Board 8 > Quad Core vs Dual Core processor

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I am in the preliminary stages of laptop shopping, and I have settled on just about everything that I am looking for except for this and have some questions.

1. While I do a little bit of everything on my laptop, I don't do things like video/sound editing, heavy-duty business/math/science programs, or play high-end games (use consoles for that). I know that as a result, I don't need a quad core, but will it still make a (positively) significant impact for me?

2. This would be a mid-tier laptop, so is there any risk to the laptop if I go for a higher or the highest processing unit than whatever the default would be?

3. What effect, if any, does having a quad-core processor have on heat generation and battery life?
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1. It still can if you multitask. For example if you play an online FPS game while you use discord for communication or use a Youtube video as a music source it can still tank your FPS as CPU utilization can easily be maxed out.

2. Generally no. It's most important to have a good airflow, so the general idea is to always never obstruct the airflow of any laptop.

3. Generally Quad Cores in theory should heat up faster once all the cores are utilized, but since a computer system won't be fully utilized all the time, it can be actually be cooler than using a dual core that is always on 100% utilization.
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I use a cooling pad, but I will probably get a new one
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I am also most definitely a multitasker
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1. Really depends how much youre doing and what generation of processor (and if its intel or and) it comes from. In like simple stuff, no. Like if you just open up YouTube and have another tab for like board8 nothing will be noticeable. Your total ram is more important here.

However if you dont have a dedicated gpu on the graphics and have it integrated or an older amd apu more cores are more important, sometimes. For amd its a moot point because I dont even think they sell stuff in less than 4 cores. So if you even do like a midrange game having 4 cores or at least two cores with four threads might be needed.

2. No. Or at least no more than any other laptop. Laptops get hot, its just a thing that happens.

3. Other factors are more important to how much heat a processor will contribute like architecture, load, how its cooled, quality of the thermal paste, and the physical construction of the processor itself. Yes more cores will pull more power but only if youre using all of them. Most processors are adaptive and will only use what they need.
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Like how big of a difference is 8 vs 12 GB of RAM?
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For your uses most likely none for the normal life time of a laptop
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KokoroAkechi posted...

Other factors are more important to how much heat a processor will contribute like architecture, load, how its cooled, quality of the thermal paste, and the physical construction of the processor itself.

I take it these aren't things that I could conceivably know, unless there exist sites that explicitly detail that info?
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KCF0107 posted...

KokoroAkechi posted...

Other factors are more important to how much heat a processor will contribute like architecture, load, how its cooled, quality of the thermal paste, and the physical construction of the processor itself.

I take it these aren't things that I could conceivably know, unless there exist sites that explicitly detail that info?

Architecture you can tell based on the professor name and things like tdp will normally be listed somewhere. But besides architecture (where you should be looking to try to get the newer 14nm chipset) most of these are not important or impossible to really fix by an end user without advanced know how. Its even harder/impossible on a laptop because of the way they are constructed. Some things were only found out after user tests.
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So one of the laptops I have looked at has an AMD A12-9720P. I know little about this stuff, but I think that its architecture is in the Bristol Ridge mold and has a 15W TDP.

While the architectural name means nothing to me, the lower the TDP the better correct?
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Yeah the lower the better. I dont buy laptops so I dont really know whats good or bad for a laptop in that area. Keep in mind that more powerful chips will have higher tdp in relation to chips made under the same technology.

How much are you planning on spending anyway, you say mid range but I consider that for laptops to be in the like 800 to 1000 dollar range and I know you can get a much better processor than that for the cost.
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That example one is $600-something.

I consider sub-$500 low-tier, $500-999 mid-tier, and $1000+ high tier. Those ranges were semi-arbitrarily chosen.
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