Core 2 Duo vs. i7

[airplaneman]

You can’t be this stupid. Core i7 is a quad core processor with a lot of newer technology. Its 1.6ghz will probably eat current 2.8ghz for dinner. And I thought Apple guys didn’t believe in the ghz myth, wasn’t it you guys who started it?

No Blue tooth… ooh, I haven’t used my MBP bluetooth even once.

No multitouch… big deal, I use a mouse. 4 buttons better than swiping around.

Windows 7 is pretty good, you must be blind to not think it is.

It also has 6 gigs of ram, runs games are rediculous fast speeds (230m pwns 9600gt to the point where it’s sad to watch)

Twice the thickness for half the price? Would you care?

I really hope Apple sees some sense. I really can’t stand paying 1999 for a laptop that’s half the speed of a 1099 laptop.

Looking at Dell’s with a 1920x1080 LED backlit on their 15.4 inch screens and blu ray with a quad core and a really really fast video card… for about 400 bucks cheaper, not to mention it runs cooler, I have to always convince myself that I made the better choice. Playing the few games for mac under crappy graphics… multitouch and all that is nice… but watching a blu ray movie on my super high def screen or playing the vast amount of games for Windows is a lot more fun. And I’m sure you can do anything on Windows that you can do on OS X

Guess I’ll just have to wait for the next big update to MBPs. Faster video card, and quad core cpu 32nm, come on Apple! Hurry it up!

Yo, stop hating Globalization (you know what that means, right? "All fans are..." that kinda thing) is not the way to go. Cool down. If you dislike so much, please get a PC. Just stop posting needless rants. It helps nobody.

Four core 1.6GHz does not equal 1.6x4. Multitouch is great, the battery powns, and the weight is great! I would definitely not lug around eight pounds of plastic when I could get a MBP. Just saying...

Now for the 2 vs. 4 core, the quad core sucks up battery life and will impose major heat issues. I think quad core will come to , but it will be Arrandale, not the current chips.

 

[kryptonianjorel]

I think the conclusion of the matter, then, is that Apple needs to get off their lazy rears and get with the quad-core program.

A CPU benchmark, however, just shows max. throughput, right? Again, assuming that said application is using all available cores, right? Sounds like an apples and oranges comparison. *sigh* o O (I might be wrong again...) O o

Their lazy rears? They've got the i7 based iMac coming, what more do you want?? Seriously, to everyone who just keeps on complaining "HP put an i7 in their laptop, why doesnt apple" needs to realize the power consumption of clarksfield. It is MUCH too high for use in a real notebook. HP has no sense of a portable laptop. The reason their laptops are dirt cheap is because they either user cheaper, power hungry processors, or slow processors to begin with.


Wait for arrandale. You'll get your precious i7 then in a package that won't burn your nuts

Actually, it isn't.

i7 isn't that much faster than Core 2 - AMD have taken much of the market back because of this.

Most applications are not programmed for the use of 3 cores let alone 4.

I'm looking to purchase a 17" MBP soon, because the build quality is superior to every other PC laptop - I can say that in confidence - It has a high quality Lithium Polymer battery that actually lasts what is claimed - 8 hours - plus the bonus of a gorgeous full 16:10 1920x1200 resolution on a brilliant LED screen.

HP make some real tack, I wouldn't touch any of their computers with a barge pole.

i7 is actually a huge improvement over the core series, and AMD is dying, not competing. The only places I see AMD chips are the POS sub $1000 dell/hp laptops.

 

[chrisrottan]

So who's the bigger idiot, the person who chooses or rather, supports a company that he knows will **** on him, or the person who chooses a company's product because it is good?

Let's not ********, Windows 7 wasn't even in the Crosshair when Vista was released.

Look up these microsoft codenames

Blackcomb (2001)
Longhorn (2004)
Vienna (2004)
Oh yeah , Blackcomb was later renamed Vienna, considering winFS was already included in the blackcomb package. Vienna was renamed Windows 7. Microsoft elects codenames for their alpha and beta products. Now, stop being closeminded and look up some fact, hmmkay?

