I5 with Sli or I7

Both Tomb Raider and Battlefield 4 are heavily optimized for an AMD based system.

Tomb Raider - http://community.amd.com/community/a...y-tressfx-hair
Battlefield 4 - http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4...4-mantle-live/

Note that only relates to the GPU side of things, afaik. The original question was about an I5 or I7 based system. Depends on budget, it really is that simple. I'd be happy with either, but i'd be more inclined to go for a system with an I7 and a good single gpu.

I've always found this site a good source of information when looking at laptop / mobile gpu information -

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...ist.844.0.html

Aside from the usual Anandtech / Guru3D / XtremeSystems information gathering, the one above is pretty useful when looking at laptops.

Wow you guys thanks for all the advice and for scaring away that troll. Right I have decided to go for the I7 but now I can't decide between the y410p and the y510p, the y410p is has the same specs as the y510p but it is 14' so I can't decide because the added mobility would be helpful and the screen size wouldn't be a huge downside since I would be gaming on an external monitor, but it's still iffy since the last time I saw a 14 alienware it looked small and awkward (but it was a while ago so it might have been the 11' lol). Anyways thanks for all the feedback.

Im sorry. But every word of this post is false.
Intel is more energy efficient and have higher individual core speeds outputting less heat.
i7 and i5 ARE the industry standard for gaming
"has a powerful card inside the chip" im not even sure what that means
DO you mean chip inside the card?
And are you talking about an APU? lol
AMD is aimed at cheap

I am A+ Network+ and Security+ certified. I work as remote tech support for 2 major companies. I build PCs and built the one im using now. Im past 30 but not yet 40 and have experience.

AMD is inferior in EVERY single way other than price. Not that there is anything bad or wrong with their products, but intel and nVidia have them beat on every single marker but price.

In fact AMD was right about to go out of business before they released the new 270-290 cards.

IF you are short on cash, yes you can build an AMD system that will run this game perfectly, I have a 7870 in the PC im typing on now. Because I got it for 110$ last year But I would never buy an AMD processor or Mobo. I just wont. Based on 15 years of experience.

I like that AMD exsists and tries hard so that intel and nVidias prices at least have competition. But I wouldnt build a PC with AMD parts for anyone I cared about. Only to sell. Or for myself cuz I can accept that risk.

AMD fanboying is kinda funny. How do you justify a hotter louder product that consumes more energy for less output to be better? Other than price?

But McDonalds gets lots of business so, I get it.

I doubt you are a PC analyst, for starters APU is HSA technology hence core speed is double or triple than anything intel has and that tech will be the future is already happening now.

Nvidia is right now the only competition AMD has on video cards, and AMD sells more video cards than NVIDIA, as for AMD vs Intel in next quote:
AMD is not just cheap its quality processors, and its using new technologies than make them more efficient than intel without overcloaking the chip, so if you have an inch of brain you would buy an AMD chip.

Not a problem, like Guru3D site me too check this:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,10.html

and this:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,13.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...review,16.html
AMD 7850k is superior in gaming to I7 because the margin is so low, you dont even notice it and AMD is a lot cheaper.

Note if you can buy an i7 top of the line and a monster GPU go for that, that still the best gaming rig, but AMD has the casual/hardcore mid rig option for everyone that cant afford a i7, if its laptop OP go i7.

Obviously, not every word...

Just sayin.

Oh the ignorance. Intel has been pummeling AMD for years in every aspect except price. You get what you pay for though so, in a way, they are still beating AMD in price.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

The first AMD CPU is rank 33. The second AMD CPU is rank 51. The third AMD CPU is rank 73 and that's not even a desktop CPU. It's a server CPU. If you want the third desktop CPU you need to go down another 2 ranks.

I've always wondered if AMD is even trying anymore.

Actually, in terms of add-in vid cards, AMD and NVidia are pretty close right now. For a while AMD cards were very pricey because the bitcoin miners were using them, but that seems to be over now. Good to see.

You've been missing the point. You seem to only care about IGP performance. IGPs should be considered budget gaming GPUs.

Yes, with a A10-7850k, you can play Tomb Raider in 1080p with medium settings at ~30fps. That's as high as you go. If you want to play at High settings, your framerate will drop to ~18fps. If you want a higher framerate, no AMD APU can give you that. The only way to get to high quality settings at a higher framerate is to use a dedicated GPU, and the moment we start talking about that, the price advantage of the 7850K disappears. The i3-4330 is $40 cheaper, and delivers a slight increase in performance.

Let's emphasize that: If you want to play Tomb Raider (and many other recent games) at standard resolutions and maximum quality, you will need a dedicated GPU. No AMD APU can do it. Once you are using a dedicated GPU, CPU comparisons get much easier. We can compare them straight up.

Now for the kicker:

In a game which stresses both CPU and GPU --like SWTOR-- no AMD APU is going to be able to give you 60fps on High settings. I'm not even sure about Medium settings wth AA. If you want to play SWTOR on High settings, you're going to need a dedicated GPU and a decent CPU. The i3-4330 is a better CPU for SWTOR and costs less than the 7850k. See here.

Thus: Even if you are looking for the cheapest way to run SWTOR at high quality settings, the i3-4330 and a dedicated GPU will give you better performance and cost less than the 7850K and a dedicated GPU. Using the 7850K alone will not be capable of running the game at high settings with a respectable frame rate.

If you are okay running games at medium quality at low framerates (and many people are perfectly happy to do so), then the 7850K can save you some cash. If you want the higher quality, AMD isn't going to help you get it, and Intel will likely be a more cost-effective route.

Agree. AMD and nVidia have been pretty close in performance for a while now. Even back at the start of the GeForce line when they sort of took the GPU market by storm, the Radeons weren't far off in performance. They often trade the "best performance" crown, and alternate between various other optimums like power draw, noise, AA performance, etc.

While almost all of my cards have been nVidia, that is mostly due to coincidence. I just happened to be building at times when nVidia was putting out cards with particularly good value (6800, 8800GTS-G92, 560Ti, 770). Before those, I was limited to nVidia because ATi refused to play nice on Linux. Currently, I have no preference between nVidia and AMD video cards and advise people to buy the card they can get a better deal on.