i7-820QM vs qx9300

Hey guys this is my first post. I've searched through some older posts for a while and a lot of this stuff is over my head. I really would just like to know which one of these processors is more powerful assuming that all of the other hardware will be the same: the i7-820QM or qx9300?

I can get a little bit better deal on the qx9300 with a little bit older computer but if the i7-820QM is faster I don't mind paying a little extra.

Just looking at the specs it would seem that the qx9300 is much faster but again I am ignorant to most of this stuff.

Any info is appreciated.

 

It depends on what you're doing, and how well the notebook is constructed. First of all, the 2 processors use different sockets, so you cannot swap from the QX9300 to the i7-820QM without completely changing out the motherboard. This already means that it's nearly impossible to have the rest of the hardware be the same.

Second of all, it comes down to what programs you're trying to run on the processors. If you ignore or turn off Hyper-Threading, and assuming the best possible cooling solution so the i7-820QM so it can activate it's full Turbo Mode, the QX9300 will slightly edge out the i7-820QM when utilizing all 4 cores, as the QX9300 will be running 4 cores at 2.53 GHz, while the i7-820QM will be running at 2.0 GHz (although the newer architecture on the i7 is supposed to be about 20% faster, so that 2.0 GHz should effectively be about 2.4 GHz). However, if you use 2 or fewer cores, or if Hyper-Threading is activated (which means you can theoretically cut the number of cores you need active in half), then the QX9300 drops behind, as the i7-820QM can use Turbo-Mode to hit 2.8 GHz on 2 cores, and 3.06 GHz on a single core.

 

820 is 1.73GHz, 920 is 2.0GHz.

 

That really clears things up. The price difference between the two computers is not that significant and since I have no idea if any of the programs I use are optimized for multiple cores I will probably go with the i7. Thanks so much for the great info.

 

"assuming the best possible cooling solution so (oops, should be for) the i7-820QM so it can activate it's full Turbo Mode" means add 2 bins to the 1.73 GHz to make it 2.0 GHz.

 

well , if your willing to pay for a QX9300 why not get the 920QM... it costs the same and is certainly better than the QX9300...

 

I would pick the core i7, its newer tech and they perform very similar but I still think that the qx9300 is faster...

 

The i7 will be faster in most situations since it can basically overclock itself in situations where not all cores are used. Also, when all cores/threads can be used, although slower than the QX9300, it is more efficient and has hyperthreading, which both minimize the performance difference caused by the difference in clock speed.

 

and the 920QM also has unlocked multipliers.. OC to 2.5-3 GHz... and BOOM 3.3 GHz QX9300 owned...

 

So you're going to overclock a 55W CPU that is already relatively warm by 25 - 50% in a notebook? Most notebook cooling solutions are probably going to have some issue with that.

PS:i7-920XM, not i7-920QM.

 

Just open up the bottom and attach quad fans to it

 

No matter how you slice it the i7 will outperform the core 2 quad in every way but battery life. But then again the C2Q aren't that power efficient anyways when compared to their dual core siblings.

 

Would have kept my D901C if I wanted that.

 

Nice idea... my notebook really need more cooling...

Bad idea not to keep it. It has awesome power...