ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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What's the difference between the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors? I'm buying a new notebook, and the options are a 1.7GHz Core i5 or for a few quid more I can get a 1.8Ghz Core i7. The difference in clock speed is nominal, so what else does the i7 do that the i5 doesn't?
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Sam
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Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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Differences are (i5 / i7):
Processor Number: i5-2557M / i7-2677M
Max Turbo Frequency: 2.70 GHz / 2.90 GHz
Cache: 3.0 MB / 4.0 MB
Only seems to be the speed you can overclock (the "max turbo") and the level 3 cache.
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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I have the i7. That and 8GB of RAM have never ever ever stopped on anything I've thrown at it.
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Sam
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Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
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I'd probably just go for the i5 TBH, unless there was a specific reason why it had to be an i7.
i5 will obviously be cheaper as well.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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May as well mention, it's for a MacBook Air. The reviews say that the i7 is 20% faster than the i5 but coupled to 4GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, the i5 is pretty damn quick.
I guess the main thing is whether to take the impatient choice and buy the i5 and have it Monday evening or wait 3 days for the i7 as they're built to order 
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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3 days for an i7, what's the price difference?
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ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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The i7 is £80 more too, so fairly insignificant as a percentage increase on the total cost of the machine.
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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I went for the i7 over the i5 on my M11x and it's worth it IMO
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csweatherston
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Registered: 16th Jan 06
Location: Devon
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My last built i went with the i7 over the i5 (sandybridge) Due to its hyperthreading... no other reason..
However i know nothing about notebook cpu's.. Are they lynfield?
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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On the Air, the i5 and i7 processors both have hyperthreading. I think they're Sandy Bridge, the models are: i5-2557M and i7-2677M. For the sake of a few days and a few quid I may as well get the i7.
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csweatherston
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Registered: 16th Jan 06
Location: Devon
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I spoke to a geeky mate last night about this.. Apparently they are 'arrandale' chips, which has <5% difference between the i5 and i7 in any task.
Suggested to save your money and go for the i5.
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ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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Decided I'm going to go for the Core i5 and use the money saved for a copy of Office and a case for it. Dodgy copy of Office doesn't seem worth it now that you can get it for so little, especially with student discounts 
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Sam
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Premium Member
Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
User status: Offline
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ed - http://www.software4students.co.uk/Microsoft_Office_for_Mac_2011-details.aspx cheap as chips from there (and yes they are legit BTW)
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ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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Yup, used them before for stuff and was going to get the Mac version of Office from there as it's crazy cheap 
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ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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The man brought down the i7 by mistake, he was just about to take it back up when I thought it was fate. Soooo....
Didn't realise the i5 had 2GB of RAM and the i7 had 4. Thought both the 256GB versions had 4 and with an x64 processor, why have less?
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Bart
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Registered: 19th Aug 02
Location: Midsomer Norton, Bristol Avon
User status: Offline
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i5 unless your video editing.
Far cheaper and far faster (core for core).
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