i7 2720QM vs i7 2630QM

I have a question on which laptop is better. its for gaming(mostly) and college use.

Intel® Core™ i7 2720QM
(4x 2.20GHz/6MB Cache)
NVIDIA GeForce
GT 555M 2GB
17.3" Full HD 1920x1080 Widescreen
8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM
640GB 5400 RPM SATA-II

for $1255

vs

Intel® Core™ i7 2630QM
(4x 2.00GHz/6MB Cache)
NVIDIA GeForce
GTX 560M 1.5GB
15.6" Full HD 1920x1080 Widescreen
8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM
500GB 7200 RPM SATA-II

for $1299

i dont care about other stuff cus they are mostly the same. please help me choose which is better. i want to know.

 

#2. 2630qm. i've read that the 2630qm is better for gaming than the 1st one. forgot the difference but it doesnt effect game play if i recall reading it right. sorry not more help, id go with #2 however. faster hard drive as well. and looks like a better gfx card.

 

oh ok. im trying to buy it from ibuypower. is that a good price for it?

 

Actually the i7-2720QM is a better processor and has higher clocks than the 2630QM but the reason why most people are content with the 2630QM is that the difference is not severe enough to justify in most cases the upgrade cost between the 2630QM and the 2720QM.

However the 2630QM option does have a better and more significant GPU than the one with the 2720QM and on that alone, I would pick the 2nd configuration.

 

Definitely # 2 sure the processor is better on #1 but that second one destroys it in the GPU department. I would never buy a 17 inch with a GT555m performance is just not there. You get more bang for your buck with the second one and yah that is a good price.

 

ah thank you very much. but is ibuypower.com a good place to buy these kinds of laptop?

 

I think ibuypower is a brand. As for the brand, I cannot say, but buyign directly from the builder is usually safe.

I think a ASUS G53/53 or the MSI 15" model might also be options for you

 

oh ok thank you. can i ask where i can find those laptops? asus g53/53 orthe msi15" model?

 

Make sure you select G53 and NOT G73 (17")
Newegg.com - asus g

Amazon.com: g53

Newegg.com - MSI/Laptops / Notebooks


Good luck

 

thank you very much.

 

depending on your budget I would pay malibal a visit a configure the NP8150 with the 6990m, keep the rest stock, it will 200 more expensive being it considerably more powerful gpu wise

 

the latter has a much better gpu like others have mentioned so it would be much better for gaming.

 

I am also really interested to know the difference between the two. My next purchase will have a 6990m GPU that will be used both for gaming and for CAD work. I know that the 2630QM is not a bottleneck for the 6990m, but I was wondering where can this performance difference be felt (looking also at CAD here).

Passmark lists the following benchmarks:
2820qm - 7580 points - aprox 600$ (no price justification over 2720qm)
2720qm - 7174 points - aprox 400$ (almost 1000 point difference in benchmarks - which can somehow justify the price over the 2630qm)
2630qm - 6298 points - 250$ - 300$ (reference)

Also, the 2720qm has a 0.2ghz increase per core which can lead you to think that if there is a 2820qm with a 0.1ghz increase per core then there should also be another processor between the 2630qm and the 2720qm (performance wise). But the price seems to increase with a approximate 200$ per processor model. (Depends on a lot of sellers, of course).

 

Actually no.

The CPU line up is like that for sometime now, its raise clocks, then raise the cache.

For me its the 2720qm that never made sense, however due to pricing abuse it left the spot where it should be forcing the users to upgrade to the 2720qm.

The 2820qm in high cpu load scenarios, with lots of instructions should take the lead that it deserves over the the 2720qm.

However 600 for a mobile cpu is downright abusive

 

If you have Optimus or the AMD switching part I think the 2720QM is worth it. If not, then stick with 2630QM

 

Well... I believe the 6990M does have the AMD Switching graphics, but I'm more interested in the difference I get for the money... if it is really worth it concerning workmanship... I would gain some battery life, but what about performance?

If the new 2720qm chips would have had 8mb cache then I would have definitely went with them. I know some users have 2720qm's with 8mb of cache because of early chips and testing, but I don't think I will get that lucky if I purchase a P170HM in September.

 

I think another difference is that you cannot have 16GB of RAM with 2630qm apparently, while 2720QM supports it.
What's up with that?

PcSpecialist won't allow you to configure a 2630qm with 16GB as it says the cpu is incompatible with the amount of RAM specified.

KOBALT on the other hand says nothing of the kind.
It's a bit of a contradiction really.
Who the heck is right?
Is it a cpu limitation?
If so, that is one of the stupidest moves made by Intel (seriously).

 

i am setting up a pc from pcspecialist and it allows me to choose 16gb with 2630qm just fine :/

 

you actually can. The 2630qm is an OEM part, the problem is that this particular cpu is so good, that its irrelevant for most users to upgrade past it. So being an OEM part it comes limited by some things, not that it matters, since its just a lower binned 2720qm with less instructions.


The memory controller is actually the same. Thus it can run with 16gb, and it can support higher clocked memory.

 

so is the 2720 worth it or not? is better to go for 2820 if u go past the 2720?

 

There is a difference though when it comes to RAM speed.
The 2630QM supports only 1333Mhz as far as I know.
The 2720QM supports 1600Mhz.

 

The 2720QM has these differences from the 2630QM:

No VT-d I/O, vPro and TXT features and a slightly lower multiplier clock from the 2720QM. Also even though it says it can only take up to 8 GB DDR3-1333 SDRAM, people are confirming that it can take 16 GB DDR3-1600 SDRAM on it in most machines with 4 DIMM Slots.

Therefore if you don't need VT-d or vPro, the the 2630QM is really good for the money. However most people will say the 2720QM is also great bang for the buck if you do need those features. The i7-2820QM is not worth it as for a whopping $300-$500 more on the upgrade, you only get a .2 Ghz boost and 2 MB extra L3 Cache, which is might not be worth it and by then, you might just consider getting the i7-2920XM Extreme Edition.

 

My point is that if you have Optimus (or the AMD switch) you can use the Intel HD 3000 IGP, which is 200MHz faster with 2720QM. So yes, you would get some better performance with it.

I don`t know about the gain you would get with increased cache, perhaps someone else knows a bit more than me on that field. But irrelevant since they both have 6MB L3-cache.

2630QM can use faster RAM than 1333MHz too. We have 2630QM users on this forum using 1866MHz RAM with great success. All you have to do is use a XMP profile with BIOS

 

can this be done on a i7-2630qm on a laptop? samsung... i would like to do it

 

That increased GPU frequency would not matter since the CPU and iGPU are gimped on battery so it's not like you'll be able to play games on battery. The 2630QM is absolutely no issue for gaming, period. And 200MHz on the iGPU won't gain you much anyhow.

Read everything Star Forge posted in this thread. He's spot on and I agree 100%

 

Try clicking on 'Proceed' After you've set up the config and then let me know if it still allows you to go through.
On the config screen itself it picks out both fine, however it won't let me through the 'proceed' as it says the cpu is not compatible

 

Tell that to PcSpecialist.
I'd get a 2630QM with 16GB from them and 6970 which all in all costs £1240 ( cheaper compared to KOBALT).

 

Read this.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/559613-best-aftermarket-ram-m17x-r3-5.html