Jump to content

i5 2410M or i7 2630QM? Which is which?


Marcus007

Recommended Posts

Yep.

I would buy it because I'm a bencher, and I couldn't live with knowing that it was only $100 more for those extra points....

I don't know anything about programming sorry, and my fairly extreme taste for hardware may be tainting my judgement here - IMO the 555 will be totally outdated in ~18 months anyway, my insatiable need for power would have me upgrade it long before that.

Steven makes a good point in the shoutbox, both with the BFBC2 numbers and in that we can't tell you what to buy, just give you the facts - and in my case a bunch of random thoughts for you to disagree with/laugh at. :)

Oops. Just saw Steven's reply at the shoutbox. I think i was becoming irritating to him already or something. Yikes. Hope he's not mad. Alright Jimbo. Thank you for all the comments and advice, sorry if i wasted your time. Really appreciated everything. I would think about the i5 and i7 then would inform you guys on my final decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Jimbo says. There are games that are very CPU demanding and will profit a lot from a 2720QM (e.g. Starcraft II, GTA IV, some shooters to a certain extent), but normally an i5 will suffice for games. But as I said, results are different from game to game.

If you only do small programming stuff you won't notice a difference when it comes to compiling, whether it takes 10 or 20 seconds... I guess you don't care, lol :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Jimbo says. There are games that are very CPU demanding and will profit a lot from a 2720QM (e.g. Starcraft II, GTA IV, some shooters to a certain extent), but normally an i5 will suffice for games. But as I said, results are different from game to game.

If you only do small programming stuff you won't notice a difference when it comes to compiling, whether it takes 10 or 20 seconds... I guess you don't care, lol :D

Hmm. If every game that will be created, in 3-4 years time, will be "playable" in i5, then i would choose i5 over i7 since I don't think i will be able to utilize to the maximum what the i7 can do since i won't do things that is cpu intensive UNLESS there would be a game that would require 4 cores/8 threads.

It's really really small dude. :)) Come to think of it, I use P4 for programming. LOL. But anyway, thank you svl7 for your advice. Greatly appreciated!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course the first bottleneck will be the gpu, but have you read my post?

In the future games will go for interactive environments, physics and small details current games don't have, and that things will not be calculated by the gpu (you see, almost no one is using physx and any other hardware specific middleware), but by the cpu.

The GPU of the 555m won't even come close to calculating in real time all that gig and a half, let alone 3gb... unless of course you are planning to plug your m14x into a 30in monitor, which to me is kind of pointless. At that resolution (900p) you just don't need that much memory!

And yes, the i5 runs at 300mhz more than the i7, so what? The bigger cache in the i7 helps speed up things, and you have got two whole cores more.

What i'm trying to tell you is that while a 3gb 555m is completely futile, a quad core i7 instead of a dual i5 could have some improvements, especially in multithreaded applications.

And one more thing (not to you marcus, to who criticized me), does the fact that i am a new member on this forum mean i don't know anthing about computers?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course the first bottleneck will be the gpu, but have you read my post?

That's not generally true, a CPU demanding game like GTA IV or Starcraft II will be bottlenecked by the CPU, not the video card.

In the future games will go for interactive environments, physics and small details current games don't have, and that things will not be calculated by the gpu (you see, almost no one is using physx and any other hardware specific middleware), but by the cpu.

With AMD pushing it's Stream technology, and Nvidia doing the same with CUDA I can't say for sure whether the future of physic calculations really lies in the CPU or GPU, we'll see, probably you're right, especially as long as CUDA and Stream are requiring different SDKs, though as AMD is making use of OpenCL it's totally possible that in the future a lot more is going to happen on the GPU.

The GPU of the 555m won't even come close to calculating in real time all that gig and a half, let alone 3gb... unless of course you are planning to plug your m14x into a 30in monitor, which to me is kind of pointless. At that resolution (900p) you just don't need that much memory!

That's a valid point, it has been shown that the difference between the 1.5GB version and 3GB version is almost negligible in most games.

And yes, the i5 runs at 300mhz more than the i7, so what? The bigger cache in the i7 helps speed up things, and you have got two whole cores more.

What i'm trying to tell you is that while a 3gb 555m is completely futile, a quad core i7 instead of a dual i5 could have some improvements, especially in multithreaded applications.

