2630qm vs 2720qm - Features, Wireless Display

From what I can understand, there are some minor differences between the 2630qm and 2720qm. One being the jump in clock speeds. But aside from that, can anyone tell me (provide a source) that clearly outlines the differences in features?

From a bit of researching, I can see that the 2720qm offers these features, and the 2630qm does not:

- 1600mhz RAM support
- Intel My Wifi (can someone confirm if this works on the m17x if you have the 2720qm?)
- Wireless Display (WiDi)
- VT-d (I won't be using this function much)

If there are any other features I missed, please let me know. So after taking those features into consideration, would you say that the upgrade to 2720qm is worth the extra $150?

 

You know, for me the main, final determining factor was the fact that if I did NOT upgrade to the 2720, I knew I would regret it later. Ultimately, it was just spending $150 for peace of mind. If you're not an obsessive, regretful person like I am, and you're just buying this for gaming and worried about money, just get it.

I've done this search multiple times over the last few months, and the things you listed are the only ones I've found. The benchmarks for the 2720 are actually pretty nicely above the 2630.

 

2630QM supports WiDi so you can cross that off the list.

Intel My Wifi have absolutely nothing to do with the CPU. To use this technology you will need one of the adapters listed here:
http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/sb/CS-029296.htm

 

Really?

1) I didn't see the 2630qm listed on the Intel WiDi page:

Intel Wireless Display

Only the 2720qm is listed there.

2) Also, I thought that WiDi goes hand in hand with the My WiFi technology.

Here on the 2630qm Intel page, it doesn't list My Wifi as a feature:

Intel® Core? i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SR02Y

But on the 2720qm Intel page, it does list My Wifi as one of the features:

Intel® Core? i7-2720QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SR00W, SR014




Edit: Actually I just realized how redundant my thread is I could have just compared the 2 pages that I provided above, and answered my own question -_-

 

1. Yeah i know. Don`t know why Intel did not put that processor there. 2630QM have IGP, therefor it supports WiDi. Some reseller on this forum emailed their rep from Intel and he said it supports WiDi.

2. Maybe i am blind but i cannot find any mention of My WiFi on the specification list you gave me. Read the link i gave you. I have edited the text where i linked you to intel stating the requirements. Doesn`t matter if you pick the 2630QM or the 2720QM. It depends on what adapter you have.
WiDi is kinda like a part of it because on Intel`s homepage where you can read about My WiFi, it says you can share photos/movies etc on a TV, and that is WiDi. But My WiFi is also about transferring data wireless to printers, other laptops, scanners, cameras etc. And that is where the adapters come to play

 

Thanks for the link! So do you think that if the features across both processors are largely the same, and just considering the difference in clock speeds, then the difference in price between the two would warrant an upgrade?

Aside from gaming, I also do some Photoshop CS5 work, and Cinema 4d video rendering from time to time.

I'm kind of OCD when it comes to choosing components, and I would prefer to go all out or nothing at all. So if the 2630qm is enough, I wouldn't want to spend the money to upgrade only 1 tier up to the 2720qm.

 

This is my opinion, but the 2720qm is a bigger step up over the 2630qm than say the 2720qm to 2820qm even though I have a 2820qm lol

The turbo boost feature is one I looked at. And for the 2720qm, going from single core, dual core, to quad core boosting: (3.3, 3.2, 3.0Ghz) as for the 2630qm: (2.9, 2.8, 2.6Ghz); the 2820qm only goes .1 higher each than the 2720qm, fyi but does have 8MB L3 cache vs 6MB.

Benchmarks show a fair improvement from the 2630qm to 2720qm. Will you see this all? Probably not, but I still think it's worth another $150 to upgrade the CPU. I like the 2nd poster, can be regretful. I just got a 2.3Ghz i7 because I couldn't wait for a BTO lol, but would've been happy with the 2.2, but definitely knew I wanted that over the 2.0.

 

In my personal opinion i would say that 2720QM is pretty much the sweet point of Sandy Bridge.
2720QM vs 2630QM:
You get 400 MHz faster CPU, you get 1600 RAM support, you get faster 200 MHz faster IGP, you get additionally features like Anti Theft etc. And they both have the same TDP.
I would pick the 2720QM if i were you because a faster CPU helps a lot with the rendering in Cinema 4D which kinda is CPU bound. Same goes for Photoshop, although that faster IGP is nice if you are using it. Well worth the $150

2820QM is kinda caught in the middle of the bunch, only slightly faster. The next jump i would take if i should get a better CPU than 2720QM is 2920XM, which you could also overclock

 

QFT. I'm hoping that someday, that 2920XM will be somewhere near the area of Affordable. I'd save the money between the 2720QM/2820QM and put it towards DDR3-1600 or an SSD. You'll have much more noticeable improvements there.

 

Yeah i agree. SSDs are very nice

 

I am thinking that if I need a faster CPU for the larger programs I run, I MIGHT upgrade.. but still... the 2630QM seems to be all I need.

If not, Its only another $200 for the upgrade..

BTW, is there a write up on how to change out the CPU(I like to have these tuts in a folder here on my work comp)? I know how to gain access to it and all that by removing the heat sink, but what all would I have to do? Just pop it out, and place the 2720QM in there? Will the laptop know what to do??

 

If the Bios supports it, yes. you can watch the R2 tear down on youtube, it's basically the same thing.

Edit: R3 CPU replacement on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnqflymgOHU

Except... don't leave the power cord in

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH! @ Power cord comment! lolz

That video is actually just the repasting of the CPU heatsink.. but still GREAT vid!

I take it, you just pull straight up, and replace it? How does one go about finding out of their BIOS is ok for upgrading?

I thought all BIOS were the same for the R3...

 

there's a small button you have to turn with a flat head screwdriver, which will release the CPU. Every BIOS is the same, what i mean by BIOS support is for the extreme Sandy-bridge CPU.

 

Ahh I see. Thanks man.

Oh and I thought that the 2720QM wasn't apart of the extreme edition's?

 

It isn`t. 2920XM is

 

Thats what I thought.

 

For gaming purposes, won't the GPU bottleneck anything faster than the 2630QM?

 

Gpu shouldn't be too bad especially if you have the 6970. Even with the 460 you should be fine, maybe slightly bottlenecked but nothing too severe.

 

Ahh..Well what bothers me most is that the 2630QM doesn't support RAM above 1333..I wish it supported 1600 like the 2720QM and up..I mean I know it barely makes a difference, but still..Is there a work around to this? I mean is it possible to make the 2630QM run 1600 RAM?

 

Yes. Just search around in this forum and you will find people using 1600 RAM right now with 2630QM. Something about fiddling around with profiles in BIOS

 

Sweet..Nothing too complicated I hope..And stable without any side effects I assume? Thanks, maybe I don't have to get a 2720QM after all lol