Intel Core i5 or i7?

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I am wondering if the i7 is really worth the money compared to the i5. I am ordering mine for college with the 10% student discount, so the difference is only $135. I don't really play PC games very often but then again I really don't have a computer that's even capable so that might change once I have it. That being said I'm mostly going to be just surfing the web, but I still want a fast processor for when I'm watching HD videos sometimes over HDMI at 1080p where other laptops/mobile processors have failed me, and also for occasional video editing, audio recording, photoshop and other productivity applications, I'll also be swapping the hard-drive for my Intel 80GB X-25M SSD for extra speed/battery life. I figured the i7 will pay off over time when programs and games start requiring more power and I can't upgrade my processor, and if this laptop lasts me about one and a half to two years, the extra cost is really only like $6 a month. I realize I'm probably not going to notice the difference, and in the end it's up to me whether the upgrade is worth the money, but I'm wondering if there are any other added features with the i7 other than faster clock speed, and/or if there are any downsides to upgrading other than cost, such as if the i7 consumes more power and battery life compared to the i5. What do you guys think?

 

My mentality on the situation is, unlike other components like hdd, ram etc, the cpu is fixed and you will never to be able to upgrade it. So the life of your computer starts and finishes with your cpu.

For me to buy a computer I need to have the best core components at the time of purchase - I max out all the stuff that I can't make better later. The last thing I want is it to have an out of date model before I even have it.

But that's me. And you're the one spending the money. What I suggest is to get the best you can afford. Because you want this one to last you a while, making the best you can make it now cpu wise is a wise thing to do.

 

Applarently, i7 has a bit more power consumption than i5 ( i'm talking about the ones in the AW M11x)
I also want this Comp for college and i will probably go for the i5 (99%).
The reason is the battery life. You loose more battery life than gain performance, of course performance increases a bit, but battery life can be reduced by 1h.

here you've got some bar charts about these processors, so you can see what i am talking about.

Notebookcheck: Review Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Processors ?Arrandale?

If you've got those 135$ to spend on the i7, i would go for the i5 and get a bigger SSD

 

From what I have seen in your link the power usage chart was with the "M" models and not the "UM" models which apply to the m11x.

From the chart at the start of that review all new CPUs i3, i5 or i7 "UM" have a TDP of 18W.

 

yeah it looks like the i5 and i7 UM have same TDP!



are these the UM models in m11x? anyone know?

 

TDP is not the power consumption... is the calorific energy that the sistem must dissipate to mantain the CPU in operative temperatures. In Desktops it may be part of the power consume, but having a pasive refrigeration sistem like most laptops means this is not the real measure of the power consumption

and about that UM-M matter, I'm sorry xD i did not realise that xD

 

Yes they are, i5 520UM and i7 640UM. I don't know why they weren't included in the tests though...

 

i see it like the others who see that the cpu can not be upgraded later on but other components can, so if money is going to be spent better to spend it on the cpu up front and other components later.

 

I think your choice is:

i5 -> More battery life (I'd say 30min - 1hour)
i7 -> Little more speed

 

I think you over exaggerated, at least in term of i5-520UM vs i7-640UM. Both of them by majority have the same CPU design, only a few things that are difference L3 Cache and CPU speed. 1.06GHz vs 1.2GHz when running light application isn't gonna kill 30-60mins more. When running full load w/ HT & OC, then maybe 30 mins.
I mean look at it this way, let's say you are web surfing, on i5-520UM and it use 40% CPU usage, but when doing the exact same thing on i7-640UM, you are not pulling 40% CPU usage, but less, maybe 35%.

 

What is this talk of the CPU being unchangeable, or that the decision between i5 and i7 is "final" in terms of choice? Is it soldered onto the motherboard? Or is it simply because Dell uses those warranty-voiding "tamper tapes" on the socket?

I find that relatively hard to believe since it would tie Dell's hands in terms of supply, and with the Dell Malaysia site giving an i3 option, I find it further harder to believe Dell would work with a product that has two versions and five motherboards between them.

