Speedy Cpu?

Hi, is the following (* below) a particularly fast CPU, or is it at least faster (much) than "average", especially if paired with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, please?

* 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-1215U (10 MB cache, 6 cores, 8 threads, 3.30 GHz to 4.40 GHz Turbo)

 

Not really. The i3 tier of Intel CPUs is Intel's low-end of the "Core" series with i5, i7 and i9 above it. That said, the i3 is well above the lowest end of Intel processors, the Pentium and Celeron, collectively now called simply, the "Intel Processor" series.

But speedy is relative, depending on what you plan on doing with this computer. For surfing the internet, updating social media, watching videos, performing work/school tasks (email, Word, Excel), it is plenty fast. For serious gaming, CAD/CAE, graphics editing, it would struggle. The i3 line is said to provide "adequate" performance for most "basic" tasks.

But it should be noted, overall computer speeds are also dependent on other factors too - again, depending on the tasks being performed. For example, the graphics solution can make a huge difference in many games. A SSD instead of a hard drive will significantly improve all disk related tasks.

As far as 8GB, again, depending on the tasks, that may be plenty but I will note that is generally considered the bare minimum these days. Many, however, would argue 16GB is the minimum.

If the budget allows, I would recommend an i5 processor, preferably with 16GB of RAM and a 250GB or larger SSD boot drive. The i5 will provide "good" performance for most tasks - including most games.

If gaming is important, it is important to note that game developers fully understand that most gamers don't have bottomless, or even deep pockets and cannot afford the latest i7 or i9, top of the line processors, high-end graphics solutions or 32 or even 64GB of RAM. So they code their games to perform well and provide really good "game" with lessor systems.

So you can "game" with an i3. But an i5 would be better.

 

Wow! LOTS of great info!! THX!!!

 

YW