For the XPS 17, i5 or i7 sandy bridge processor?

Would love to hear your thoughts on the pro's and con's of getting an i5 vs an i7 sandy bridge processor for the xps 17. what are all main reasons to choose each?

Just read this about the coming SB chips for lappies: http://laptoping.com/2nd-generation-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-sandy-bridge.html#more-7167

 

i5 Pros:

cheaper
a little more battery life
a little less heat

i7 Pros:

significantly more performance in applications which use four cores

Verdict:

Sandy Bridge is the first step into making mobile dual cores obsolete. The only real reason to get an i5 over an SB i7 quad in any laptop is price. By Ivy Bridge, they'll barely even have that advantage.

 

They've made some significant improvements to the quad-core SB chips compared to the current gen i7s (significantly improved clocks, integrated graphics, etc). The only reason that I can see for getting an i5 over an i7 SB is if you're price or power consumption sensitive. Like any question about what to get, it really depends on what your budget is, and what your intended uses for the laptop are.

Edit: Damn, post sniped. City Pig must type faster than I do. At least we came to the same conclusion, lol.

 

I type really slowly. You must have come into the thread just before I hit submit.

 

thanks guys. price is not a significant factor for me. battery life and heat are factors for me but only to the extent that i think they are for the average person. if an i7 gets way way hotter than it suddenly matters to me since i dont have heavy gaming needs. but it sounds like if price isnt important, the i7 will stay current longer than the i5

 

Go with the i7 then.

 

As far as I am concerned Sandy Bridge is the best processor upgrade we have seen in quite a while.

 

Completely agree

 

thanks. and how much does which specific i7 matter?

 

The more you pay, the faster it will be. It just depends on how much you want to pay. The base quadcore, 2720m will probably offer the best bang-for-the buck.

 

Intel's naming convention is awful. Seems to be many correlate i7 to quad core and i5 to dual core. Don't forget about the quad core i5 which is also a good choice for some.

 

You're thinking desktop. There is no quad-core mobile i5. Also, even though most new desktop i5s are quad-core, they do not have hyperthreading, so are limited to 4 threads like the dual-cores. It would be faster than a 2core/4thread, but it won't have the heavy multithreaded advantage that a 4core/8thread i7 will (or the 8core/16 thread extreme version ).

 

Is there a dual core low end i7? Sorry if I made a mistake. Either way I remember reading that it isn't as simple as dual is i5 and quad is i7 as most people assume. This goes for both generations. Anandtech.com has some good write ups.

 

Yes, the i7 6xxM or 26xxM are dual-core i7s. I'd suggest going with a quad i7 though, especially with SB.

 

The i7 2630QM (i7 26xx) is also a real quad core processor (with HT) running at 2 Ghz (2.9GHz turbo).
See the specs here :
Intel® Core? i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz)with SPEC Code(s)SR02Y

 

If someone goes for Core i5 on the current Dell XPS series does it make sense to wait for the Sandy bridge version of Core i5?.
Since SB is more for quad core/hyper threading which most i5 series do not have does the above question hold good?

 

Is it true that Quad-Core processors will become the entry level processors with the next intel upgrade Ivy-Bridge?

If so does that mean no more dual-core processors? Not that I am complaining its just that dual-cores have only be around 5 years 2006 I think? correct me if I am wrong>> core-duo? which is a long time in technology I know, but I am just thinking about how long single core processors were around before dual-cores showed up.

If the above is true then will we see six or eight Core processors as the top level processors in 2012 or 2013?


Thanks

 

Quad core will become mainstream with Ivy Bridge, so entry level will still be dual core (eg celeron).

Im thinking more like 8 or 12 or even 16 cores for high end by end of 2012, and maybe even 24 cores by end of 2013