i5 vs i7

gothic_hobbit · 22 Apr 2011 at 18:13

Hi everyone.

Currently I'm still stuck on an old Northwood Pentium 4. However, I am seriously looking to upgrade now, but I am confused between the performance difference between the i5 and i7. I would mainly be using my new PC for surfing, gaming and the occasional mp3 encoding. So, to compare, what would be the difference between two machines both running at 3.2ghz, but the actual difference being one PC has an i5 processor and the other one having an i7 ?

Any help or guidance would be appreciated

stulid · 22 Apr 2011 at 18:13

The i7 Sandybridge has hyperthreading, thats it, the i5 is thus identical otherwise.

Comparison here - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

LordSplodge · 22 Apr 2011 at 18:16

Looks like you have no need for hyper threading (8 threads vs four) and so can save some cash by going i5...or put it towards a better gpu.

titan13131 · 22 Apr 2011 at 18:22

stulid said:
The i7 Sandybridge has hyperthreading, thats it, the i5 is thus identical otherwise.

Comparison here - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287

The i7 also has 8mb of cache instead of 6mb. link

gothic_hobbit · 22 Apr 2011 at 18:23

This is good advice so far.

To make it even more clear, I would be aiming for a quad core as I believe a hex core isn't worth the price tag right now.

stulid · 22 Apr 2011 at 18:25

gothic_hobbit said:
This is good advice so far.

To make it even more clear, I would be aiming for a quad core as I believe a hex core isn't worth the price tag right now.

i5 for you then

as linked in that Anandtech bench, nothing in it unless you do lots of heavy video editing.

Save the ££££

wentalong · 22 Apr 2011 at 21:17

Wait to see what bulldozers got to offer? Heard its july sometime, not sire though,,

LordSplodge · 22 Apr 2011 at 21:59

wentalong said:
Wait to see what bulldozers got to offer? Heard its july sometime, not sire though,,

Bet they don't beat Sandybridge or at beast equal it. Then Ivy Bridge will arrive...