Intel Laptop; £500 - $600 budget; All-purpose build; Low/Casual Gaming Req; Occasionally plug into 1080 monitor.

Pom

Pom

Member
Hello PCS members,

This is my second build to consider but as a gift this time for my relative. This is in replacement to a 10 year old Dell Celeron n5030 model that is on its last legs.

I read the sticky on AMD vs Intel CPU, which has now put me in doubt about whether I am missing better value for money and reliability in CPU choices. The only model to configure with AMD laptop is abit above budget.

I am better off to look at similar specs 'off-the-shelf' and scope for an AMD CPU?

Thank you in advance.
Regards,
Pom


Chassis & Display
Initia Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 60Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i3 Dual Core Processor i3-10110U (2.1GHz, 4.1GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
Integrated Intel® HD Graphics
1st Storage Drive
250GB Samsung 870 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 45W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Initia Series Integrated 36WH Lithium Ion Battery
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.2 PORT + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
Clevo NL51CU FHD (i3-10110U, FHD, 60Hz N4)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £535.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/initia-15/G93tbTaKuj/
 
Pom

Pom

Member
Hi Bhuna50
It's a gift so I do not have a catelogue of known games to share but am sure this is suitable for Into The Breach, Sims4, Papers Please, and Darkest Dungeon to name a few.
Unless you can help to explain otherwise?
 
Bhuna50

Bhuna50

Author Level
Its very minimal settings for any gaming - as nice as a gift it is for someone that would maybe do some office work / internet browsing, I wouldnt recommend it for gaming, casual or otherwise.

for example, recommended spec on Sims 4:

RECOMMENDED SPECS:

  • OS: 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10
  • PROCESSOR: Intel core i5 or faster, AMD Athlon X4
  • VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GTX 650 or better
  • MEMORY: 4 GB RAM
  • HARD DRIVE: 18 GB of Hard Drive space
 
D

DarTon

Well-known member
I was recently asked by my parents to source a cheap laptop for them. To be fair they only really use it for web surfing and email so the requirements are modest. My conclusion was that it was better to go with pre-built system. At this sort of budget level, I felt I really needed to cut some corners.

The Intel Core i3-10110U you are looking at is only dual core and four threads. It's Passmark CPU benchmark scores are 2,300 for single core and 4,000 for multi-core. That's realy not adequate for 2021+.

By comparison for £500 you can get (from a major manufacturer) a laptop with an AMD Ryzen 4500U with 6 cores and 6 threads (single core score of 2,450 and multi-core of 11,300). That's the prior generation of AMD mobile processesors but it's still almost three times the multi-core score. The integrated Radeon graphics are also superior. That also comes with the same 8GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM and a 250GB NVMe SDD (better than SATA). The screen is only 14in. If you want a 15.6in screen, then for £550, you can get a newer AMD Ryzen 5500U with 6 core and 12 threads. Single core score of 2,500 and multi-core of 13,700. Faster 3200Mhz RAM and same 250GB NVMe SDD. £600 buys you a 500GB SDD.

These machines have compromises. The screen won't be 300nits+ brightness (probably 225nits) so they won't be ideal outdoors. They are not expandable. If you buy with 8GB RAM, you are stuck with it (you can rip out the SDD and replace it). Build quality is mediocre and cooling not ideal. For many task, however, something like a 4500U is very adequate.
 
M

mdwh

Enthusiast
Note at the least, you could select an M.2 SSD drive instead of the "storage drive" - e.g. the PCS 256GB PCIe is actually cheaper and will be faster, or 512GB for a little bit more.

I also note the RAM frequency can be increased for only £1 more.

But I don't disagree with Darton's comments.
 
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