Intel has launched a new tool that is designed to help computers buyers figure out what processors that should be looking for, based on the valuation of simple tasks. You may want to look for an i5 or i7 processor, but forget the i3.

We have been somewhat critical of Intel’s processor sequence numbers lately, which require from a customer a significant interest in processors to make sense. Perhaps Intel has seen a trend in which consumers are a bit confused by i3, i5 and i7 sequence numbers that do not provide any obvious differentiation at first sight and recently showed confusing inconsistencies within product families.

Now there is an online tool that promises to help you figure out which processor family you should be looking for. The evaluation is based on your active or passive interest in music, photography, home/business computing, entertainment and gaming. Depending on your choices, you get a recommendation of an i5, i7 or i7EE processor. If you are a rather passive user, listen to music, do casual photography, general home computing tasks and casual gaming, an i5 is enough. If you actively create music or are an enthusiast photographer, Intel recommends an i7. And if you are an enthusiast gamer you may want an Extreme Edition chip, Intel says.

So where is the i3? It is described as the entry point for a “fast, responsive computing experience.” Intel explains that the i5 offers Turbo Boost (increased core clock speed) support over the i3. And according to the configurator, the i3 is enough for simple home computing, music listening, basic photography and casual gaming. But if you want to watch movies, you definitely would want to consider an i5 and not an i3 chip. Given today’s consumer trends that would render an i3 processor almost useless.

It’s a good idea to offer such a decision making tool, but we would wish the naming of the processors would be transparent enough to indicate the performance without the need for a secondary tool.

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