 

Its the same boards, except for R1, CPUs are just soldered on at assembly.

 

They solder it to the motherboard.

 

I'm very curious if the i7 is worth it as well. Is the upgrade to i7 from i5 worth it? I already have an order placed with an i5 core and 320gb 7200 rpm, but from what I can tell, it seems like it'd be better to get an i7 with 160gb 5400 rpm and upgrade the hd myself later.

Please share your thoughts!

 

Well if you plan to upgrade the HDD you should really pick the cheapest option you can when you buy it.

As said previously the CPU is soldered to the board, so that one if for the long run. The i7 will give you marginally faster clock speed and some features. It really depends what you want to do in the long run.

 

yub, that's what a lots of ppl here are doing i7 w/ 160GB HD. Upgrading HD yourself not only easy but cheaper that let Dell do it for you. Memory wise, from 2GB to 4GB it's pretty much the same whether you do it or you let Dell do it. So most people just get it w/ 4GB RAM. And also, some people very want to get crazy SSD that dell don't offer anyway, so why spend more on HD. But yea, CPU will be the hardest thing to change later and definitely gonna cost more than $150 later on if you decided to upgrade later.

 

I was going to sell my Gateway P-7805u for an m11x. The coupon is pretty sweet, but I am already busting my wallet on the iPhone 4 .

 

Also for those going to 8 Gb of ram, you save ~130$ if you get the 2Gb model and buy 8gb off Newegg.

 

I'm thinking I'm going to stick with 2GB of ram, and spend that extra cash on the i7. My current machine (Windows 7 32-bit) has 2GB and it hardly ever uses more than 1GB of it. The M11x will be running Windows 7 64-bit though so I'd expect it to take up a bit more, but I don't think I really need 4GB of ram at the moment, I'll leave that open to upgrade later if I have to.

 

For school I'd recommend spending the money on the faster processor, as (especially depending on your major) that could make a large difference in running certain apps.

And, as mentioned before, you can upgrade everything else yourself, and generally for cheaper than Dell prices.

 

the 4gb ram option for $50 more is a great option. I can't seem to find 4gb upgrade options online for less than $99! lol so yeah.. good price. US but def upgrade options you cannot do yourself later ala the CPU, then go with what else is important to you until you hit your limit =)

 

Using HWInfo32 I noticed on m17x that sometimes both cores would be boosted up to from 2.6 GHz to 3.33 GHz. It looks like if the temperatures don't go high, it can in principle overclock itself automatically when needed.

I'm not sure how is the manual overclock working on that CPU.

 

I think you just confused between Overclock & TurboBoost.
The speed shown for the i7-620M in the M17x, 2.6GHz is a normal speed. 3.33GHz is a TurboBoost speed (meaning there is no software/config required, but that's also speed at single core mode). OverClocking is done in the BIOS by raising the bus speed. In M11xR2 case, you can raise it from 133 to 166 at 2MHz increment.

 

so for M11x, what speeds are we looking for dual core OC'd? I dont know how to do the OC math lol. I understand the turbo part that's for just a single core. I'm more interested in dual core OC'ing which is constant.

*edit* I got some info regarding the i7-640UM from you freeman on your other post in thread "M11xR2 very important benchmark thread" thanks

 

I am well aware of the difference - and similarities. I am saying that the CPU in m11x will probably be working with turbo-boost even when both cores are used. HWInfo32 (and actually Intel website confirms this is done) shows both cores are overclocked to 3.33 GHz when there's heavy usage, like running a benchmark.

Whether you'll be able to additionally overclock it by some big amount and as nicely as SU7300/SU4100 and get decent stability (due to the fact that it overclocks itself in the turbo-boost) - I'd say it's doubtful.

@aznguyen316

What I am saying turbo boost (apparently) works even with both cores on, with i7 620m.

 

Yes, TB works on dual core also. I think Intel is doing us dis-service by putting the single core mode number in the product summary page, instead of TB when the active core aren't reduce.

