Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank The_Love_Spud
10-26-2021 at 03:41 PM.
Not broken, but the real deal at this price would be the i3-1125G4 with 4 cores / 8 threads. That CPU is really i5-level performance and flexibility with i3 branding; only the graphics is "old" but presumably at this price point you're not looking for anything "gaming" beyond Minecraft or Roblox.
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Not broken, but the real deal at this price would be the i3-1125G4 with 4 cores / 8 threads. That CPU is really i5-level performance and flexibility with i3 branding; only the graphics is "old" but presumably at this price point you're not looking for anything "gaming" beyond Minecraft or Roblox.
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Jon
I think intel made some decent processors for general or light use, non-multicore workloads. The i3-1115 has a very high base clock and can usually sustain high turbo generally because there's on 2c/4t. The 1125, although with more cores which will do better on those tasks that need them would actually be slower on single core. Both of them use 48 core graphics, which I do assume are Xe-type cores even though they don't call them as such.
That's not to say AMD doesn't offer good choices also. I much prefer iGPU for general PC laptops.
4 cores these days are like 2 cores a few years ago. Decent games and browsers nowadays want 6-8 cores to work without lag. Check youtube, number of cores often makes a bigger difference on game FPS than the video card. On 4 core CPUs games run somewhat slow, but 6 now is the sweet spot.
Lazy Intel got bit by AMD and Apple's M1 and finally started pumping out cores they were artificially holding for more expensive models. I predict 4 cores, while may be ok for now, is not future proof.
Not broken, but the real deal at this price would be the i3-1125G4 with 4 cores / 8 threads. That CPU is really i5-level performance and flexibility with i3 branding; only the graphics is "old" but presumably at this price point you're not looking for anything "gaming" beyond Minecraft or Roblox.
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Not broken, but the real deal at this price would be the i3-1125G4 with 4 cores / 8 threads. That CPU is really i5-level performance and flexibility with i3 branding; only the graphics is "old" but presumably at this price point you're not looking for anything "gaming" beyond Minecraft or Roblox.
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Jon
How do you find off lease laptops? I did not even know they leased laptops??
They have gotten so clever with the pictures, you can't tell in many have numeric pads or not. How about one the view from the perspective we see most of the day.
How do you find off lease laptops? I did not even know they leased laptops??
eBay is a good place for off lease equipment. But you better do your research on laptop models and know what your getting before you make the jump. And of course condition. But nice thing about eBay is, even if you get screwed over or a seller sends you a laptop and the condition is way worse than expected and they refuse to work with you, eBay will refund you. And you might get a free laptop out of it 🤷
eBay is a good place for off lease equipment. But you better do your research on laptop models and know what your getting before you make the jump. And of course condition. But nice thing about eBay is, even if you get screwed over or a seller sends you a laptop and the condition is way worse than expected and they refuse to work with you, eBay will refund you. And you might get a free laptop out of it 🤷
Ebay refunds the person by pulling the money from the sellers account. Don't bet on a "free" laptop as that won't happen.
I think intel made some decent processors for general or light use, non-multicore workloads. The i3-1115 has a very high base clock and can usually sustain high turbo generally because there's on 2c/4t. The 1125, although with more cores which will do better on those tasks that need them would actually be slower on single core. Both of them use 48 core graphics, which I do assume are Xe-type cores even though they don't call them as such.
That's not to say AMD doesn't offer good choices also. I much prefer iGPU for general PC laptops.
You're spot-on regarding the single core performance of the newer CPUs. That's why Intel can be so bold as label some of their newer, lower-power i3 dual core CPUs as such and not list them under the Pentium or Celeron branding.
However, as much as Intel and Microsoft work together they also remain distinct with unique targets. Intel produces CPU to meet a performance target which allows them to fill a product position. There's no guarantee that such a CPU operates Windows well, even if the underlying x86 architecture means Windows will technically run on it.
Despite relatively beefy "large" i-series cores, the newest low power dual-core i3 CPUs live in the overall performance realm of the smaller, but individually less-capable quad-core, Atom-based CPUs (particularly for multi-threaded, multi-core workflows). This is not great for Windows because even a browser with a few threads open begins to occupy multiple threads on a CPUs.
