i5-3320M vs i7-3612QM

I was configuring a computer for music production use when I noticed that the i7 has a lower frequency than the i5 (2.1 vs 2.5 respectively)

How does the lower frequency & greater number of cores (4vs 2) affect its performance under heavy use?

 

the i7 will destroy the i5 provided your application can utilize more than 2 cores.

 

Also, that is the base frequency. Turbo boost pushes both CPUs to the same clocks while giving the i7 double the computation (+ any architectural improvements/bonuses).

 

Get the 3610QM, it's a "better" 3612QM. And less expensive too

 

But 3612QM is in theory cooler than 3610QM

Anyhow, I don`t know what sort of music projects you have krismax, but if you visualize yourself as running multiple projects at the same time with occational surfing, movies etc on the side, I think a Quad core, aka 3612QM would fit your needs much better. A dual core would suffer once you launch several things at the same time dragging everything down

 

The 3612qm is nice but while some say it runs cooler than the 45w quad cores other say there's no noticeable difference... I don't know who's to be trusted, it'd be good to have some hard numbers to compare, preferably with the same notebook.

 

meh if I was getting a quad I would get the 3612qm so I can say I have the only mobile 35w quad core with 4c 8t as well as less chance of throttling in psu adaptor.

If I was getting a very powerful laptop I would get an i7 3612qm. To be honest though the i5 3320m is very powerful cpu and music production doesn't really take much power so an i5 3320m will be enough I believe.

What computer do you currently have and the specs are?

 

It's buried somewhere in the http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-clevo-w110er-sager-np6110-owners-lounge.html

No time atm to delve into it, well and don't feel like weeding through all that stuff.

But here's my wPrime + Furmark runs compared with the 3612QM. I would rather see Prime95, but haven't been able to find anyone to do that yet.


User HeavenCry with 3612QM
wPrime + Furmark
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-w110er-first-look-review-25.html#post8511095
Prime95 + Kombustor
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-w110er-first-look-review-28.html#post8514118

My 3610QM wPrime + Furmark run
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-w110er-first-look-review-27.html#post8512418

User R3d with i5-2450m (Sandy Bridge):
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ger-np6110-owners-lounge-166.html#post8558014

 

A 3612qm cpu is perfect I believe. I hope to get an l521x or l721x? with that cpu in it as it is the first with a 35w cpu that has 4c 8t.

Amazing how far computing has come.

 

It's your money, but I don't know what your fascination with the 3612QM is. I'd say save your money and go with the 3610QM as there is no advantage other than saying it's a 35W TDP CPU which runs slower but at the same power and temps as the 3610QM 45W TDP CPU.

 

What are the other specifications and configuration options of the laptop? Often times, there are other specifications that would affect you more than the processor would.

 

Where is your proof of this?? I have a 14 inch lenovo t430 and its difficult for me to make a decision with the 3612qm and the 3610qm.. You state there is no heat difference however sony vaio's 13.3 inch s series definately could not handle the heat of the 3610qm however they only offer the 3612qm as an option...They must have been conscerned about heat and I am sure they did alot of tests as well.

 

Read a few posts back: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...671156-i5-3320m-vs-i7-3612qm.html#post8622141

It's the same chip, just 3612QM clocked 200MHz slower: http://ark.intel.com/compare/67356,64899

Mythlogic did some performance, temperature, power testing with it in the Clevo W110ER... searching... It was at about 90-92C after several hours gaming with BF3.

 

Unfortunately I cant see any images on the computer I am at now . So you think if the sony vaio s can run 3612 then it would run the 3610 with no extra heat?? what exactly does a 10w TDP difference do exactly then?

 

TDP is just how they decide to bin the CPU's based on the heat and power requirements. They could have just as easily binned the 3612QM as a 45W TDP, but I think they wanted to say they have a 35W TDP quad core. It just means it just fit in the 35W power/heat envelope. They don't just magically jump from 35W to 45W, it just means it can be cooled adequately using a 45W TDP system. The 3610QM could very well be a 36W TDP chip, but they don't classify chips as 36W, next bin is 45W. The way I understand it the 3612QM chips they cherry picked the coolest running, lowest power consuming 3610qm chips and clocked them 200MHz lower.

As far as the Sony, unless the chip comes from Sony I can't say it will or will not run. If you decide to install the chip yourself, the system may not recognize or accept it because it isn't supported by the BIOS.

 

I am putting a 3612qm in the t430. I have done a few cpu swaps to up the value of certain laptops and resell so I am almost 100 sure the mobo and bios will be fine. I was just concerned about the heat. Highest cpu the t430 can run is the i7 3520 . Is there any data on how well the 3520 and 3612 and 3612 compare for heat. If those quads are close to the 3520 then it shouldnt be a problem at all.

 

So HTwingnut is there any benefit to buying the 3612qm over the 3610? Anything at all?

 

There's a 45W i7-2xxx T420 installation, which also was retrofitted to a 12.5" HP 2560P and ran with a 65W AC adapter.

Means you could even want to look at a 45W i7-3720QM install in a T430.

Now the m18xR2 folks have unlocked multipliers on them so can gain a 700Mhz advantage over a i7-3610QM. Not sure if the T430 bios would lock the multipliers or not.

 

Yea I put a i7 2720 into the t420 and the 2820 into a dell e5420 and 6520. The dells were uncomfortably hot lol. The 2720 in the t420 wasnt to bad but that was not with a dedicated gpu which I have now. The other 2720 installations in the t420, had throttling issues from what I read.

 

lower power drain means longer lasting battery... about the only benefit i can think of.

 

have you considered that the i7-3612qm might be cooler only in name? its quite easy for Intel to pick a 3610m and slap a 35W TDP limit on the turboboost programming in addition to clocking the part 200mhz slower to achieve a lower power bracket.
However, the 3610m is cheaper if I recall and faster at stock, if you are concerned with temperatures then use the program Throttlestop and manually set your clockspeed to the 3612m levels, I guarantee you wont be very far off (within maybe give or take 5w due to chip quality) the power consumption and temperature of a true 3612qm. But the benefit is $50-$100AUD cash in hand to upgrade the HDD to an SSD.

 

^^^
THIS

The 3612QM is the 3610QM just clocked 200MHz slower. Cherry picked 3610QM's actually to fit in the 35W TDP envelope. But they both run just as hot/cool. I need to find/bookmark the posts again because this keeps coming up. For the most part they run similar temps and there's non benefit at idle.

 

Please forgive me if this is a silly question, but when I look at intel's site comparing the 3610QM and the 3612QM it has them listed as having different supported sockets. (FCPGA988 and FCBGA1224 respectively). Are they still both compatible with a ThinkPad T430? Like BradyBoy88 I am also considering doing the upgrade to a quad core.

Thanks,
~Hanry

 

Well apparently they have plans to make the 3612QM into a soldered part too, but it is most definitely a socket 988