GX640: Some questions concerning the i7

Hi,

first: this forum is absolutely awesome! So many hints and great tips about tweaking the g-series I couldn't find anywhere else.

I'm about to purchase a gx-640, but I'm not sure which cpu to choose. I'd love to have as much performance as possible, but I'm a bit worried about the temperatures, which tend to be critical at this notebook. So I'd like to ask you: What are the pros/cons of the i7?

I'm thinking about terms like temps, battery life, performance compared to the price etc.

Thanks in advance!
pan

 

Hey welcome to NBR. We have cookies.

Are you sure that you need a Core i7 processor? Because the way I see it, the default Core i5 is pretty fantastic already. I'm not sure that the cost/improvement ratio would be that high, considering that only certain applications take advantage of the i7's extra threads.

Per-core frequency is higher on the Core i5, so unless you're rendering 3D/video all day or at least using applications that take full advantage of 8 threads, you'll be better off with the i5, cost/heat/power wise.

But that's just my opinion.

 

Yeah, you might be right. The extra +250€ (im from Europe) don't seem to be fair. I stumbled upon one thing though: You mentioned the 450 being sufficient, but I only saw 430's being offered besides the i7-720qm. Are there any other configurations (cpu-wise) of the mx640 available?

 

Any of the i5's and i7's work in the laptop. but for performance to cash spent for gaming your best off with the 430. Unless your doing heavy encoding or cpu intensive stuff on a daily basis the i7's just dont make much sense. People seem to think that the 430 isnt "good" because its the stock chip. but its damn good and any of the other i5's are really only marginal upgrades.

 

The new model has a Core i5 450M CPU, the one that had a 430M has been discontinued.

 

Thanks guys! Can you tell me when they introduced the new model?

 

In a week or two.

 

thanks, you really helped me with that hint. I think I'm gonna wait purchasing until the new model will be released over here. Will there be any other changes besides the cpu?

 

Nothing officially listed. Dakins has the 260 already i believe. Nothing really changed.

 

I think they added some more foamy padding under the keyboard to address the flexing issue, but other than that, it's the same machine.

 

I guess they copied the keyboard-thing from RayanMX If the rest remained unchanged, can you somehow judge the gain you have performance-wise? Just in case they drop the price of the "old" gx640's when the updated ones will be released

 

The old model isn't being manufactured anymore, it's been sold out pretty much everywhere for weeks. As for the upgraded CPU, the improvement should be in the realm of ~10%.

Here's a technical comparison between the two CPUs, differences are highlighted in green:

Compare Intel® Products

 

thanks man. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference besides the system bus. Do you think the new model will become more expensive once it's released? Over here there are still plenty of the "old" ones available online.

 

Yeah, it's around $100 more expensive over here.

 

wow, thats quite a lot for a ~10% gain, isn't it?

That makes me think about buying one of the 430's instead of waiting for the 450. What would you do: Buy a 430 for 1100, wait for the 450 to be priced around 1200 or buy the 720 for 1350? (Currency is Euros and yes, they are that pricey here -.-)

 

I wonder if you can get the new panel and transfer that to the gx640 r1 (sound like alienware ).

 

hello, i bought mine like 1 month ago and i dont have the flex problem. I think they fix it already, but Im not sure.

I want to know if anyone here play multiplayer games, like COD4 for example....

 

seems like not everyone had the flex issue, the poll attached to the fix-post showed 30% of not having any problems.

@FFZERO: I dont know what you mean..?

back to topic:

any opinions?

 

The ~10% gain will only really be obvious in benchmark tests and applications that are CPU intensive like video rendering. For the average gamer, the GPU will hold you back before the CPU can.

 

That pricey?? oO i payed 1200 for mine ( Netherlands ) and thats the old model

 

the prices seemed to have dropped in the last weeks. maybe they want to shoot out the last few old laptops to sell the new ones for more..

again, any opinions which system to choose? 430 (1100€ , 450(~1200€ or more), 720(1350€ ?

 

It's your money man, we can't make that decision for you.

 

i know, but i was hoping for any more infos concerning the loss of battery time etc. Are you i5-users missing some cpu-power?

Atm I think I'd be fine with the 430, but I also read a review which marked the cpu as some kind of the bottleneck of the system.

 

lolno

 

now that looks promising! thanks again. one question left: besides the option to upgrade the cpu at some time lateron: is it correct hat one can equip the gx640 with 1333mhz-ram?

 

The GX640 is equipped with 1333MHz memory by default. It will downclock to 1066MHz automatically with a Core i5 Mobile processor.

 

Can I ask how much RAM you have in that system?

 

4GB, full spec below:

 

a quick note to add, if you go with an i7, the WEI score of your RAM will jump to 7.4 since it will clock at 1333mhz.

Whether you will actually notice a difference solely based on the RAM, doubt it

 

I see you have an i7-720 in your gx640. how long does your battery last when idling or doing office-like things?

 

well i have an 820qm but i see ur point, the 720 and 820 are very similar in terms of power usage

in power saver are 30% brightness, 300/300 underclock I get around 2:15

I think I could get more if i put more restrictions on my cpu and gpu as well as undervolt but I haven't yet.

 

undervolting brings the gx640 with the i5-430 close to the 3 hour mark, doesn't it? that means, under normal circumstances your gx wouldn't last for 2 hours?

 

Why are your graphics scores only at 6.7? I have mine at 7.2.

 

I'm not sure Europe will be getting many of the 450 models. In the Netherlands, for example, only a few of the GX640-263NL models will be available, apparently. Furthermore, it is believed that after that, the GX640 won't be available anymore in the Netherlands

The GX740-063NL (430) is currently sold out, but will be available again in 3 weeks. Meanwhile, a few GX740-236NL (450) will be available.

Unfortunately, I don't know how accurate this information is.

I've read something about a GX660 though, a 16" version including the 5870. Does anyone have any information on this laptop?

 

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

You're right, man. PowerPlay was throttling my power and hating on my person.

Cheers.

 

Has anyone put another cpu-unit in his 640 yet? Currently I'm thinking about buying the gx640 with the i5-430 and upgrading to an i7 somedays..

 

see my sig

 

Enjoy your 30 minutes of battery life.

 

I get 2 hrs with an 820qm. It's nice to make sure you know what you're talking about

 

Hahaha, awesome pic there dak....

*BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP*

Battery times are very impressive, windows reports i can get up to 3 hours on the lowest settings completely idling with no modules activated, thats a 4850 and q9000 downclocked and downvolted cpu naturally,

Keeps it up!

 

Also, ~10% is an exaggeration for i5-450M vs i5-430M; the difference in max clock speed (2.66 vs 2.53) is only ~5.88%, and the real-world difference will be less.

 

According the information I got in the past days from some retailers, the GX640 won't become available at my place with a 450m. That makes the decision a lot easier and I'll go for a 430! Thanks guys for your help!