The i5 versus the i7 an good article.

[JCitron]

The i5 versus the i7 a good article.

So which processor do we need?

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,281...DF9E838CFF63A729A3007FAAD1?mailing_id=1210983

I say go with the i7 due to the bigger cache and more cores and threads.

John

 

[LNERlover5]

The need for more cores, logical threads and cache is subjective however. If cost savings can be achieved because the software a user intends to run won't make use of the additional hardware overhead, then it makes sense to go for an i5.

This of course varies on a person by person basis.

Jack.

 

[pdkoester]

Yeah, I agree it does vary. However, I invested in the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition when it first came on the market. And still use it today, over 5 years now! Still nothing slowing it down at this point, either. On air cooling, I run it at 4.3 Ghz all day and night. GPU and SSD upgrades are the only real changes and additional RAM. My theory is if you spend a lot on a really powerful CPU, it will last you a long time, and you get your money's worth.

Paul

 

[malikrthr]

I agree Pdkoester. If you want to future proof the PC, then it seems that the i7 would be the way to go. Even though a majority of games and simulators only utilize 2 and 4 cores, years from now, there may be games and simulators that utilize even more cores.

 

[whitepass]

Keep in mind that new CPUs come out every 18 mouths and will be better in some way.

 

[JCitron]

I agree Pdkoester. If you want to future proof the PC, then it seems that the i7 would be the way to go. Even though a majority of games and simulators only utilize 2 and 4 cores, years from now, there may be games and simulators that utilize even more cores.

This is something I also take into consideration since I don't always have the budget to go out and buy new hardware all the time. I buy the best I can afford at the time with a forward look to get the best bang out of my investment at the time. Having the i7 also helps substantially when using programs such as TransDEM as the cache and processor power really kicks in on programs like it.

John

 

[pdkoester]

Keep in mind that new CPUs come out every 18 mouths and will be better in some way.

This is true, better in some way, usually not a substantial difference to justify a purchase for me. Here's my example... I bought that i7 975 EE CPU almost 6 years ago. Doing the math, If I tried to buy the non-extreme with high performance, you figure about $500 or more probably. 18 months into 6 years would be FOUR CPUs over the time it took me to buy the single. That single one cost me about $900, at the time. If I bought FOUR non-extreme CPUs, then that would be more money. So, yeah, I restrict to performance of one CPU. But, here's another aspect to look at... as CPUs progress in performance, there is a certain amount gained over previous generations. Looking at my new laptop from last month, it is about 10-15% more performance over my DESKTOP. At this time, I also looked at the highest end i7 Extreme currently available, one of those would only gain me another 10-12% performance. So, if anything, I am pretty much getting my money's worth out of that desktop. I'm sure the laptop will be good for another 4 or more years, easily.
Now as for budget, I took my income tax return money and set it aside when I built this desktop almost 6 years ago. So, really, not much direct expense to worry about.

Paul

 

[LNERlover5]

Could one also factor marginal gains? For example, recently I ordered an ultrabook from PC Specialist which gave me the options of an i3 5010u, an i5 5200u and an i7 5500u. These are all low power broadwell based CPU's. Having taken every factor into consideration I opted for i3 for the following reasons. The difference between the i3 and i5 was only marginal, as I believe the chips are manufactured on the same process and then binned. The difference being the lack of turbo boost and literally two software features I knew I would not need. All for an additional £80! While the i7 only added a slight clock speed bump and another megabyte of cache compared to the i5 for another £50.

This example is poor when we're talking about extracting raw performance over time, as these are CPU's have a maximum TDP of 15 watts and are designed for low power consumption, however can one justify the cost if the gains are only marginal?

Jack.

 

[pdkoester]

i7-4710 HQ CPU is what my ASUS Republic of Gamer's edition G751 laptop has. When I was looking at laptops, I saw that i7-5500 series, and decided against it, too. Skip that one!

 

[JCitron]

From what I heard from an Intel systems representative at a MicroCenter store a few months ago, is the new chips are totally different than their older counterparts. There is a big push for lower power consumption while still maintaining their performance. This might be what's you're seeing with the 5000-series. I don't know as I haven't played around with these chips. I still have a 3770K series I7 which I plan to use until I can't get the last amount of juice out of it.

John

 

[Paulsw2]

Using a 5 year old i7 860 on my system and it's still going strong (touch wood), though it'll be interesting to see what TANE does to it!

Paul

 

[pdkoester]

Using a 5 year old i7 860 on my system and it's still going strong (touch wood), though it'll be interesting to see what TANE does to it!

Paul

I'm sure it will do very little to stress it. Doesn't do much here. i7 860 is a good CPU. If you have the right cooling capacity, motherboard, and settings, that can go over 4 Ghz if you really needed. Like I said, if you needed. Doubt it.

 

[pcas1986]

The first thing I noticed in the article was that the I7 is better for multi-tasking and hi end gaming. Below is what Resource Manager is saying about CPU usage on my PC while T:ANE is running. This is an I7-4770.

What I found interesting was the similarities in loading on CPUs 3 thru 7. They are not exactly the same but similar. The programmer in me is curious about that.

 

[johnwhelan]

The first thing I noticed in the article was that the I7 is better for multi-tasking and hi end gaming. Below is what Resource Manager is saying about CPU usage on my PC while T:ANE is running. This is an I7-4770.

What I found interesting was the similarities in loading on CPUs 3 thru 7. They are not exactly the same but similar. The programmer in me is curious about that.

Now that's interesting at least its using all the cores including the hyperthreading ones.

Thanks John