X220 i5s vs i7

Hello Sirs,

In conclusion of the last post, I am considering buying a X220 with an HDD an add an msata for a clean install on windows 7 64 bits.

Is it really worth paying for cpu upgrades?

Is the i7-2620 considerably faster than other i5 options?

I use dreamweaver, photoshop and autocad... I am looking for a fast boot too.

Any ideas? thanks in advance.

 

Sounds like you want speed... and need speed... so go for it. You also get USB3.

S

 

The i7-2620M is hardly worth it. Stick with the i5-2520M. The i7 is 6% faster in clock, plus an extra meg of cache. It actually comes out slower than the i5-2520M in some benchmarks, likely due to fluctuation in numbers because the 2520M and 2620M are so close in performance. The cache might also be hurting some benchmarks, though I don't know if extra cache would hurt.

Just make sure you get the "Premium" display. That's the IPS display and is the most important upgrade. For things like Photoshop, you need the display upgrade.

 

then is worth upgrading to i5-2520M?
What about other i5 processors? Are them similar?

 

IMO the main point of upgrading to i7 is USB 3

 

+1.

If you need USB 3.0 then go for i7.

 

Or get the i5 model and use an expresscard USB 3 adapter.

 

so I effectively spent $200 for a usb 3 then....because the i5 on sale now has all the same configuration as my i7, and my i7 is $200 more expensive...wonder if I should return and reorder

 

There is almost no difference between the i7-2620M and the i5-2520M - just a slightly bigger cache and very slightly higher maximum clock speeds. The present naming scheme is used in two differing ways. It is used to indicate the quickest dual-cores, but in other cases to indicate a quad-core. It would have been less confusing if all dual-cores were named i5, and all quad-cores i7.

 

From: Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Model, L2 Cache + L3 Cache TDP (Watt) MHz - Turbo Cores / Threads
3DMark06 CPU Cinebench R10 32Bit Single Cinebench R10 32Bit Multi Cinebench R11.5 64Bit SuperPI 1M* SuperPI 32M* wPrime 32 wPrime 1024 Dhrystone Whetstone


Intel Core i5 2520M 512KB + 3MB 35 2500 ‑ 3200 2/4 32 yes
3496.4, 3882, 8493.8, 2.8, 12.5, 672.6, 18.1, 548.2, 50350, 35320

Intel Core i7 2620M 512KB + 4MB 35 2700 ‑ 3400 2/4 32 yes
3748.9, 4119, 9035.7, 3, 11.7, 656.7, 16.2, 534.2, 53870, 3790

 

Using that website, comparing the i5-2410M to the i5-2520M do not show much of a difference. So upgrading from an the 2410 to the 2520 would be unnecessary for typical consumer uses like 1080P videos (when connected to external monitor), word processing, internet surfing right?

 

Yep, there will be no noticeable difference. The only difference between those two CPUs is clock speed.

 

Thank you! I made the right decision then.

 

What about i5-2540M? What's the difference between i5-2540M and i5-2520M?

 

Clock speed.

 

The 2540M is a scam. Not worth it and never will be. Don't waste your $50, there's only a 3% difference and nothing will ever benefit from that tiny difference.