Intel i7-3610QM vs 3720QM?

Hey everyone,
I just ordered a MSI MS-16f3 barebones kit for myself, and I'm really exited about putting it all together when all the parts arrive; However, the supplier for my processor just ran out of my intended processor, the 3630QM (no reason shelling out an extra 30 for a 2-3% increase with a 3630), but they did offer to sell me a 3720QM for 20 euros cheaper. I've checked a lot of forums, and most of them say just go with the cheaper one. In this case, the 3720 is cheaper, and I was wondering which one is actually better. The 3720 has faster clock speeds, but I also saw quite a few negative user ratings, whereas the 3610 seems to be a popular choice. Any opinions?

 

In every way the 3720QM is superior.

See:
ARK | Compare Intel® Products


See PM score '7533':
PassMark - Intel Core i7-3610QM @ 2.30GHz - Price performance comparison


See PM score '8402':
PassMark - Intel Core i7-3720QM @ 2.60GHz - Price performance comparison


Don't worry about the negative user ratings, you do have warranty and a return policy, right?



Good luck.

 

There are very few differences in architecture between the three processors. Both the 36xx processors lack Vt-d but if you have to look that up, you probably do not need it. I do a lot of VM and I still am not sure how it really helps. The 3720 is faster in terms of clock speed by a couple of hundred megahertz. The difference, if any, will not be noticeable. That is the logic behind "go with the cheapest". The negative ratings should not matter considering they are almost the exact same chips.

 

It depends entirely on what your laptop model is. The negative comments come from users who tried to cram the chip in a machine with inadequate cooling so it basically never turbo boosts to its advertised speeds hence no performance speed up vs the i7-3610m.
There is one significant difference is that the i7-3720m is the cheapest chip you can partially over clock. If your Bios supports it, you can remove the power constraint tdp limit and push the speeds +400mhz. You'll get significantly more performance but if you don't have a bios that allows removal of power limit it will constantly throttle.

 

The 3610qm, 3630qm and 3720qm all have the same TDP, so I don't see any thermal issues arising, getting the extra 4x multiplier might not be feasible, but they should still ramp up to their prescribed clock speeds.