Buying Laptop: New vs Older CPU diff?
 

Shopping for new laptop for my dad...

When I am checking around for "budget" laptop (<$500), I notice a lot of them comes with CPU that's score lower than a 4 years old cpu

i.e., I am comparing a sandy bridge i5-2520m (refurb T420) vs the newer Pentium N3540 or AMD A8-6410.

Is there anything that these newer CPU offer that are superior than the older sandy bridge i5? (On paper benchmark, they both score much lower than the older i5)

Is there any reason I should get a new CPU/laptop instead of a 4 years old model? (Assuming the older model is refurb and like new quality)

somewhat OT...
but wtf happened to CPU progress?
I remember growing up, 4 years is like a century for computers and CPU stuffs... a high end Pentium 4 in 2004 was completely obsolete by 2008.

It seems CPU progress is non-existent now...they aren't making them faster and even the energy efficiency didn't really improve much on the newer models.

for laptops the newer processor is a lot more efficient so it'll give you better battery life. A lot of gamers still uses 2600k sandy bridge i7 for their rigs as the performance from that to 4790k is similar enough.

Unless it's for gaming, I doubt your Dad will notice any performance difference between a new/recent cpu. If anything, just make sure you get a laptop with SSD.

I think it has to do with an actual physical limitation of the chip and the way we design chips. We can't continue making them smaller because well.. physics. I'll try to find the articles related to it

IMO, the biggest impediment is a complete lack of competition for Intel. Why spend $$$ to innovate when you're pretty much the only game in town?

But yes, approaching the physical limitations in manufacturing is definitely one of the obstacles.

Get this for your father, and make sure to throw in a SSD

Buy Dell Inspiron 15 Signature Edition Laptop - Microsoft Store Online

It says out of stock, but they might have it at a local store (Pacific Center, Oakridge, Metrotown, etc)