100$ upgrade to i7 2620QM or 200$ upgrade to i7 2720QM from i7 2639QM worth it?

In Canada, the base processor is the i7-2630QM processor (dual core 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz) and it's 100$ to upgrade to the i7-2620M processor (quad 2.70 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.40 GHz) and 200$ for the i7-2720QM processor (quad 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz). I will be using the computer mostly for music/video editing but want to be able to play some current games as well. Are the upgrades worth it? and if so, which one? Any thoughts on this?...

 

Did you get your numbers mixed up? Because the 2630QM is a quad core 2.0 and the 2620QM is a 2.7 dual-core. Keep the 2630QM because $200 is a lot to upgrade to the 2720 and it will be plenty fast for video editing and games.

 

It's 2620M, no "Q" in there because it's not quad core.

What is the base price and specs?

 

I just looked at the Dell Canada website.

Base is i7-2630QM quad core, then it's +$100 to "upgrade" to the 2620M dual core which is weird.

While the 2620M has a higher turbo speed than the 2630QM, and faster integrated graphics (doesn't affect dedicated card), it's still only dual core. I'd say keep the 2630QM.

It's probably not worth $200 to jump up to the 2720QM though. Save that money to upgrade to the B+RGLED 1920x1080 display. The display upgrade is a MUST on the XPS 15, and it's worth every penny.

 

My thoughts exactly. FYI, if you could buy from dell USA I would do it rather than buying from dell Canada. The base price in Canada is lower, but the upgrades are way more expensive and you don't get nearly the options you should like in the USA. I didn't see the option for the backlit keyboard, so I would call and see if that comes standard and/or if you can get it. I did try to configure my system and see what the price difference would be, and you would pay around $100 more for the same system, not including some options I have like BD burner, BL KB, Centrino N-6230 + BT, and Soundblaster option.

 

Thanks guys!! And sorry for the mix up about the dual vs quad... was not intentional - Was in a rush and wasn't thinking.

I did find it a little weird too how the dual core was an upgrade; hence why I came here to get some answers!

I am planning on getting the 1080 display too, it sounds sweet!

Thanks again, the internet is a better place because of helpful people like you..

 

Thanks for the advice NoSlow, but I remember looking into that possibility a while back and I thought I remember that dell USA wouldn't ship here. I have no relatives, etc. currently living down south so I don't think that would be an option for me at this time. Even if I could get it shipped up here, the duty and custom fees would surely add up to even more than I might be saving by buying it from the Dell USA site vs the Canadian one. The BD burner would be pretty sick but I'm in no need of one right now, if ever that changes I'll probably aftermarket it. The backlit KB would be useful though... so I am gonna contact sales to try and see if they can add that. Some other canadian customers said they could

Thanks!

 

Backlit KB can be added by sales...just call them and tell them you want to add it...and it's $25CAD...cheaper than U.S. ($40)...Wifi 6230+BT3.0 $40...I ordered both already!


1 XPS L502X (Direct) $1,225.19
1 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Batt (L502X) $0.00
1 Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.00 GHz $0.00
1 4GB,DDR3,2 DIMM, 1333MHz (L502X) $0.00
1 JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 $0.00
1 Windows Live Wave 4, CNB $0.00
1 8X DVD+/-RW Tray Load Drive $0.00
1 Roxio Creator Starter, FI, CNB $0.00
1 Elemental Silver Aluminum (WLAN) L502X $0.00
1 15.6FHD TLF B+RGLED LCD L501X $0.00
1 NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB US (L502X) $0.00
1 Windows 7 OS Label,CNB $0.00
1 Backlit Internal Keyboard - Eng (L502X) $0.00
1 Resource DVD (L502X) $0.00
1 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive (L502X) $0.00
1 MICROSOFT OFFICE STARTER 2010,CNB $0.00
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 MLANG CNB $0.00
1 McAfee Platinum, 15 Month, MUI, CNB $0.00
1 PC-RESTORE, DIM/INSP $0.00
1 DELL WELCOME,SW,DIM/INSP $0.00
1 DELL CONNECT 2.1,DIM/INSP/XPS $0.00
1 DATASAFE LOCAL BACKUP $0.00
1 COZI-CALENDAR,INB $0.00
1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG $0.00
1 SKYPE VOIP SOFTWARE APPLICATION,CNB $0.00
1 WIN 7 HOME PREM, 64, ENG,S/XNB $0.00
1 EBAY-WEBSLICE, CNB $0.00
1 Basic Stage, CNB $0.00
1 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install,CNB $0.00
1 DELL SPRT-CTR SW 3.0 $0.00
1 Wireless Display Software (L502X) $0.00
1 INTEGRATED NIC $0.00
1 Intel WLAN-N 6230 and BT 3.0 (L502X) $0.00
1 XPS WARRANTY SPRT, INSPIRON, INIT YR,CA $0.00
1 HW WRTY+SVC,XPS L502X,UNY,INIT,REL $0.00
1 NBD OS,XPS L502X,UNY,INIT YR,REL $0.00
1 XPS WARRANTY SPRT, INSPIRON, 2 YR EXT,CA $0.00
1 HW WRTY+SVC,XPS L502X,UNY,EXT,REL $0.00
1 NBD OS,XPS L502X,UNY,2YR EXT,REL $0.00
1 SHIPPING FEE $0.00
1 No Mobile Broadband L501X $0.00
1 BC $1.20 ADS,NOTEBOOK PCS $0.00

 

If you only ever use 2 cores, the 2620M would be better than the 2630QM because the former is simply faster (given that they share the same architecture). Only if you used more than that might the 2630QM be better.

