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Welcome to Techsurvivors => Tech => Topic started by: Vijay on July 05, 2010, 12:26:14 PM

Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Vijay on July 05, 2010, 12:26:14 PM
Hey guys.

I'm thinking of getting a new Mac, either an iMac or a MacBook Pro. I was wondering if there was any advantage in getting the i7 version. Anybody know? I do RAW photo editing in Lightroom/Photoshop.

Thank you! smile.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 05, 2010, 01:48:34 PM
Well...7 is bigger than 5! So, it must be better, right! laughhard.gif Sometimes, size does matter, assuming it means faster computing...

All I know is what I've read and I don't remember half of that! blush-anim-cl.gif I'll leave the informative posts to others. I will say, I have a very difficult time using my wife's 15" MBP when I'm used to sitting in front of my 24" iMac! Her screen is ~ΒΌ the size of mine and it must use about 110 dpi making everything much smaller... inspect.gif On the other hand, the MBP is a lot easier to take to a meeting...or even another room! rofl.gif

Sounds like things are moving along nicely for you! Don't be such a stranger! laugh.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Texas Mac Man on July 05, 2010, 02:35:32 PM
Look at these links.
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/10/76472-imac...7-what-buy.html
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/14/83554-batt...core-i5-i7.html
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: tacit on July 06, 2010, 07:16:35 PM
Put most simply: a core i7 is a faster processor than a core i5. It's kind of like a 386 vs. a 486, or a G4 vs. a G5--it's a more sophisticated processor.

My general advice when buying a new computer is to always buy the best system you can afford; it will serve you better in the future and last you longer.
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: MamaMoose on July 07, 2010, 03:24:59 AM
I second tacit's comment. I just bough a 17" MBP with an i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM,  and 500GB of  solid state memory. I see three places where the system is much speedier: the i7 processor, the 8 GB of RAM, and the SSD. For the latter, there is no extra delay as unlike a mechanical hard drive there is no delay due to finite rotational speed.

It was extremely spendy! I am writing this from my jail cell where I am awaiting trial for robbing a bank to pay for the MBP laugh.gif  I hope the judge is a Mac user.

MamaMoose
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: krissel on July 07, 2010, 03:38:27 AM
Well Tom, at least your jailer is kind enough to let you use your Mac while behind bars.  smile.gif

Hope you don't have to explain your TS username to your cellmate.  toothgrin.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Vijay on July 07, 2010, 12:22:18 PM
Xairbusdriver:  eek2.gif   wacko.gif   toothgrin.gif

Texas Mac Man: Thank you.  smile.gif

tacit: WOW! Just what I expected! Thank you.  smile.gif

MamaMoose: I can afford the i7 and the 8 GB of RAM but the SSD is out of reach for me. The 500 GB 7200 RPM HD should do. Have fun with your Mac.  smile.gif

krissel: Hello!  smile.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Jack W on July 07, 2010, 05:25:06 PM
Vijay,

I was almost ready to order a new iMac 27" i5.

Then I started reading this thread. Now, maybe, I'll order an i7. Boy, would that be sweet!

I got the $ and you can't take it with you.

Quite a bump in speed from .933 monocore to 2.8GHz quad core. Screamin' mimi!!!

 Just another reason to procrastinate.

  I already have (2) 1TB Hitachis in Macally USB2-FW-eSATA enclosures just  hankerin' to get spinning.

Oh, well. I'll be out of town the last week in July, then home pretty regularly after that.

That'll give me time to ponder the final decision, and give Apple a little time to update the iMac line. ???
And maybe iLife or iWorks or both will be bumped up to a new version? toothgrin.gif . . . . . Dream on . . . . .

Hey, do you think that Apple will start supporting and providing eSATA ports? Maybe in the new iMac line? WOW.gif

I don't want much, do I? Hey, it ain't illegal to dream!

Decisions, decisions. Meanwhile my QS 2002 933 is humming along just fine with Tiger 10.4.11.