 

[Eidorian]

Their lazy rears? They've got the i7 based iMac coming

Over a year after the initial Bloomfield launch.

It is MUCH too high for use in a real notebook. HP has no sense of a portable laptop. The reason their laptops are dirt cheap is because they either user cheaper, power hungry processors, or slow processors to begin with.

$999 for a quad core notebook is going to be what you're going to see in the future. I hope that you do realize that HP, among other vendors, does offer budget machines and lighter ones along side the middle of the road Core i7-720QM. Apple isn't the only vendor that can get a hold of lower voltage components either.

Wait for arrandale. You'll get your precious i7 then in a package that won't burn your nuts

Arrandale is still a dual core. The Core i7 name is put on far too many products.

The only places I see AMD chips are the POS sub $1000 dell/hp laptops.

The same place you see Intel's processors.

 

[RubbishBBspeed]

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,695432/Core-i9-Intels-6-core-desktop-CPU-pictured/News/


no doubt you guys are aware of this already.


gulftown


Ooooops posted in wrong section

 

[zbasarab]

Twice as thick, a full pound heavier, plastic, Windows, no iLife, no multitouch, no bluetooth... but hey, its got a MODEM! Oh, and not to mention, that snazzy i7 processor runs at all of 1.6GHz! Wahoo! (The standard 17" MBP is 2.8 BTW) And some sneakin' suspicion of mine tells me no 8 hour battery life, either...

I don't really see the comparison here... save for the $$ vs. $$$$. (And all Mac-heads know you get what you pay for, right? )

EDIT: AHHHH! Missed one... 1600x900 screen... lol.

so you would pay an extra $1000 for those features on a mac?

fanboy detected

 

[TH3D4RKKN1GH7]

I'm a new Mac owner (Got a 2.8Ghz Macbook Pro) and I think the HP ENVY is a pretty fine machine. Sure it looks like a Macbook Pro rip off but it is pretty finely spec'd for the price and has nice features. I used Windows 7 for months before buying my Macbook pro and it's a damn nice OS.

I think a lot of people hear haven't touched a windows machine and forever and are just going off of other's horror stories. There's nothing wrong with loving Mac and preferring it to Windows but **** get your facts straight and don't be such morons. Be fans of technology not the damn branding on your technology.

 

[apolloa]

Here's some pretty pictures to help you lot understand why Clarksfield is much more powerful then a Core 2 Duo:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3647&p=2

See, the memory controller on board plus direct CPU to Graphics and RAM paths plus the turbo mode. Please stop saying Clarksfield is no more powerful or less powerful then Core 2 Duo because you show a complete lack of understanding for the technology. Do yourself's a favour a read up on the technology first before stating your facts huh?

Here are some more graphs:

http://photos.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/01.jpg
http://photos.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/02.jpg

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2009/09/18/intel-core-i7-for-laptops-first-review/

These were all found with a 10 second Google. I think it's YOU who have to post FACTS and test results PROVING that Clarksfield offers the same or less performance then the Core2duo to back up your claims.

IMO Apple WILL offer the quad core models but as BTO on the 17" and top end 15" models only.

Oh and as for Windows 7, I like it, but Mac is better, and I've had several non geeky couldn't care less about specs Mac users tell me just how much they think Windows 7 looks like Mac OS!!! Now even I wouldn't say that.

 

[Davidkoh]

I think a lot of people hear haven't touched a windows machine and forever and are just going off of other's horror stories. There's nothing wrong with loving Mac and preferring it to Windows but **** get your facts straight and don't be such morons. Be fans of technology not the damn branding on your technology.

I actually installed Win 7 last week, hey, it's free as a student, so why not?
And even on my SSD it wasn't really fast. No instantly opening programs. Maybe im just used to OS X, but I expect my programs to open fast. If im going to open say AIM and Skype, I expect AIM to be loaded and logged in before I even reach the skype icon with the pointer. I lasted 20 minutes in Win 7, then I installed XP again.

Also, I bet ya that in the future computers will have space inside for these "slice" batteries that you can insert yourself. Combine that with good power efficiency, some nice design and such, and ill be first in line to get that

 

[kryptonianjorel]

Over a year after the initial Bloomfield launch.

