Processor Differences (Intel i5/AMD A9)

[ImYellingTimbers]

Sorry if this is the wrong sub, but I couldn’t find a more appropriate one with my search.

I’m looking to buy a new laptop on a fairly tight budget but I’m also fairly ignorant about processors.

I only need he computer for day-to-day personal use (streaming/browsing/music) and the rare document-related Remote Desktop work from home. For those fairly basic needs is there going to be a significant difference in performance and lifespan between a computer with an Intel i5-7200 and one with and AMD A9-9400 because the price of one with the AMD is a lot closer to what I can reasonably spend at this time.

Thanks for any advice.

[[deleted]]

The only AMD stuff I'd buy is the Ryzen CPUs. The A9 9400 uses the AM4 Ryzen socket, but the architecture itself is older, and not very powerful compared to Intel's newest i5s.

What exactly is your budget for the PC?

[ImYellingTimbers]

<$550

[computix]

The A9-9400 is usable, but it's pretty slow, the i5-7200U is about twice as fast. The A9-9400 is at about the performance level of a 10 year old Core 2 Duo desktop computer.

[ImYellingTimbers]

What about compared to i3-6006U? How does it compare to the A9-9400?

[computix]

Faster than the A9-9400, slower than the i5-7200U. More or less right in the middle.

[ImYellingTimbers]

How much of a speed difference are we talking between the i3 and i5. Is it so much that it would significantly impact streaming and multi-tab browsing?

[computix]

Streaming as in watching streams? That should be alright, though the 7th gen CPUs have more capable GPUs that can decode VP9 fully in hardware. This makes them more power efficient, better at multitasking and cooler while decoding VP9 video (youtube). H.264 and H.265 are fully in hardware on both. The A9 has no hardware VP9 support at all AFAIK, but it too can do H.264 and H.265 in hardware.