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27' iMac: i5 vs. i7

S

Sam Spade

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 30, 2007
181
0
I recall seeing a couple of good threads comparing the i5 and i7 CPU's, but can't seem to locate them now due to the restrictions of the forum's search function. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I am attempting to order a 27" iMac today and would like to read up on the two CPU's as I'm not sure which one to order.
 
miles01110 said:
What do you use your computer for? It probably doesn't even matter which one you buy.
Click to expand...
Lots of multi-tasking. I almost always have these apps open at the same time:

iTunes
iPhoto
Mail
Word
Excel
Adobe Acrobat
Chrome
Firefox
 
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miles01110 said:
RAM will make more of a difference to you than processor.
Click to expand...

I would suggest aftermarket RAM, since apple charge the best part of £160 to upgrade to 8GB, compared to the £40 or so for the aftermarket.
 
Sam Spade said:
Lots of multi-tasking. I almost always have these apps open at the same time:

iTunes
iPhoto
Mail
Word
Excel
Adobe Acrobat
Chrome
Firefox
Click to expand...

As Final Cut Pro/Adobe Premiere/any high specced games aren't on your list it'll make no noticeable difference whatsoever-except a bigger dent in your wallet for the i7.

As said above, concentrate instead on packing in RAM: probably 8GB should do you fine tbh. If you can afford to spend more, only then bother looking at an i7. If you can still spend more, get 16 GB RAM. But 8 GB RAM's your first priority. :)

Also, I'm confused why anyone would bother with multiple browsers. :eek: :confused: If you were a web designer you'd use BrowserLabs. If you're a standard consumer choose a browser and stick with it.
 
szolr said:
As Final Cut Pro/Adobe Premiere/any high specced games aren't on your list it'll make no noticeable difference whatsoever-except a bigger dent in your wallet for the i7.

As said above, concentrate instead on packing in RAM: probably 8GB should do you fine tbh. If you can afford to spend more, only then bother looking at an i7. If you can still spend more, get 16 GB RAM. But 8 GB RAM's your first priority. :)

Also, I'm confused why anyone would bother with multiple browsers. :eek: :confused: If you were a web designer you'd use BrowserLabs. If you're a standard consumer choose a browser and stick with it.
Click to expand...

I agree with most of these posts, you probably won't notice much of a difference between the i5 and the i7, but I'd definitely upgrade the ram after market, its very simple and you don't need to know jack squat about computers to do it.
 
Sonhascome said:
I agree with most of these posts, you probably won't notice much of a difference between the i5 and the i7, but I'd definitely upgrade the ram after market, its very simple and you don't need to know jack squat about computers to do it.
Click to expand...

Ah, yes... Forgot that very important point. :) Upgrade the RAM yourself. Apple overcharge you to do it. :cool:
 
Cost isn't a big factor, so if there's no downside to the i7, that's what I will order. I do not want a processor that will cause a lot of fan noise or a noticeably difference in heat, etc.

I will be increasing the RAM to 16GB with Crucial.
 
miles01110 said:
RAM will make more of a difference to you than processor.
Click to expand...

One of the things I do a lot is using Handbreak to rip my extensive collection of DVDs. I recenlty upgraded from 4GB to 12B of memory and noticed almost no difference in rip speed. However, I notice in resources, when I'm using HB, that HB used like 360 percent of the procesor (basically all of it it can). This leads me to onder if an i7 processor would be much faster for Handbrake and similar APS? My Macbook (dual core) will rip a DVD at 20-40fps, while my i5 quad core will rip the same DVD at a much higher rate (75-120fps).

Anyone know if any benchmarks have been done comparing relative HB speeds between the i5 and i7?
 
Sam Spade said:
Cost isn't a big factor, so if there's no downside to the i7, that's what I will order. I do not want a processor that will cause a lot of fan noise or a noticeably difference in heat, etc.

I will be increasing the RAM to 16GB with Crucial.
Click to expand...

Also, the Core i7 has hyperthreading technology which increases the number of available cores from 4 to 8.
 
BasilFawlty said:
One of the things I do a lot is using Handbreak to rip my extensive collection of DVDs. I recenlty upgraded from 4GB to 12B of memory and noticed almost no difference in rip speed. However, I notice in resources, when I'm using HB, that HB used like 360 percent of the procesor (basically all of it it can). This leads me to onder if an i7 processor would be much faster for Handbrake and similar APS? My Macbook (dual core) will rip a DVD at 20-40fps, while my i5 quad core will rip the same DVD at a much higher rate (75-120fps).

Anyone know if any benchmarks have been done comparing relative HB speeds between the i5 and i7?
Click to expand...

Your Mid 2011 27" 2.7GHz has an Intel Core i5 2500S (2.7GHz quad-core) CPU.
The most powerful iMAc has an Intel Core i7-2600 (3.4GHz quad-core).

For video encoding (and practically everything else) the 3.4 i7 2600 will murder the i5 2500S .

Benchmark
Video Editing: Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
Encoding Video to H.264 Blu-ray 720p
(Video runtime 2min 21s)

i7 2600: 224 seconds
i5 2500S: 336 seconds

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...compare,2421.html?prod[4786]=on&prod[4790]=on
 
It surprises me just how much of a gap there seems to be on the cpu intensive stuff. Nothing the OP mentioned though seems like an issue for either model. I don't really care for the imac in general, but if you experience slowing in the applications listed below, it's unlikely that you'll see maxed out cpu loads via activity monitor.

iTunes
iPhoto
Mail
Word
Excel
Adobe Acrobat
Chrome
Firefox
 
thekev said:
It surprises me just how much of a gap there seems to be on the cpu intensive stuff. Nothing the OP mentioned though seems like an issue for either model. I don't really care for the imac in general, but if you experience slowing in the applications listed below, it's unlikely that you'll see maxed out cpu loads via activity monitor.

iTunes
iPhoto
Mail
Word
Excel
Adobe Acrobat
Chrome
Firefox
Click to expand...

Base Clock Speed 2.5GHz 3.4GHz
Max SC Turbo 3.3GHz 3.8GHz
Max DC Turbo 3.2GHz 3.7GHz
Max TC Turbo 2.8GHz 3.6GHz
Max QC Turbo 2.6GHz 3.5GHz

And hyper-threading explains the differences in the benchmarks.

The OP will be fine with the base iMac. Memory and fast storage would give him give him a computer that is "fast" rather than a faster CPU in his day-to-day activities.
 
If you needed the i7 you'd know it already. Unless you actually encode a ton of video or use serious multithreaded programs (I almost think you guys who say you do are making it up - who the hell actually does that stuff?) you don't need it.
 
NMF said:
Unless you actually encode a ton of video or use serious multithreaded programs (I almost think you guys who say you do are making it up - who the hell actually does that stuff?) you don't need it.
Click to expand...

Case in point



 
Last edited:
thinking the same thing

I've got a 2010 Macbook pro and have been using Handbrake and other programs for video encoding and manipulation. I'm getting a 2011 27" Imac and am leaning toward the base i5 and adding more memory. I don't think I need to go to the 3.1GHz i5 do I?

thanks.
 
For logic 9 the I7 gave me better performance over the I5.
8 cores vs 4 cores and logic use every one of them and does a superb job at it!
 
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