Work/Home Laptop - which processor??

Hello all,

I'm looking to get a new laptop that I hope will last me a good few years and I am looking for some advice.
I am a PhD student so I am mainly looking for a laptop for the following uses:

Frequent use:
Surfing internet
Presentations
Word Processing
Streaming

Infrequent use:
Matlab
OriginPro
The odd steam game (not FPS or anything)

I have configured the laptop below but I am not sure whether to go for the i5 processor or the Pentium. There is a massive different in price (~£150+) and I wanted to make sure I wasn't spending more needlessly for the purposes I require and would the Pentium last?

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Chassis & Display
Lafité Series: Aluminium Chassis: 14" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-8250U (1.60GHz, 3.4GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st Hard Disk
500GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x Lafité Series 40W AC Adaptor
Battery
Lafité Series 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (36WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS
Keyboard Language
LAFITÉ SERIES SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price £645.00 including VAT and delivery

When you say the odd steam game, what are we talking exactly? The Intel graphics will be unable to run, even at very low settings, many modern titles.

I would suggest the i5 as it is a lot more powerful, having twice as many cores and 4 times as many threads. More useful for your infrequent uses, but if you are already sinking at least £500 into a laptop then it might as well be able to cough up the extra performance when you need it.