- Jack
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: krissel on July 08, 2010, 02:23:34 AM
Hi Vijay!  salute.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Vijay on July 08, 2010, 01:30:55 PM
Jack W: The i7 is just $200 more. It would be 8 cores with 4 physical and 4 virtual. Is Apple refreshing their older Macs this July?
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Jack W on July 08, 2010, 03:41:17 PM
QUOTE(Vijay @ Jul 8 2010, 02:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Jack W: The i7 is just $200 more. It would be 8 cores with 4 physical and 4 virtual. Is Apple refreshing their older Macs this July?

Just guessing and hoping! It don't hurt to speculate!
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: krissel on July 09, 2010, 01:25:06 AM
Here's a site that considers the update timing of Apple products.  It guesses that the iMac may be updated "soon", which may mean sometime this fall. The Pro towers are long overdue. The MacBookPros were just updated in April so I don't think they will get any improvements.

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Vijay on July 10, 2010, 07:06:53 AM
Jack W: Oh yeah!  toothgrin.gif

krissel: Thanks!  smile.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Vijay on July 27, 2010, 08:41:51 PM
QUOTE(Jack W @ Jul 8 2010, 03:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
That'll give me time to ponder the final decision, and give Apple a little time to update the iMac line. ???


Looks like your dream became reality! biggrin.gif http://www.apple.com/imac/
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: krissel on July 28, 2010, 12:05:47 AM
OK, so Jack and Vijay, are either of you going to give yourself a treat?  smile.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: gunug on July 28, 2010, 12:24:29 PM
According to the Apple Certified Sales guy at Nebraska Furniture Mart in Kansas City (name not recalled by his request) the thing about laptop i7 chips as opposed to the chips in something like a Powermac is the laptop is a "hyperthreaded" representation of a real living quad-core "intel processor" but is he talking through his hat?  Let me know if someone hears something different.  I'll be back; if Arnold S. doesn't have that copyrighted!  Nice to hear from you once more Vijay!
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Xairbusdriver on July 28, 2010, 02:02:11 PM
dntknw.gif I was thinking the "hyperthreading" was just part of the i7 chip. And I'm not sure it is a technically defined word, I think it comes straight from the Marketing Department...
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Vijay on July 31, 2010, 08:14:38 AM
QUOTE(krissel @ Jul 28 2010, 10:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
OK, so Jack and Vijay, are either of you going to give yourself a treat?  smile.gif


I'll wait for the MacBook Pro refresh. Maybe Jack's buying an iMac? biggrin.gif

Hi gunug! smile.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: Jack W on July 31, 2010, 10:59:47 PM
QUOTE(krissel @ Jul 28 2010, 01:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
OK, so Jack and Vijay, are either of you going to give yourself a treat?  smile.gif


 You betcha - probably this week since I am back from Michigan!

still having problems with the reply function, all else seems to be working - i installed NoScript 2.0

- Jack

Edited 8/1 to add:
I re-installed Combo Update 10.4.11, and this resolved my editing problem on TS !!!! 2nd edit to add:
2nd edit to add:
Editing problem re-cropped.
Once again fixed
QuikEdit works, full edit still has problems

Ordered it today!!!! i7 thumbup.gif
Title: i5 Vs. i7
Post by: gunug on August 01, 2010, 12:07:09 AM
The marketing department was at Intel and not Apple according  to this blurb at WIkipedia I guess:

QUOTE
Hyper-threading (officially Hyper-Threading Technology, and abbreviated HT Technology, HTT or HT) is Intel's term for its simultaneous multithreading implementation in its Atom, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Itanium, Pentium 4 and Xeon CPUs.

Hyper-threading is an Intel-proprietary technology used to improve parallelization of computations (doing multiple tasks at once) performed on PC microprocessors. For each processor core that is physically present, the operating system addresses two virtual processors, and shares the workload between them when possible. Hyper-threading requires not only that the operating system support multiple processors, but also that it be specifically optimised for HTT, and Intel recommends disabling HTT when using operating systems that have not been so optimized.

. . . . . . . . . .

Intel released the Nehalem  (Core i7) in November 2008 in which hyper-threading makes a return. The first generation Nehalem contains 4 cores and effectively scales 8 threads. Since then, both 2- and 6-core models have been released, scaling 4 and 12 threads respectively.[3]

The Intel Atom is an in-order processor with hyper-threading, for low power mobile PCs and low-price desktop PCs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

I don't know who to believe on this one so  you're probably correct ABD!  thanx.gif