Do I need powerful CPU for programming?

[Merkey]

Hi, so I want to buy a Laptop to school. I will be doing mainly Word, Powerpoint and also some programming in C#. I will not do any power hungry programs, I just don't know how it affects compiling times or generally whole IDE. Would be i3 7100U or i5 7200U enough?

[Martin Noronha]

Hey, Merkey!

For programming and office work,

You actually don't need a high-end laptop with high graphics which will be too expensive for you!.

I would suggest you go with an i5 7200U because it's the best and I use it as well!

 

Hope I answered your question!

Good Luck!

 

 

[Guest]

I compile C++ and run Powershell scripts comfortably on a dual core i3 5th gen. It's just a bunch of texts.

Both the i3/i5 7th gen would do fine, get one with SSD to improve file and program loading time

[Aelita Sophie]

It's a yes and no case. Generally the i3 7100U will be working just as good as the i5 7200U. Though where it comes down to is the compiling. Compiling can be faster with more cores and is probably faster with more single-core performance. Though this all depends on the way you code. Call me a bit spoiled, but I always tend to lean towards an i5. i3 Will probably be just fine, but since it's school, you need to think further. You'll probably use this laptop for quite a few years. Having some extra juice to catch up the overhead of the coming years would be smart.

[Linksys120n]

a cheap i3 will work fine for programming as compiling anything less then a few thousand lines of code (I'm assuming you prob won't go over a couple hundred) only takes a few moments... not very long at all.

[TAHIRMIA]

Your CPU will matter but unless you're building games you don't really need anything High-End

[Jurrunio]

Doesnt really matter, but if the cost is similar then go i5.

[brob]

2 hours ago, Merkey said:

Hi, so I want to buy a Laptop to school. I will be doing mainly Word, Powerpoint and also some programming in C#. I will not do any power hungry programs, I just don't know how it affects compiling times or generally whole IDE. Would be i3 7100U or i5 7200U enough?

Compilers are single threaded. Most build systems are single threaded. Builds, (compilation, linking, etc.), involve reading and writing a lot of relatively small files. One does not need a lot of cores. Most programming does better with higher clock speed, faster storage, and a decent amount of main memory. 

 

Depending on the sorts of programs being developed one might want to run one or more virtual machines. In that case something with more than two cores and lots of memory will improve productivity.

 

Of the two cpu suggested in the OP I would go with the i5-7200U. Mostly due to its ability to clock over 3GHz. I would also look for a laptop that has a reasonable size ssd.