Mobile CPUs?

[ajf]

I currently have a Mid 2014 Macbook Pro 13 with an i5 which I think is the 4278u cpu.
Dual core only, no HT.

I really want something with more power, but still 13" format.
The best these have from anywhere are the dual core WITH HT i7, typically the 6650u.

Would there be much real world performance increase there? i know HT isn't as good as actual cores.

I've got a desktop with a 3570k CPU and I want as close pwrformance wise as I can in the laptop as I use it far more than the desktop now.

Primarily for Lightroom and very occassional basic photoshop.

 

[joeyjojo]

So, this comparison?

http://ark.intel.com/compare/91497,83508

As you say same number of cores and threads. The Skylake has more cache.

Haswell -> Skylake would get you maybe 5-20% from architectural improvements. Similarly the process shrink will mean better battery life.

The base clock speed is lower however (2.2 GHz vs 2.6 GHz), although the turbo is higher (3.4 GHz vs 3.1 GHz).

If you find yourself regularly using only one core (or perhaps two) as used to be common in lightroom (not sure for more recent versions) then you'll probably find the 6650u is faster as it'll be in that higher turbo clock as well as being more efficient.

If you're using the onboard graphics at all the Iris 540 is a bit faster, 10% or so.

 

[ajf]

Hmm, hadn't noticed that when I originally looked. The i5 also has HT?!
I thought that was the main difference between i5 and i7 both mobile and desktop?
i5 just has cores, i7 has cores plus HT.
Based on that, probably not worth the expense then, or go to a full size laptop and have a 6700hq which is a full blown 4 core i7 plus HT.
Just like the smaller form factor.

 

[joeyjojo]

Hmm, hadn't noticed that when I originally looked. The i5 also has HT?!
I thought that was the main difference between i5 and i7 both mobile and desktop?

Nope, Intel continue to inflate the family on the mobile versions to make them sound more impressive.

If you thought calling a 4278U an i5 despite it being a 2C/4T CPU was a stretch that's now considered an i7.

Edit: the HT could be disabled in your current Macbook I suppose? You need to double check the specs.

Note though as I said above if you're using 1 core all the time in lightroom the skylake will still be a bit faster, possibly +25% ish considering the faster turbo and arch.