Holy hell are you KIDDING ME? Do you have ANY idea of the power consumption of Bloomfield? You can't throw those into iMacs, Minis, or MBPs!

$999 for a quad core notebook is going to be what you're going to see in the future. I hope that you do realize that HP, among other vendors, does offer budget machines and lighter ones along side the middle of the road Core i7-720QM. Apple isn't the only vendor that can get a hold of lower voltage components either.

Sure, as tech improves, old tech becomes cheaper. But to be competitive, they'll throw in power-hungry quad cores (like they're doing now with the envy 15) and talk about how great it is at the price point, all while throwing batter life, temps, and portability right out of the window. Apparently apple IS the only vendor that can get a hold of low voltage components.

HP's idea of power saving is celeron and cheap AMD processors.

Arrandale is still a dual core. The Core i7 name is put on far too many products.

Its not the number of cores that are important in this you know, its the completely new architecture. the i7 branding, while confusing, is appropriate. Core numbers is turning into the new megahertz myth!

The same place you see Intel's processors.

Yes, but unlike AMD, Intel actually makes fast, powerful processors too. AMD has been seriously lagging for a while.

 

[Shodan]

i7 is actually a huge improvement over the core series, and AMD is dying, not competing. The only places I see AMD chips are the POS sub $1000 dell/hp laptops.

Well, if you have ever built a PC in your life - the AMD option is a tempting prospect at the moment due to the low price of the CPU's to high performance ratio's.

AMD isn't dying, their graphics cards are coming back in leaps and bounds coupled with NVIDIA's recent announcement that they will not be producing anymore chipsets - for the time being this opens up ATi to the Notebook world.

5 years ago people were saying Intel were dying due to their horrendous CPU's.

 

[kryptonianjorel]

Well, if you have ever built a PC in your life - the AMD option is a tempting prospect at the moment due to the low price of the CPU's to high performance ratio's.

AMD isn't dying, their graphics cards are coming back in leaps and bounds coupled with NVIDIA's recent announcement that they will not be producing anymore chipsets - for the time being this opens up ATi to the Notebook world.

5 years ago people were saying Intel were dying due to their horrendous CPU's.

I have built PCs...thats how I make money through school... The AMD is only good if you're building budget. I wouldn't but AMD for a performance machine. ATI graphics are strong, that is true, but ATI is still a pretty solid separate entity, and would likely be doing just as well had they not been purchased by AMD. ATI is no more open to the Notebook world than Nvidia. Nvidia can't make chipsets for Intel chips any more than ATI can. Its a licensing issue (thats being fought in court, lets not go there). So in that case, ATI only has the upper hand on AMD laptops.

 

[Goettel]

Optical Drive

I think you all missed something very important about the HP envys... they don't have an optical drive. I can't wait for the day apple will remove the drive for their laptops and ship with an external. Look at the 13", the optical drive takes about half of the computer! You could almost have enough place for cooling for a core i7 and a dedicated GPU (or maybe not ) but you could definitely double the battery life. The 15" and 17"ers could get i7 though and a bigger battery.

 

[iMacmatician]

Holy hell are you KIDDING ME? Do you have ANY idea of the power consumption of Bloomfield? You can't throw those into iMacs, Minis, or MBPs!

Even without Bloomfield there were 65 W low-power desktop Penryn quad-cores.

I think you all missed something very important about the HP envys... they don't have an optical drive. I can't wait for the day apple will remove the drive for their laptops and ship with an external. Look at the 13", the optical drive takes about half of the computer! You could almost have enough place for cooling for a core i7 and a dedicated GPU (or maybe not ) but you could definitely double the battery life. The 15" and 17"ers could get i7 though and a bigger battery.

I'm waiting for that day too. The optical drive is about twice the size of the hard drive. That means removing the optical drive gives room for a second hard drive plus a bigger battery (that or what you said).

