The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    i7-870 vs. i7-3630QM

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by spandexninja, Oct 22, 2012.

  1. spandexninja

    spandexninja Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    32
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    spandexninja, Oct 22, 2012
    #1
  2. LTBonham

    LTBonham Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    182
    Messages:
    347
    Likes Received:
    52
    Trophy Points:
    41
    On Passmark, the 3630QM is the winner. In real life, I assume it would also be better.

    At these speeds, the processor is not the bottleneck. You will probably not notice the difference unless you use very CPU intensive applications.
     
    LTBonham, Oct 23, 2012
    #2
  3. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    22,339
    Messages:
    36,639
    Likes Received:
    5,075
    Trophy Points:
    931
    All depends on what you are doing ... Photoshop? Gaming? Details, details.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Oct 23, 2012
    #3
  4. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

    Reputations:
    5,036
    Messages:
    12,168
    Likes Received:
    3,133
    Trophy Points:
    681
    For your daily usage (Internet, Office, light editing, most games), it doesn't really matter. Do you do anything that's CPU-intensive? If not, I see no reason to upgrade to the i7-3630QM.
     
    Jarhead, Oct 23, 2012
    #4
  5. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

    Reputations:
    5,398
    Messages:
    12,692
    Likes Received:
    2,717
    Trophy Points:
    631
    Uh... Doesn't matter what he does with the system - it will still be more powerful (except maybe in VM usage scenarios), be more responsive (especially coupled with Win8x64 and an SSD) and still be portable - something that the desktop will never be able to compete in.

    Highly recommend the upgrade (and if OP needs a lot of 'compute' in his/her workflow: 16GB RAM or more, Win8x64 and SSD (Intel 520 Series 240GB (x2) or if higher capacity is required; Crucial M4 512GB SSD (x2 if needed).

    Just make sure that the actual system is properly designed for optimum cooling (to prevent throttling) and enjoy the mobility and power of your new system for a few years to come...
     
    tilleroftheearth, Oct 23, 2012
    #5
  6. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

    Reputations:
    7,279
    Messages:
    10,304
    Likes Received:
    2,878
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Sandy Bridge is faster clock for clock than Nehalem. It is everything from 15-20% faster.
    Ivy Bridge is maybe 3% faster than Sandy.

    So that 3.4GHz 3630QM will perform like a 4.1GHz Nehalem give or take.
     
    Cloudfire, Oct 23, 2012
    #6
  7. maverick1989

    maverick1989 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    332
    Messages:
    1,562
    Likes Received:
    22
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Uh actually it DOES TOO matter for some. Upgrades are not for free (unless you are paying in which case, please, by all means go right ahead). OP might be asking because he wants to know whether he needs an upgrade for simple tasks like browsing the web. That is why a few people here have asked for details. If he needs to write page after page in MS Word or make ppts for whatever, he doesn't need an upgrade.
     
    maverick1989, Oct 23, 2012
    #7
  8. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

    Reputations:
    5,398
    Messages:
    12,692
    Likes Received:
    2,717
    Trophy Points:
    631
    No it doesn't matter - a desktop is not portable - free or not.
     
    tilleroftheearth, Oct 23, 2012
    #8
  9. spandexninja

    spandexninja Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    32
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks for the replies! I will be using this laptop for gaming (GW2 and Skyrim, which I hear are CPU intensive), painting with a Wacom tablet on Photoshop (which can get laggy on my current computer), and browsing the web (usually have 80+ tabs open in Chrome, takes forever to open Chrome after a reboot). I already have a 240gb Kingston HyperX 3K SSD which I will transfer to my new laptop.

    I do need to replace my desktop with a laptop because I am moving out of country and it would not be worth the time or money to take the desktop with me, and I need something portable. My fear was that the 3630QM would be less powerful than my desktop CPU, but since it is more powerful I will probably save some money and go with the 3610QM.
     
    spandexninja, Oct 23, 2012
    #9
  10. PaKii94

    PaKii94 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    211
    Messages:
    2,376
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    56
    jw.... how the hell do u get 80 tabs open and be able to sort through them all.... i get annoyed if more then 10 are open and thats on a 1080p screen
     
    PaKii94, Oct 23, 2012
    #10
  11. Cloudfire

    Cloudfire (Really odd person)

    Reputations:
    7,279
    Messages:
    10,304
    Likes Received:
    2,878
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Yup.

    Skyrim is highly CPU dependant
    [​IMG]

    Guild Wars 2 too, but I can`t find any benchmarks of it,
     
    Cloudfire, Oct 23, 2012
    #11
  12. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

    Reputations:
    7,588
    Messages:
    10,023
    Likes Received:
    1,077
    Trophy Points:
    581
    tijo, Oct 23, 2012
    #12
  13. tommytomatoe

    tommytomatoe Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    59
    Messages:
    579
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Haha I'm a 5 tab kinda user. Any more and I start hitting control+w.

    Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
     
    tommytomatoe, Oct 23, 2012
    #13
  14. PaKii94

    PaKii94 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    211
    Messages:
    2,376
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    56
    PaKii94, Oct 24, 2012
    #14
  15. Marksman30k

    Marksman30k Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    2,080
    Messages:
    1,068
    Likes Received:
    180
    Trophy Points:
    81
    I'm assuming no overclocking. The i7-870 has a typical clockspeed of 3.2ghz. Sandybridge is 5-25% more efficient in IPC while Ivy Bridge is 7-15% more on top of that. Therefore, you can expect an 11-40% improvement in IPC. The i7-3630qm has a turboclockspeed on 4 cores of 3.2ghz, assuming the laptop chassis can fully maintain this turbo speed, you'd be looking at a direct 11-40% improvement in performance in multithreaded and singlethreaded tasks. Whether you would notice is debateable, games like skyrim love IPC so your FPS will improve assuming your laptop GPU can match the desktop one. Tasks like 3d rendering and video encoding will show a direct improvement as well. A not so insignificant advantage of the Ivy Bridge chip is the HD4000 + quicksync, this will absolutely tear through video encodes if you are willing to slightly compromize on quality.
     
    Marksman30k, Oct 24, 2012
    #15