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    17"... i5 vs. i7 charts

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by dave.ladner, Apr 15, 2010.

  1. dave.ladner

    dave.ladner Notebook Evangelist

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    This is an interesting article I ran across...

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=896205

    It is comparing the i7 processor with the i5 (both speeds) in the new MBP's.
    I had a question and wonder if anyone would care to give some opinions on it however.

    The discussion in that article seems to be solely based on the 15" MBP's, as people are saying to get the i7 simply for the extra 256MB of VRAM (512MB total then), because that in itself is worth it.

    However, I am looking at a 17" MBP, which already comes standard with the 512MB 330M... so my question is, would it even be worth spending an extra $200~, to upgrade to the i7 Processor in my 17", rather than the stock i5?

    The difference seems so miniscule, and the only noticeable difference, besides heat/power consumption, is the extra 1MB Cache with the i7. Also, keep in mind the Turbo Boost from the i7 puts it at 3.33Ghz, while the i5 I believe sits at 3.06Ghz. Importan?


    Thoughts?
    (Note: I would be doing mostly design/3D work on this MBP)
     
    dave.ladner, Apr 15, 2010
    #1
  2. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    the funny thing about turbo boost is that it will actually be less helpful over time.

    the idea being that more software will take advantage of multiple processors, and the total pushing power behind the two cores is greater than the one faster core.
     
    masterchef341, Apr 15, 2010
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  3. EviLCorsaiR

    EviLCorsaiR Asura

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    There will always be people running software that'll only utilise one or two of the processing cores. Nearly all modern games, for starters, only utilise one or two processing cores well.
     
    EviLCorsaiR, Apr 15, 2010
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