Question Need some quick opinions - i3-6100U vs A9-9400

ALEX0264

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Sep 15, 2014
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I have the choice between two 2017 laptops, one containing the i3-6100U and the other with an A9-9400 APU.

On paper the AMD wins several times as follows:

  • Higher standard clock speed
  • Higher turbo speed (the i3 doesn't have a turbo speed)
  • Higher GPU frequency
  • 10w TDP (5w less than the i3)

However, the i3 benefits from:

  • Intel HD graphics (slower than the AMD, but I do find the Intel equivalent far better)
  • 3MB L2 cache
  • 2 cores, 4 threads

If you had the choice, what would you pick? I'm going to be using it for day to day tasks, YouTube videos (watching) and some very old games (including emulators). There are of course the comparison sites out there, but I would rather here from people who actually own these things.

Thanks in advance!
 

ALEX0264

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Sep 15, 2014
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Since you are going to run emulators the i3 is the way to go. Outside of that, it's a toss-up since the APU does have better graphics for video playback.

Thanks, I did wonder if the i3 would be better for that. The laptop has a 1366 x 768 screen, so I'll only be able to playback 720p videos anyway.