Are there any noticeable differences between Core 2 Duo, Core i5, and Core i7...

[63dot]

...in your day to day experiences with a MBP? ...or in processor intensive tasks?

On paper, I see the numbers of everything from Core 2 Duo, to the slightly faster and cooler Core i3, to the supposedly faster core i5s and i7s. The benchmarks go up accordingly, but I found this does not always equate in a faster experience on most tasks.

Here's my experience so far on processor upgrade:

In one computer trade school re-certification class I am in, we are working with Windows Server 2003 on a Quad Xeon platform and it's incredibly slow.

But in a previous class we had the previous generation server edition on older Xeons, and while not fast, it was much better. On paper the newer multi-core Xeons should have made a difference, but could 2003 server software be that much more bloated than the previous Windows server edition that it would stall like that and make us wish we had the older setup?

I am going to try out the Adobe CS lab and put the new high end Dells to the test there and see if they work better than when we had an older CS version on older Xeon equipped Dells.

I don't know if this is something to do with Dell, or if Apple's increasing processor bumps/generations are going to similarly not make a difference in the speed things appear to go at, whether it's Adobe stuff, server stuff, or anything else that needs power.

I know somebody who plans on a Core 2 Duo, i5 or i7 MBP and I was wondering if the higher end processor is worth it in that case (iMovie being the main program of use).

Thoughts? Thanks in advance

 

[brentsg]

1) Yes
2) You're in the wrong forum section.

 

[63dot]

1) Yes
2) You're in the wrong forum section.

Thanks for the answer and also reminding me. I thought I was in the MBP sections.

I think the MBP with the i5 should be good for a quick iMovie experience and that there's probably no need to go as high as the i7. 15" inch MBP screen seems nice and laptop is reasonably light, too. They have outgrown the Core 2 Duo on the few years old iMac when they literally got addicted to making iMovie projects so they need to move up, but also be more mobile at the same time.

What's interesting is if somebody can do with an i5, but gets an i7, past purchases in people who use computers a lot with fairly intensive tasks are always from happy users vs. ones who regret to having spent too much. It's only those who do word processing, e-mail, and Internet who regret getting something that is probably overkill.

 

[Stvwndr219]

Benchmarks here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3669/...o-more-battery-life-tests-display-evaluated/2

 

[fel10]

Benchmarks here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3669/...o-more-battery-life-tests-display-evaluated/2

Wow I was actually thinking about upgrading my Mid 2009 C2D MPB to an i5, but after looking at the numbers, I changed my mind. All I pretty much do is browse the Internet, use iTunes and iMovie. So for me I don't think it would really be worth it upgrading. I'm just going to keep my Mid 2009 comp for now, and see what happens next year when the new MBPs come out.

 

[iPhone1]

On a MBP, getting the i7 option adds 256mb of VRAM making the total VRAM 512mb. This may be a huge deal depending on how much video editing you conduct.

 

[winninganthem]

Any performance benchmarks? The article you posted only has battery life benchmarks.