Would you bother dropping down to a I5 from a I7

Got a great deal on a 1645 but the I7 quad core is more then i need. Was looking to perhaps sell it for a fast I5 chip assuming it's a simple plug and play between the 2 chips.

So My questions are:

1. Is the m-board compatible with both chips. So all I have to do is pull the I7 and drop in the I5 and all is good?

2. Is it worth the hassle? Would I be better off just keeping the I7.

I'm never gaming. Mostly excel, Adobe, Pinical studio. Web, outlook & movie watching.

Thanks

 

If you are talking about the Studio XPS 1645, I don't think you can downgrade. Something with the motherboard not supporting it.

Studio are easier to take apart, 1 bottom panel pretty much exposes everything but your best bet is to ask a moderator to move this to the XPS subforum.

 

I just got rid of my XPS 1645 with quad core for a core 2 duo sl9400 and Im loving life!

 

Thanks. I called Dell but they know so little about there own products, it's pathetic.

What was the problem with your XPS 1645?

 

I don't get why you would want to do that. The i7 is actually better than the i5s. You'd probably save yourself a lot of trouble. Also you can't downgrade just like Tsuande has said. The i7 motherboard is not compatible with i5. The i7 is owerpowered for your uses but its better you have the extra power than not. You should also get more for the XPS if you got i7.

 

I appreciate your thoughts. Battery life and efficiency is my goal in down grading. I also read about heat issues w/ I7. I'm reading on Intels site now to try and find out how efficient the chip operates when the PC is only running avg programs.

Talked with Dell Sales who put me on hold then got tech support then told me that I could go from I7 to I5 with the Studio XPS 1645. Who knows if its accurate info or not.

 

When idle I belive the Core i series gate off the cores that are unused and powers them off.

Idle power usage is likely to be similar.

With the second gen I series its the same.

 

It's possible to semi-permanently 'park' a core or two on your CPU using a custom power plan and the powercfg command line.

Do it this way and a) you don't void your warranty, b) get at least some (maybe a lot) of battery life back, and c) be able to fire up all four CPUs with the full-power or balanced-power power plans.

Most Adobe software (CS4 and newer) will take advantage of 4 real cpu cores so if that's important to you.........

 

If it's a new i7 (Sandy Bridge) quad it will automatically "park" cores when not in use.

 

Its the 1645. i think the new ones are only in the 1647

 

Nothing was wrong with my XPS. In fact it was a dream to own, but I needed better battery life and no longer required a quad core CPU as much. I actually did require a quad core for work and play, but things changed and the need was no longer there. My next machine will be a ULV or LV quad core, but thats way in the future when quads will be probably be viewed as duals are now.

The 1647 is the dual core XPS in the same generation as the 1645.

 

Old I7 processors eat all battery. Also they usually have higher TDP. They can't work as like I5 can and laptop still will be louder with I7 even if you will shut off manually 2 cores.
Good I5 is better then lower range I7 for games however talking about that application you need I7 seems better.
In any case you should check socket type and other characteristics of both processors.

 

Very helpful. Thanx
And Yes, I Found a page on toms hardware about Adobe and other quad running software. but good point about CS4

 

"a dream to own" Thats good to hear.

Yes, Which is what I meant when I told him that the newer I7s are only in the 1647s. My understanding is that the 1647 is the same as the 1645 but with the newer Dual core I7s which weren't available when the Quad I7 was released with the 1645.

 

When I got my new VAIO notebook because of some idiot I had only 1 or 2 turned on cores and other were shut down. If someone think that it would make processor work lower he is mistaken. Because of that my core (i believe it was 1 but thanks to HT it was shown as 2) was working like a horse to manage easy work. It always was overclocked up to 2.56-2.93 GHz using Turboboost, fan was loud because of overheating and so on. SO because of turboboost it is hardly expect that disabling half cores will help.
Only throttling processor's maximum in power plan perhaps will help but you definitely will loose performance you paid for.

 

Yeah the naming convention is weird, but the 1647 were the dual core variant and the same CPU and overall generation as the 1645.

As for the XPS it was a great machine and I loved it. Had I not given up gaming and my uses at home and work changed I would still be using the XPS. But alas everything did change and my off ac demands rose and the xps just wasnt a fit for me anymore. Still sad about selling it, but the replacement x200s is proving to be a perfect little machine for me now.