For instance, let's say you have 4 threads to run, and each thread would take 1 hour to complete with a 1 GHz core (ignoring hyperthreading). (And yes, this is highly simplified). With a dual core 1 GHz processor, the whole task would take 2 hours because only 2 threads can be run at a time, whereas on a quad-core 1 GHz processor, the whole task would take 1 hour because all 4 threads can be run simultaneously.

Now let's extend that to this particular pair of processors, ignoring TurboBoost. A 2.7 GHz core would complete one of these threads in 22 min, while a 2.0 GHz core would complete one in 30 min. So with all cores saturated, the 2.7 GHz dual-core would complete the whole 4-threaded task in 44 min, while the 2.0 GHz quad-core would complete the whole task in 30 min.

But this is only really true when all the cores can be saturated or close to saturated. Generally, whenever the slower quad-core would be under 50% saturation, the faster dual-core should tend to perform better.

See Coding Horror: Choosing Dual or Quad Core for a demonstration of this.

 

That's a 3.5yr old link. New software is increasingly multi-core/multi-thread aware. Given that cpu frequencies have been stuck in the mid 3Ghz range for about 5yrs now, developers are exploiting the presence of additional cores to improve performance.

Ask yourself, are you buying a laptop for yesterdays programs or tomorrows? Your answer to that will tell you which cpu to choose.

 

No not worth it.

 

I wanted to advise you to go from a dual core to a quad core, but after reading the other replies it seems your base config already starts with a quad core. Conclusion, always upgrade from dual to quad core. Otherwise stay with the current quad core.

 

Thanks again guys! Great discussion here...
I ordered yesterday, adding the Backlit KB and Wifi 6230+BT3.0 for only 30$ total. I hassled the guy alot...as he was making mistakes to my invoice constantly (added 80$ for the KB upgrade alone..) so I think that is why I eventually got two solid upgrades for such a low price.

With instant savings of 100$, an extra 100$ off via a dell.ca coupon, and the prospect of a ~70$ rebate via Dell Canada's Employee Purchase Program, I ended paying ~959.99$ (after the EPP refund) for THIS:

Basically: 2630QM, NV 525 1gb with TV-Tuner, 15.6 FHD TLF B+RGLED display, 4gb RAM, 500gb storage, Backlit KB, Wifi 6230+BT3.0, 6-cell battery, 8X DVD+/-RW Tray Load Drive

Detailed:

1 225-0675 XPS L502X (Direct) $1029.99
1 009-6800 SHIPPING FEE
1 312-1185 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Batt (L502X)
1 317-6408 Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.00 GHz
1 317-6413 4GB,DDR3,2 DIMM, 1333MHz (L502X)
1 318-0138 JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
1 318-0392 Windows Live Wave 4, CNB
1 318-0427 8X DVD+/-RW Tray Load Drive
1 318-0434 Roxio Creator Starter, FI, CNB
1 318-0490 Elemental Silver Aluminum (WLAN) L502X
1 320-1673 15.6FHD TLF B+RGLED LCD L501X
1 320-2122 NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M 1GB + TVT (L502X)
1 330-6222 Windows 7 OS Label,CNB
1 331-1668 Backlit Internal Keyboard - Eng (L502X)
1 331-1674 Resource DVD (L502X)
1 342-2369 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive (L502X)
1 410-0487 MICROSOFT OFFICE STARTER 2010,CNB
1 410-1883 Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 MLANG CNB
1 410-9452 McAfee Platinum, 30 Day, MUI, CNB
1 420-6436 PC-RESTORE, DIM/INSP
1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,SW,DIM/INSP
1 420-9691 DATASAFE LOCAL BACKUP
1 420-9876 COZI-CALENDAR,INB
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-0757 SKYPE VOIP SOFTWARE APPLICATION,CNB
1 421-1737 WIN 7 HOME PREM, 64, ENG,S/XNB
1 421-2086 EBAY-WEBSLICE, CNB
1 421-3642 Basic Stage, CNB
1 421-3874 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install,CNB
1 421-4289 DELL SPRT-CTR SW 3.0
1 421-4736 Wireless Display Software (L502X)
1 430-4038 INTEGRATED NIC
1 430-4048 Intel WLAN-N 6230 and BT 3.0 (L502X)
1 920-5070 XPS WARRANTY SPRT, INSPIRON, INIT YR,CA
1 931-0791 HW WRTY + SVC,XPS L502X,SOL,INIT,CA
1 931-0811 RTD,XPS L502X,SOL,INIT,CA
1 430-3893 No Mobile Broadband L501X
1 950-9057 NO WARRANTY,YRS 2/3(1-1-1RTD)

Pretty good deal I think for a laptop of this caliber, even if before taxes.

 

Nice. That's a really nice deal you got there.
Congrats !

 

How did you get the Backlit keyboard from dell.ca. As far as I can tell it's not available

Edit: Sorry just read that you called dell. I think I'll do that too! Can you haggle with them about the price or is it pretty much firm?

Also, What was the $100 coupon you used?

Thanks

 

Sorry, the coupon expired on the 7th...
But check the main L502 thread and ask them there... there might be a new one!
I didn't hassle him about the price before he (unintentionally?) gave me a free upgrade so I don't know... worth a try!

Good luck!