 

From this flash video about turboboost, it sounds like it will happen on both cores as long as the CPU is under whatever power, temperature, and current thresholds Alienware or Intel set. Since this is the UM version of the Core I series, I wonder how often it will actually turboboost (it would be nice if the settings varied whether you're on battery or AC).

 

At least on R1, the heat dissipation (+ heat production isn't that high I guess?) works really really great. This has to be laptop with the coolest CPU/GPU ever so I'd say R2 should be deliver full power i7. Unless there is some sort of a software lock or throttling going on due to something else.

 

I've read through all the pages, but I can't really tell-- do you guys think that the i7 will have significantly less battery life than the i5?

If the i5 has better battery life, but less performance, then why would the i7 upgrade cost $150? Is it worth it?

Based on the poll it seems like most people are getting the i7 on this 'ultraportable' laptop. Can someone clue me in? Thanks.

 

^ i7 cost more because it's more powerful. Simple as that. Lots of laptops offer more powerful CPU options at more cost yet battery usage goes up. As for i7 using more power, not sure, but to me, I would assume so.

Most people are opting for the i7 b/c the processors cannot be upgraded in the future. So most people are going to spend their money on that stuff now and upgrade the easy things later (if you're on a budget).

 

That's really helpful. What do you think and about the difference though? I understand that opting for i7 will give it better performance and resale value, but will it decrease battery life by a significant amount?

 

I can't very say which one will have better battery life, but here is an explanation why better CPU can actually consume less power and in turn prolong battery life. Since I already say it once, I'm not gonna explain it every time somebody ask.

 

based off your explanation there, you're saying that i7 might potentially use less battery life? is that correct?

is the 640um i7 a quad core? if so, how could it possibly use less power? (also, if it isn't a quad core, could you please tell me why not? i'm sort of confused about all this cpu business.)

thanks!

 

Yes, but "potentially" is an operative word here. And even if i7 do use more power, I cannot see it will use much more power than i5. It's not going to be 10-20% more power consumption like what people think. No, i7-640UM and i5-520UM are both dual core w/ HT. They are primary have similar design, same 32nm and same 18W max TDP. The main difference between the two are clock speed and L3 cache.

 

=/ Then would you say that the i7 is worth the upgrade? I kind of just jumped on the bandwagon yesterday and changed my order from an i5 to an i7 to avoid having any regrets, but I'd be kind of sad if there wasn't a noticeable difference.

And thanks for all your posts freeman, they're an awesome help!

 

Since upgrading the CPU is a no go I would get the i7.
Battery life will not be affected too much or at all, personally I look at it this way,some games will benefit having a more powerful CPU so the faster i7 will be a better choice.
For me anyway that's what I would do, and not having to regret no spending the extra money.
The battery argument is moot once you consider the R2 will have Optimus tech.

 

That's right. In the end, the loss in battery life will be negligible. The laptop already has epic battery life, and I have no problem in trading a tiny piece of that for the additional power the i7 will provide, no matter how small it may be.

 

I don't see what does Optimus have to do with battery life? On R1 you can switch to IGP and turn off nVidia card. The way I see it... if anything, it could only shorten battery life if for some reason it let it turn on dedicated nVidia GPU while doing something IGP could easily do.

For the CPU... no clue. It does clock itself down quite a bit when you're not doing anything intensive, so that's a big plus.

 

Fortunately, Optimus does not use the load on the GPU to determine if it should switch. According to the R2's manual, nVidia maintains a list of GPU-intensive programs that will cause Optimus to switch to the 335m when one of those programs launch. This list is accessible, and you can add and remove items from it. So, if something doesn't need the nVidia GPU yet is using it, you can remove it from the list.

 

now that people are getting their R2's any word on if the i7 is worth getting over the i5?

 

Everyones waiting for reviews. Should be real soon.

 

The problem here is that most people are getting i7, so you gonna have to wait for somebody to get i5 and do a fair comparison.

 

I don't think so, not with that 48hr fast track 'i5 only' that popped up a day or so ago