Thanks again for your great help on this

 

[Nighthawk117]

Good morning guys,

Just to let you know, I bought this model on Amazon.com at $450 + Import Fees $60, and I'm super happy with it. I saved more than $100 compared to local buy here in Malaysia.
Thanks again for your great help on this

Your welcome , good to hear your happy with it, impressive saving as well.