computer speeds

[bigdan]

I'm considering buying a computer for my father but I'm not really up to date with computer hardware and what kind of stuff I should be getting. Boxing day is coming up which is the only reason I'm considering it but I cant see anything that's faster than what I bought exactly 3 years ago, which is why I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

This is my current system. I bought it on boxing day 2011 for $450.
i5-2430 2.4 GHz, 6 GB RAM DDR3, 1 TB HD.



Here's 2 for about $500 at Bestbuy

1/ Processor Type Intel Core i3-4030U
Processor Speed 1.80 GHz
6 GB RAM
http://snipurl.com/29johfy

2/ Processor Type Intel Pentium N3530
Processor Speed 2.16 GHz
8 GB RAM
Acer Aspire E15 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - Black (Intel Pentium N3530/1TB HDD/8GB RAM/Windows 8.1) : Laptops - Best Buy Canada

Can someone explain how my current computer compares with the 2 above? I know i5 > i3 so it seems to me my current 3 year old computer is better than the first one here. My processor speed is also faster. The only thing I'm not understanding is what that 4030 number is after the i3. Mine is 2430 which is less, how significant is that?

With the second computer I dont even know what N3530 means.

And finally here's an AMD. I never really understood how to read AMD speeds so in this case I dont even have anything to relate to:

AMD Quad-Core A8-6410 APU, 8 GB RAM
This is for $450 ($250 off) at Bestbuy.
http://snipurl.com/29johh5

I'd be grateful if yall can tell me how these compare with my current computer, and with each other. If there's other relevant information I'm missing out that I need to know, let me know.

I've checked online sites for chip speeds but there's just sooooo many that one cant actually make sense of them. For example here on the intel site there's multiple generations of i3/i5/i7. WTF??
http://ark.intel.com/



Best Buy Boxing Day Sale - Dec 24 to Dec 28 - RedFlagDeals.com

 

[PP Mguire]

Your chip is second gen Sandy Bridge with a higher clock speed and more CPU cache, the i3 is a 4th gen Haswell with lower clockspeed and less cache.

Keep your laptop.

 

[bigdan]

Your chip is second gen Sandy Bridge with a higher clock speed and more CPU cache, the i3 is a 4th gen Haswell with lower clockspeed and less cache.

Keep your laptop.

Thanks a lot.
Which part is clockspeed and which part is cache, and how important are they?

I would've thought 4th generation is far superior to 2nd generation, regardless of whatever other speeds come with it?

BTW what is the generic term for chips like i3/i5/i7. Would you say i5 is a higher chip speed than i3, or higher chip type, better chip altogether? Just trying to figure out computer lingo.

 

[PP Mguire]

I wouldn't try to figure it out dealing with mobile chips because they are a different ballpark than the desktop chips.

In Desktop terms Linus Tech Tips (tech quickie) has a nice short video explaining the differences.

For your laptop and the chips in question, the small steps between SB, IB, and Haswell don't make an almost 1GHz difference justifiable. Cache isn't indicated by just the chip model, you have to Google it but you can almost always guarantee an i5 has more on chip L3 cache. Your chip is better simply because it's faster, we'll go with that. You'll need an i5 3***, i7 3*** or i5/i7 4*** with a clock speed of 2.2GHz or higher to really justify a new purchase. On mobile devices some i7s are always quad. Usually indicated by a Q in the name.

 

[bigdan]

thanks so much