i7-2630 vs. i7-2720

Just wondering how much of a performance impact I'd see with the upgrade. The system will be used for multi-tasking, including heavy web dev/graphics (but not video) web browsing and gaming. Thanks!

 

The only difference would be that the 2720 supports 1600mhz ram. If you used 1600mhz ram with it, there would be about a 10% increase in fps with gaming (so I've heard)

 

I doubt that 10% increase, unless the graphics card was overclocked. I could care less about the RAM speed, I would focus more on the graphics card to be honest.

 

From whats been going around on these forums (and others), the upgrade from 2630 to 2720 is worth it from a price and performance standpoint. Its the upgrade to the 2820 that's deemed unworthy!

 

You only upgrade to the 2720QM if you need the virtualization tools it provides, or you do work which will benefit from faster RAM.

From a purely gaming perspective, it's a waste of money.

 

not necessarily, there is hardly any gaming improvements, nor memory support improvements, people with the 2630qm can put 1600+ ram on their systems, without any kind of hiccups, not that it would matter.

Even the dual cores can accept 1600+ ram.

 

Never said anything about Gaming! But, a 15% performance gain is sure to help in CPU intensive programs.

 

The 2720qm offers 200mhz base clock increases and support for Vt-d and hardware AES. (Plus higher turbos). Unless you plan to run multiple VM's and need the Vt-d, or run lots of CPU dependent multi-threaded apps, you'll be limited by the GPU before the CPU. The 2630 is more than sufficient for the tasks you listed. I'd spend the price difference on an SSD before the 2720qm as it would have a more immediate and measurable impact.

 

umm quick question while on the topic about 2630 vs 2720... So my NP8130 is equipped with 2630 and 8GB of Ram clocked at 1600Mhz... so I asked my reseller, reflexnotebook, about it... and the person there said that to check if the ram speed is clocked at 800mhz on CPU-Z and if it is, then it's set at 1600MHz. And so I did and in fact it is set at 800mhz ish (798.3mhz to be exact)....... so yeah... I'm confused whether or not the 2630 can support 1600MHz... or am I missing something?

 

It can support it, just not officially according to Intel (evidenced by the fact that it works just fine )

Also, in case you didn't understand why it runs at 800mhz but is rated at 1600, it's due to being Double Data Rate (DDR) where it can operate at 2 cycles per clock.

Double data rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

VT-d has to be supported by the chipset too, since the NP8150 uses the HM type, only the NP8170 can use it.

and VT-d is used in directed I/O scenarios

and I agree spend the money on a SSD its much more worth it, or the gpu

you never answered the op them.

 

The people who say the only (gaming) difference is the type of RAM you can utilize are wrong on at least two counts. As mentioned, the 2630 uses 1600mhz RAM well enough; as for gaming performance, it all depends on what games you play. Personally, I love Civ 4 (Rise of Mankind mod) and ARMA II - both of those games just pound your CPU, and the upgrade, especially going through Mythlogic, was a no-brainer for me.

Benchmarks here: Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I agree that GPU and the SSD should be the focus of most gamers. But the 2720 does provide a 10-15% performance increase over the 2630, and there are situations, even gaming situations, where it makes sense.

 

Review Intel Sandy Bridge Processors Gaming Performance
Review Intel Sandy Bridge Processors Gaming Performance - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
Review Intel Sandy Bridge Quad-Core processors
Review Intel Sandy Bridge Quad-Core processors - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

There is a big different between "using" 1600mhz RAM and UTILIZING 1600mhz ram.

You do realize the 1600mhz ram is down-clocked based on the system bus? So if the processor supports 166mhz base clock (as the 2630qm does), the ram is also downclocked.

The 2720 based on the arguments here is native 1600mhz, meaning it utilizes 200mhz base clock, meaning it will utilize the 1600mhz bus speed when communicating with the memory.

Technically you can "use" 1866 memory with the 2630qm, doesn't mean it will utilize it.

That being said, 1333mhz is plenty fast enough (2630qm) for just about anything currently. If you opt for the 2720, make sure you get the matching ram speed of 1600mhz, otherwise you've wasted your investment IMO, as there will be no components to communicate with at 1600mhz.

