i3 vs Core 2 Duo. Which one is really better??

Hello everybody,

I just changed my laptop. My old laptop (HP2230s) has Core 2 Duo T5870 that runs at 2.00Ghz and has 2 MB L2 Cache. It has a WEI index of 5.0 (windows 7)

My NEW Laptop, (Lenovo Thinkpad T420i) which has i3 2310m, that runs at 2.10Ghz and has 3M Cache. The WEI index is only 3.4!

My older laptop (Thinkpad x61) which has Core 2 Duo, T8100 has a better WEI Score.

I wanna ask, why are my previous laptops are better than my new laptop? Everything else in my new laptop are better than my old ones. (graphics, hdd, RAM) etc...

Also I really notice the speed of the i3. For example:

When I have powerpoint open and watching a HD video on youtube, the video lags. When I try to move things around, scroll in powerpoint, it lags and sometimes freezes. I don't know why because I'm pretty sure that my laptop is fast enough for basic office applications. Why is this happening?

It's not my HDD speed because it runs at 7200 RPM. I also have enough RAM. I have 4GB DDR3 1600MHz.

Please help please!

Here's a few tutorials that can help with performance issues.

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup
Clean Up Factory Bloatware
Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

If you believe this:

PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs

the I3-2310M ought to be much better that either of the older CPUs.

I don't know what your problem might be. Performance settings (in the Power control panel)? Do you have a lot of crapware running?

I put it in High Performance/Maximum performance mode whenever possible. I just installed the programs I need for school. CS6, Office. And other programs like chrome and skype. No games. I really don't know why. My previous laptops, the component that has the lowest WEI score was the graphics. But now, it's my CPU!

I really don't know what happened. Is it a hardware issure or a software issue?

Even on the passmark website, my i3 is nearly one time better than my core 2 duos. What else could affect my performance. Because a simple HD video will lag my computer. Outrageous!

Have you tried re-running WEI?
Sometimes scores can change with a re-run.
WEI scores aren't all that meaningful imho.
But if you have performance issues, that is a problem...
Have you looked at the tutorials?

Firefighter said:

Even on the passmark website, my i3 is nearly one time better than my core 2 duos. What else could affect my performance.

The biggest bottleneck on any PC is the hard drive read/write speed. switch to a name brand 550/510 or higher SSD main system drive......

ELiTEFX said:

Firefighter said:

Even on the passmark website, my i3 is nearly one time better than my core 2 duos. What else could affect my performance.

The biggest bottleneck on any PC is the hard drive read/write speed. switch to a name brand 550/510 or higher SSD main system drive......

Do you think that'll give a major change in the WEI for the CPU?

Pfui.

bobkn said:

Do you think that'll give a major change in the WEI for the CPU?

I had to figure out what WEI was. I didn't know anybody actually used it. Just ran mine for the first time. I always refer to the Passmark scores. Passmark is in the benchmark business.
Anyhoo, No, an SSD will not help the CPU score. The OP should remember that an i3 processor is not intended for high performance. It's just a dual core value processor low wattage good bang for the buck.
I wouldn't spend another minute thinking about benchmarks. As long as he's happy with his laptop and it gets the job done, that's all that really matters.....

Check your Thinkpad power manager. Make sure that your thinkpad power manager is set to High Performance. Power manager softwares always override Windows 7 power plan so make sure your power is set to high performance in the thinkvantage power manager and the run the WEI.