Worth upgrading i5 4200U to i7 4500U?

I'm thinking about buying the Sony Vaio Pro 13, and the website lets me upgrade the i5 4200U to the i7 4500U for $100. I plan on doing some light video editing/software development, and I was wondering if there is a significant difference between these two processors in real world usage. Is the $100 worth it?

 

Almost 25% faster... video editing (although 'light' now - will almost certainly get more complex over the lifespan of your new system.

Verdict: best $100 you'll ever spend on an upgrade, imo.

Don't forget to max out the RAM too...

 

Almost 25% faster... video editing (although 'light' now - will almost certainly get more complex over the lifespan of your new system.

Verdict: best $100 you'll ever spend on an upgrade, imo.

Don't forget to max out the RAM too...

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i5-4200U @ 1.60GHz - Price performance comparison

See:
PassMark - Intel Core i7-4500U @ 1.80GHz - Price performance comparison


Good luck.

 

if the lap can maintain the specified turbo so yes it's better. Other than that, barely.

 

I'm thinking about buying the new Sony Vaio Flip 15.

The option there is also i5 4200U and i7 4500U but the upgrade cost $230.00

Is the upgrade for the price worth it?

 

The % increase on the PM 'scores' I linked before now show about 18% increase... hmmm

Anyway.

$230 for 18% increase in raw performance is worth it to me over the life of the system (estimating 4-5 years of use).

Depending on what workflow the system will be put to - that is about 18% faster performance each day for the next 1800 days... when put in that light; $230 is very insignificant imo.


For your specific case though: what is the intended workflow, how long do you think you'll keep this system and how much does it cost now?

 

This will be my first personal laptop and first windows experience. (sick of macs) The laptop will 98% of the time be at home and I intended to only use it for school work, movies (external blu-ray drive), internet surfing and maybe very light music editing). I won't play games on it or do photoshop or anything. I want something powerful and fast so I'm trying to future-proof it so it won't slow down or mess up in the future. About 4-5 years at least. I want to customize it on the sony site so it comes at about $1,089.99 with i5 and about $1,239.99 with the i7. Below are the specs added for both.

Windows 8 64-bit
Microsoft® Office 2013 trial version
15.5" Full HD IPS TRILUMINOS Display for mobile (1920 x 1080)
Touch Screen
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 735M w/ Optimus (2GB) hybrid graphics (Added $50.00)
750GB (5400rpm) + 16GB NAND flash hybrid hard drive (Added $70.00)
8GB (4GB x2) DDR3L-1600MHz (Added $50.00)
Stylus

Another option is the Lenovo Y510p which is around $1,049.99 and has great specs (4th gen i7 4700MQ 2.4 ghz, nvidia GT750M 2gb, 8g ram, 1 TB + 24 Hybrid HDD, blu-ray drive, etc) But this is a gaming laptop so I'm not sure. IdeaPad Y510p High-Performance 15.6" Multimedia Laptop from Lenovo | Lenovo (US)

 

Between Sony and Lenovo - I would drop the VAIO in a heartbeat.

With double the CPU power, a much better gpu, more storage capacity and none of the Sony bloatware/driver issues (although it too could use a 'clean install' imo) the Lenovo is the only one to consider if you want it to be usable in ~5 years time.

The only thing you seem to lose is the touch screen capability - but for your usage, I don't think that will be an issue anytime soon.


Don't get hung up on the categorization of the system you're considering: just get the most hardware possible (which is what the Lenovo system offers) for the least amount of $$$$.


Oh, and btw, welcome back from the dark side.

 

Thanks

The only reason I was interested in the Vaio in the first place was its modes ( laptop, viewer, tablet ) which all seemed interesting.

 

Intel Core i7 4500U vs i5 4200U

I'm not sure how you guys calculate percentages.There is 7% to 18% difference in benchmarks. That doesn't mean it necessarily will 100% translate to actual work.

The upgrade might be worth it if all you do is render videos all day long. For any other regular tasks including gaming there would hardly be any noticeable difference. It's pretty much an identical processor with slightly higher clocks and a bit more L3 cache.

 

I am also on the fence between the I5 4200U and the I7 4500U. This system I'm looking at with the I7 will add a 16GB NAND Flash Memory for increased speed supposedly. Would these two make a noticeable difference? I do light gaming, web browsing, movies, spreadsheets, and some light photo editing. Thanks in advance.

 

If you can afford it, go with the i7. Otherwise stick with i5 if you're on a tight budget.

 

Some great opinions here.

I don't want to feel like I miss out, but maybe I won't? :

I don't plan on gaming (have PS4), I don't plan on doing any video editing or photoshopping.

Plan on using a lot of cloud based services in Chrome, keeping multiple tabs open at the same time. Many Zoho services and Google Apps, altogether 7 permanent tabs, plus whatever else Google Docs I am working on and general web browsing tabs.

I will be at least getting a 8GB model Yoga 2 Pro.

In my case, do you guys/girls think there will be a noticeable difference if I don't go for the I7 4500U but instead for the I5 4200U model?

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Nope.

If it's any consolation I picked up the Vaio Pro 11 with i5-4200U and it is surprisingly quick and fast enough for the tasks you mentioned, and then some. I wish I had the 8GB RAM version instead of 4GB, but I also got a good deal on it so I can't complain (although I just did). But for what you're doing, i5 will be perfectly fine.

 

Thanks! Sets me at ease. Surely then the 8GB will be even more sufficient.

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Guys be careful with the new VAIO's... There is a BIOS limitation causing the CPU to downclock or something in 1 of them... Flip 15 I think...... Look at something else...