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    i5 vs i7 single core speed

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by zacaj, Jul 9, 2011.

  1. zacaj

    zacaj Newbie

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    Im going to be getting a new laptop, and I have everything picked out except for the cpu. I have a choice between a i5-2410M, 2.3-2.9GHz and a i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz for $100 more. Obviously, the i7 is better, since it costs more and has 4 cores, but I nervous about the clock speed. i7s always eem to have lower clock speeds than i5s, and I dont know if theyre sacrificing speed for more cores. I I was running just one single core app, which would perform better, the i5 or the i7? (Is the i7 more efficient per cycle than an i5)


    FORCE 16F2 / MSI 16F2, btw
     
    zacaj, Jul 9, 2011
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  2. Bill Nye

    Bill Nye Know Nothing

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    The i5 is slightly better because of overhead for single core. Might even have the edge for 2 cores too.

    What CPU intensive program do you think will remain single core?
     
    Bill Nye, Jul 9, 2011
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  3. zacaj

    zacaj Newbie

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    Minecraft? I dont know if any other apps I use are singlevs multi core enabled, but I assume some of them havent upgraded
     
    zacaj, Jul 9, 2011
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  4. AshK

    AshK Notebook Consultant

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    AshK, Jul 9, 2011
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  5. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    Remember that with current gen Intel CPUs and turbo boost, thermals rule everything. Even if you hack away at the windows registry to override the o/s power settings and core clocking, the internal thermal limits of the CPU will always tend to slow things down (or shut them down).

    If you need/want a constant high clock rate cpu/cores, you need to buy a cpu that has a high normal/nominal clock rate and ignore turbo boost speeds.

    This would usually drop you into i5 (or even i3!) territory with an external/discrete GPU.
     
    newsposter, Jul 9, 2011
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