I3 Processor 3rd Generation
It is is a Core i3-7100u (2.4GHz) vs. The Core i5-4200u (1.6GHz / 2.6GHz), then I would just go for the Core i3-7100u.
Ivy Bridge CPUs (3rd gen) are basically on average 6% more processing power than Sandy Bridge CPUs (2nd gen). They also use a little less power.The main difference is the new Intel HD 4000 which is on average around 35% - 40% more powerful than the older Intel HD 3000. Sounds impressive, but it is still relatively weak compared to desktop graphic cards.
The Intel HD 4000 is a bit slower than AMD's most powerful graphic core found in the older Llano A8 APUs. Compared to desktop graphic cards, the mobile version of the Intel HD 3000 is a little slower than the Radeon HD 5450, while the Intel HD 4000 would be a little slower than the Radeon HD 5550.
The fastest AMD Llano A8 graphics core would be a little faster than the Radeon HD 5550.AMD's recently released Trinity APU's best graphic core would probably be as powerful as a desktop Radeon HD 5570, but don't quote me on that. AMD's APU graphics performance varies greatly by memory performance (those Llano A8s paired with some DDR3-2133 10-10-10-30 or thereabouts can easily top most Radeon 5570/6570 DDR3 cards and the best Trinity A10s with such memory can fight with even the Radeon 6670 DDR3 cards).Also, only a few i3s get HD 3000 and HD 4000. Only the SKUs with model numbers ending in a 5 have the more powerful IGP for their generation, all of the others have the much weaker HD 2000 (2nd gen i3/i5/i7) or HD 2500 (3rd gen i3/i5, 3rd gen i7 always has HD 4000).Also, Intel's HD graphics has differing performance even with the same model names. For example, the i3-2125's HD 3000 is a lot weaker than the HD 3000 of the i5-2500K which is somewhat weaker than the HD 3000 of the i7-2600K. Having the same model number only means having the same hardware IGP, but the frequency differs and thus so too does performance.However, more on topic for OP, don't bother with an older generation Intel CPU most of the time.
Apr 18, 2019 - 2.3 3rd Generation (Ivy Bridge); 2.4 4th Generation (Haswell); 2.5 5th. 2nd Generation mobile Core i3 processors were based on Sandy.
Unless it's the difference between getting a new i3 and an older i7 or something like that, get the newer one. Yes, I agree with you there.
I think in mobile Intel CPUs there are 3 different clock speeds used for their integrated graphics core. The ultra low voltage (ULV) CPUs used in Ultrabooks are clocked the slowest to reduce power consumption.
3rd Generation Immigrant
I believe core i3 and i5 share the same performance level, while the highest core speed is reserved for the mobile Core i7 CPUs.Perhaps the dual core i3, i5 and i7 share the same performance (core speed), while the highest core speed maybe exclusive only to the quad core i7 'QM' models. Hello Friends,Intel is the king of processor and chipset world, of course AMD also presenting affordable processors for computers but AMD failed to beat Intel.
Intel founded on 1968 and they have almost 45 years experience on electronics field. Celeron and Pentium were did well on previous decade while intel second generation Sandy Bridge processor from 2010.
I3 3rd Generation Processor
They won’t take rest, Intel Ivy bridge (also known as third generation processors) released on May 2012 upon massive expectation from people. Processors are very similar to sandy bridge processors (second generation) except few tweaks. Intel still continuous the i3, i5 and i7 numbering in their 3rd generation.Best RegardsDuncan Jones.