Please help with CPU choices

[Enkh]

I am looking for gaming laptop 17.3". And today I saw Optimus III.
There are number of CPUs from which I can make choice. The only CPU which has PPGA988 socket is intel i3 2350M. I do not know how this will affect performance of system in whole??? Is it enough to play latest games and how future worthy this CPU?
My second choice is intel i5 3210M which seems to be G2 socket, and this CPU is very well priced, though I have limited knowledge of its performance and socket difference??

I will appreciate any suggestion, comments.

[Big_Rich]

The i3-2350M is the previous generation Sandy Bridge dual core cpu running at 2.3Ghz with no turbo boost capability

The i5-3210M is the current generation Ivy Bridge dual core cpu running at 2.5Ghz with turbo boost to 2.9Ghz on 2 cores or 3.1Ghz on 1 core.

Neither are particularly fast and lie firmly in the budget/low-end area of the market. They are both unsuitable for gaming imho.

Depending on your budget, the i7-2760QM is on offer in the Optimus III and, despite being previous gen Sandy Bridge, is still a very potent CPU and will handle anything you throw at it for a long time.

[Diem]

What is turbo boost? I've seen it mentioned, but am not entirely sure what it does.

[keynes]

What is turbo boost? I've seen it mentioned, but am not entirely sure what it does.

Increases the speed of the processor.
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology1 provides even more performance when needed on 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor–based systems. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency if they’re operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits.

[El Wayneo]

I had a core i3 370 in a laptop before this one now (Core i7 2670) and it wasnt too bad for gaming, it was more let down by the GT425m graphics.

I woul go at least core i5 though really, you need the turbo boost as the increase in mhz will increase fps in games, but if the i7 is within budget then get that.

[Big_Rich]

Increases the speed of the processor.
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology1 provides even more performance when needed on 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor–based systems. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency if they’re operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits.

That copy pasta isn't strictly true... you get turbo boost on 2nd gen Sandy Bridge CPUs too.

[keynes]

That copy pasta isn't strictly true... you get turbo boost on 2nd gen Sandy Bridge CPUs too.

I agree, I took it from Intel's website but it does not say "only" 3rd generation intel core.

[Enkh]

Thank you all.
My budget is quite limited. I want to purchase something that would not cost me legs and arms, but still performs very reasonably for its price tag. The i5 3210M a lot cheaper than other nearly similar ivy bridge i5 processors, which makes me a bit cautious. Also reading reviews on notebookcheck.net I understand that there are some possibilities to upgrade CPU in future, at least in one review of latest MSI notebook they mentioned about it.
Yet, I have not any experience with upgrading CPU, even in my PC computers. But still I think that if I pick up something reasonably good today with right socket (which seems to be very important) I can upgrade it after few years.