 

Breaking News: GPU-dependent games run on crappy GPUs will bottleneck at GPU!

Note the complete lack of, say, ARMA II, a heavy Civ IV mod, or WoW.

Tweak: I agree, but it ultimately doesn't really matter much, since the difference in performance between 1333mhz and 1600mhz is pretty damned tiny, right?

It's simple (for gamers): If you can reasonably upgrade your GPU, do that. If you don't have a SSD, get one. After those two things are taken care of, if you are running CPU-dependent games, the upgrade to the 2720 is worthwhile to consider.

 

As far as specifications go here's a nifty link:

Compare Intel Processors

As far as IF the upgrade is worth it, I would think so, from the 2720 to the 2820 though it's a big price jump that might not warrant the increase in price.

 

Yep 1333mhz is plenty. I think 2000mhz will be the next noticeable jump.

According to Intel though, these processors should be able to handle up to 2500mhz. We may see that standard sooner rather than later.

 

i'm also pending to the 2720 option and why dowsn't anyone mention 1800mhz ram? the 2630 doesn't handle it but the 2720 does right?

 

there's no noticeable everyday real world difference between the 2630+1333Mhz and the 2720+1600MHz unless all you do is run benchmarks.

 

Its between 2-3% in performance, so no not really earth shattering at all =)

 

Here's a helpful comparison chart: Compare Intel® Products

If I'm reading that correctly, the 2630 only supports 8GB of memory while the 2720 supports 16GB. That's surprising to me, and it's definitely something to take into account (assuming it's accurate).

 

Unfortunately it is not accurate, the 2630 will support 16GB of Ram no problem at all.

 

I read on another forum that the 2630 has bandwidth limitations that would cause the RAM to switch to single channel mode if RAM usage passed 8GB. Any intel reps on here who want to clarify?

 

Actually 2630QM's support Hardware AES...

 

Are you sure ? CPU-Z doesn't report AES :c

 

so does 2630qm supports 16gm ram or no? here Compare Intel® Products it shows it cant..

 

I've never heard that it can't. I don't know why it says that...

 

From what I've read, it will show up. The question is how is it utilized. Full memory bandwidth and dual channel, or something less?

Then, the more important question, does it matter or would I notice a performance hit?

 

a better question would be, why would you need 16gb of ram?

 

Intel's ARK say it does. Now we are getting conflicting sources...

Virtual Computing, Video/Music Editing and Encoding, Processing and Rendering Programs like AutoCAD, Mathematica and MATLAB all get boosts 16 GB of RAM over 8 GB. Gaming 8 GB is fine.

 

Because 32GB is too much.

 

lol how much do 8gb sticks cost anyways?

 

About $700 a piece. Here's the good news, 32GB works just fine in these laptops, and new cheaper 8GB SODIMM's should be coming online later this year. Don't have a pricepoint yet, but we know they are coming.

 

yay i can get 32gb that will cost nearly 2 times the cost of my laptop! what about 16gb modules?

edit: found a website with 16gb modules at a reasonable price with a back to school discount.

edit: 32gb ram stick

 

That looks like a full sized module, and not a sodimm.

Are you upgrading some servers?

 

Apparently the 2630qm does support AES-NI, but it could have been disabled in the BIOS according to this lenovo forum post: IdeaPad y570 and AES-NI - Lenovo Community

 

Get an ES 2720, cheaper and it has 8 megs of l3 vs 6 megs. I bought an ES and man it rox. I had a 2630qm before.
This ES supports all the normal things like AES encryption like the real 2720.

 

Except the lack of thermal sensors. The difference between the 2630 and 2720 are minor relative to the cost of the upgrade (retail price or the work in changing to ES, IMO) in real life situations, even if you are running a CPU intensive program.

 

The MALIBAL crew, as usual, is right. A higher end CPU isn't really as necessary as it used to be for gaming, a lot of processing goes to the GPU now. If you do a lot of compiling, virtual machines, and other CPU intensive tasks, then it'd be worth the upgrade. In your case, however, it's not necessary, and you'd be better off upgrading your GPU or getting an SSD.