This can depend on the application, in most cases a 2720QM is superior to an i5 2410m, for obvious reasons, and that's out of question. But as I already mentioned, the CPU can easily be upgraded anytime later, so if money is tight at the moment this might be a very good option for the OP.

The GPU is soldered to the mobo and can't be changed afterwards.

And one more thing (not to you marcus, to who criticized me), does the fact that i am a new member on this forum mean i don't know anthing about computers?

No, not at all. Like I said, it's out of question that an i7 is superior to an i5, but when it comes to configuring a system with a certain budget one has to consider other aspects as well, as I mentioned, the CPU can easily be upgraded anytime, for less money. Considering that most games run very well with the i5 / 555m combination it might be worth to consider this when money is tight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guys, take it easy. Every side has it's own explanation and every advice would be take in consideration. You guys, everyone here in T|I, has helped me a lot on deciding between the i5 and i7 and I want to thank all of you for that. I hope i could +rep everyone to show that you guys have been really helpful. I MIGHT get the i5 over the i7 since i would only do programming and simple stuff and then games. The reasons i would get it is because 1.) More battery life 2.) Produces less heat than i7. I think those 2 reasons would suffice for me to choose i5. I know for $100 more, i could get the high end BUT i'm still waiting for some coupons and if those coupons would give me a discount and the TOTAL bill would be $1200 or less, then i could get the i7. I'm also planning to get the orion sleeve as well.

But as I already mentioned, the CPU can easily be upgraded anytime later, so if money is tight at the moment this might be a very good option for the OP.

I just want to ask that is the cpu really "EASILY" upgradable? From what i've from the other comments, they said it's not that easy. Just want to be sure of this though. Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Easy" is subjective, but yes IMO. It will involve disassembly (obviously) screws/clips/etc, then it just lifts out and the new one gets dropped (gently!) into place. Probably less than 1hrs work, even for a first timer.

In comparison the GPU is soldered to the motherboard, highly unlikely even an expert would attempt to remove it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just want to ask that is the cpu really "EASILY" upgradable? From what i've from the other comments, they said it's not that easy. Just want to be sure of this though. Thank you!

True... if you're not that familiar with disassembling notebooks the M14x can be a bit difficult, but it's totally possible if you're carefu, prepare yourself properly and do it slowly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes and if you have trouble you can always take a pic and we can help or even video chat with someone maybe so someone could walk you through... theres many guides... even begginers can take a small step and accomplish a lot. IMO the M14x will be loads easier than my M18x was to open. The m17R2 was about the same both gpus and cpu in the deadcenter of the system. If you attempt it we all will help guide the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course the first bottleneck will be the gpu, but have you read my post?

In the future games will go for interactive environments, physics and small details current games don't have, and that things will not be calculated by the gpu (you see, almost no one is using physx and any other hardware specific middleware), but by the cpu.

The GPU of the 555m won't even come close to calculating in real time all that gig and a half, let alone 3gb... unless of course you are planning to plug your m14x into a 30in monitor, which to me is kind of pointless. At that resolution (900p) you just don't need that much memory!

And yes, the i5 runs at 300mhz more than the i7, so what? The bigger cache in the i7 helps speed up things, and you have got two whole cores more.

What i'm trying to tell you is that while a 3gb 555m is completely futile, a quad core i7 instead of a dual i5 could have some improvements, especially in multithreaded applications.

And one more thing (not to you marcus, to who criticized me), does the fact that i am a new member on this forum mean i don't know anthing about computers?

Hi Podgrummer... you seem to know plenty. The fact that any member in anyforum is new means nobody know who you are until you voice a question or statement. So in short no the fact your a new member does not mean you know nothing about computers... some people have a library of knowledge here and they were new once too and no one knew that till they introduced themselves. Welcome to the forum Podgrummer, things can get a little borderline of not being conversations anymore and nearing argument since there are so many personalities in this giant world. Sometimes we all need to step back and say why make it a heated discussion and just say what we all think and reference all the facts and allow everyone to come to their own conclusions themselves. This way no one is right or wrong rather we all have our own point of views and that's what makes us human... if not we might as be thoughtless robots. So hopefully there isn't actually anymore thoughts here that people are assumed to be stupid if they are new members here or anywhere. i have great respect for every member that comes here. Sorry you felt that way. Welcome to the forum again please take this as not being directed at anyone in particular but my thoughts after reading

"And one more thing (not to you marcus, to who criticized me), does the fact that i am a new member on this forum mean i don't know anthing about computers?"