So though the newest dual core i3 CPUs are indeed an improvement over even the newest Atom CPUs by a good margin (with Passmark scores typically 50-100% higher) the quad core i3 CPUs in the current generation represent another significant jump in performance over the dual-core i3 CPUs (with Passmark scores typically over 50% higher again). What has to be considered is the minimum acceptable performance for a given user as their daily driver PC, especially since benchmarks aren't great indicators of this. Considering that the latest i3 beats a bunch of older i5 CPUs (8th and 9th generation) it should be clear that this CPU is probably a great choice for a wide range of uses). By contrast, CPUs like the Atom N5000 run in the range of early Intel Core CPUs (though MUCH more efficiently). Though Windows would be functional on such a PC it would be far from fun. Clearly the i3 1115G4 falling in between these two extremes means you have to make some subjective arguments about what would be an acceptable experience. My suggestion is more that the 1125G4 is broadly a good experience for a wide enough swath of users to be more universally acceptable.
Good luck!
Jon
How do you find off lease laptops? I did not even know they leased laptops??
Micro Center is one common source. Same for Newegg. You'll find these as refurbished laptops of the variety typically purchased and returned from large organizations.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank The_Love_Spud
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Jon
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Jon
That's not to say AMD doesn't offer good choices also. I much prefer iGPU for general PC laptops.
Lazy Intel got bit by AMD and Apple's M1 and finally started pumping out cores they were artificially holding for more expensive models. I predict 4 cores, while may be ok for now, is not future proof.
The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Jon
Mind sharing the MCenter link? Thanks
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The 1115G4 is the 2 core / 4 thread model that is functional, but more comparable to the Pentium and Celeron CPUs you see in Chromebooks. These lower horsepower CPUs are killer with Chrome OS, but demanding of more patience when operated with Windows. At this price point you might do better to shop for a refurb/off-lease laptop with a 4 core i-series CPU. In fact, I see that a refurb HP 15-dy2035tg 15.6" is available at Micro Center with that exact 1125G4 i3 I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Jon
eBay is a good place for off lease equipment. But you better do your research on laptop models and know what your getting before you make the jump. And of course condition. But nice thing about eBay is, even if you get screwed over or a seller sends you a laptop and the condition is way worse than expected and they refuse to work with you, eBay will refund you. And you might get a free laptop out of it 🤷
Ebay refunds the person by pulling the money from the sellers account. Don't bet on a "free" laptop as that won't happen.
That's not to say AMD doesn't offer good choices also. I much prefer iGPU for general PC laptops.
However, as much as Intel and Microsoft work together they also remain distinct with unique targets. Intel produces CPU to meet a performance target which allows them to fill a product position. There's no guarantee that such a CPU operates Windows well, even if the underlying x86 architecture means Windows will technically run on it.
Despite relatively beefy "large" i-series cores, the newest low power dual-core i3 CPUs live in the overall performance realm of the smaller, but individually less-capable quad-core, Atom-based CPUs (particularly for multi-threaded, multi-core workflows). This is not great for Windows because even a browser with a few threads open begins to occupy multiple threads on a CPUs.
So though the newest dual core i3 CPUs are indeed an improvement over even the newest Atom CPUs by a good margin (with Passmark scores typically 50-100% higher) the quad core i3 CPUs in the current generation represent another significant jump in performance over the dual-core i3 CPUs (with Passmark scores typically over 50% higher again). What has to be considered is the minimum acceptable performance for a given user as their daily driver PC, especially since benchmarks aren't great indicators of this. Considering that the latest i3 beats a bunch of older i5 CPUs (8th and 9th generation) it should be clear that this CPU is probably a great choice for a wide range of uses). By contrast, CPUs like the Atom N5000 run in the range of early Intel Core CPUs (though MUCH more efficiently). Though Windows would be functional on such a PC it would be far from fun. Clearly the i3 1115G4 falling in between these two extremes means you have to make some subjective arguments about what would be an acceptable experience. My suggestion is more that the 1125G4 is broadly a good experience for a wide enough swath of users to be more universally acceptable.
Good luck!
Jon
Good luck!
Jon