This forum is actually a friendly place and if people are out of line there will be resolution hopefully everyone is mature enough to just not have issues of immaturity. This place is a giant discussion and should stay that way. My apologies that you felt that way Podgrummer please accept, every point of view is important here.

:Banane40:

Edited by mw86
  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not generally true, a CPU demanding game like GTA IV or Starcraft II will be bottlenecked by the CPU, not the video card.

With AMD pushing it's Stream technology, and Nvidia doing the same with CUDA I can't say for sure whether the future of physic calculations really lies in the CPU or GPU, we'll see, probably you're right, especially as long as CUDA and Stream are requiring different SDKs, though as AMD is making use of OpenCL it's totally possible that in the future a lot more is going to happen on the GPU.

That's a valid point, it has been shown that the difference between the 1.5GB version and 3GB version is almost negligible in most games.

This can depend on the application, in most cases a 2720QM is superior to an i5 2410m, for obvious reasons, and that's out of question. But as I already mentioned, the CPU can easily be upgraded anytime later, so if money is tight at the moment this might be a very good option for the OP.

The GPU is soldered to the mobo and can't be changed afterwards.

No, not at all. Like I said, it's out of question that an i7 is superior to an i5, but when it comes to configuring a system with a certain budget one has to consider other aspects as well, as I mentioned, the CPU can easily be upgraded anytime, for less money. Considering that most games run very well with the i5 / 555m combination it might be worth to consider this when money is tight.

Yes of course, i replied because the OP was deciding between the i7 and the 3gb 555m, so i thought he had that 100$ to spend on something, and the i7 seemed more reasonable to me , if you know what i mean :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Podgrummer... you seem to know plenty. The fact that any member in anyforum is new means nobody know who you are until you voice a question or statement. So in short no the fact your a new member does not mean you know nothing about computers... some people have a library of knowledge here and they were new once too and no one knew that till they introduced themselves. Welcome to the forum Podgrummer, things can get a little borderline of not being conversations anymore and nearing argument since there are so many personalities in this giant world. Sometimes we all need to step back and say why make it a heated discussion and just say what we all think and reference all the facts and allow everyone to come to their own conclusions themselves. This way no one is right or wrong rather we all have our own point of views and that's what makes us human... if not we might as be thoughtless robots. So hopefully there isn't actually anymore thoughts here that people are assumed to be stupid if they are new members here or anywhere. i have great respect for every member that comes here. Sorry you felt that way. Welcome to the forum again please take this as not being directed at anyone in particular but my thoughts after reading

"And one more thing (not to you marcus, to who criticized me), does the fact that i am a new member on this forum mean i don't know anthing about computers?"

This forum is actually a friendly place and if people are out of line there will be resolution hopefully everyone is mature enough to just not have issues of immaturity. This place is a giant discussion and should stay that way. My apologies that you felt that way Podgrummer please accept, every point of view is important here.

:Banane40:

Yes, i'm sorry, i understand that sentence was a lot too forward... i apologize, but i really didn't mean it in that tone, it was just an observation/question, not some angry hate comment :)

And again, sorry :)

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, i'm sorry, i understand that sentence was a lot too forward... i apologize, but i really didn't mean it in that tone, it was just an observation/question, not some angry hate comment :)

And again, sorry :)

Cool we all are nice here glad to hear it wasn't meant that way.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes of course, i replied because the OP was deciding between the i7 and the 3gb 555m, so i thought he had that 100$ to spend on something, and the i7 seemed more reasonable to me , if you know what i mean :)

Oh. Just to clarify things, i wasn't deciding between the i7 and the 3gb 555m. :D I was deciding between the i5-2410m and the i7-2630qm. :) Sorry if i confused you on that. Thank you for advice though. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I would say the i5 is plenty if you plan to mainly use the laptop for gaming. The GPU will always be the bottleneck of the system. But if you plan on using the laptop to do more intensive apps like video encoding and such... opt for the i7.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.