 

[kryptonianjorel]

I think you all missed something very important about the HP envys... they don't have an optical drive. I can't wait for the day apple will remove the drive for their laptops and ship with an external. Look at the 13", the optical drive takes about half of the computer! You could almost have enough place for cooling for a core i7 and a dedicated GPU (or maybe not ) but you could definitely double the battery life. The 15" and 17"ers could get i7 though and a bigger battery.

If apple removed the optical drive, just wow, the possibilities. The thing is, HP didn't include them because they needed the extra space.

Even without Bloomfield there were 65 W low-power desktop Penryn quad-cores.

I'm waiting for that day too. The optical drive is about twice the size of the hard drive. That means removing the optical drive gives room for a second hard drive plus a bigger battery (that or what you said).

Are you referring to the PenrynQC line? 45W Quad Cores, pretty nice. However Intel only had 2 versions, and the price differences are astounding

Apple uses mobile processors in their iMacs, minis and MBPs because of their compactness. If you want(need) hardcore processors, you'll get the MacPro.

 

[Eidorian]

Holy hell are you KIDDING ME? Do you have ANY idea of the power consumption of Bloomfield? You can't throw those into iMacs, Minis, or MBPs!

There are still a few Bloomfield based notebooks. Clarksfield and Lynnfield are out today.

Sure, as tech improves, old tech becomes cheaper. But to be competitive, they'll throw in power-hungry quad cores (like they're doing now with the envy 15) and talk about how great it is at the price point, all while throwing batter life, temps, and portability right out of the window. Apparently apple IS the only vendor that can get a hold of low voltage components.

I see the mobile P series and lower voltage components used be everyone else.

HP's idea of power saving is celeron and cheap AMD processors.

I'd like to know what you're getting at. Could you elaborate?

Its not the number of cores that are important in this you know, its the completely new architecture. the i7 branding, while confusing, is appropriate. Core numbers is turning into the new megahertz myth!

I'm sure that an Arrandale has same performance as a Clarksfield while both being Core i7.

Yes, but unlike AMD, Intel actually makes fast, powerful processors too. AMD has been seriously lagging for a while.

I can't ignore the Athlon II line against Celeron and Core 2.

Are you referring to the PenrynQC line? 45W Quad Cores, pretty nice. However Intel only had 2 versions, and the price differences are astounding

Apple uses mobile processors in their iMacs, minis and MBPs because of their compactness. If you want(need) hardcore processors, you'll get the MacPro.

PenrynQC now has 3 models. Since LGA 775 has finally made it to the iMac there's the option to use the Core 2 Quad S but Apple isn't and didn't back when they launched.

 

[JAT]

These threads are always a joke. One person wants to game on a laptop. Ouch. Another wants to build it from scratch. What, with a soldering iron and everything? Some want to have a portable device, presumably to not charge the battery for a week. And some just want it to look a certain way. NONE of these are compatible with each other. Yet, you all argue over various features as if they are actually going to matter to the other person. Can't you see they won't?

People who think HP laptops are wonderful are never going to appreciate what a MBP offers. And vice versa. And people who think watching BDs on a 15" screen is useful are nuts.


I gotta say, though. PC laptops in this decade have really destroyed the portable computer concept. Watching people on the road drag out cord after cord to use their "portable" computer is sad. Conference rooms need power strips for everyone to plug in their "laptop". And Dell's touchpads have been so bad that everyone has add-on mice. What a waste of an idea.

It's no wonder some of the best selling laptops are now Apples and netbooks.

 

[Jason Beck]

These threads are always a joke. One person wants to game on a laptop. Ouch. Another wants to build it from scratch. What, with a soldering iron and everything? Some want to have a portable device, presumably to not charge the battery for a week. And some just want it to look a certain way. NONE of these are compatible with each other. Yet, you all argue over various features as if they are actually going to matter to the other person. Can't you see they won't?

People who think HP laptops are wonderful are never going to appreciate what a MBP offers. And vice versa. And people who think watching BDs on a 15" screen is useful are nuts.


I gotta say, though. PC laptops in this decade have really destroyed the portable computer concept. Watching people on the road drag out cord after cord to use their "portable" computer is sad. Conference rooms need power strips for everyone to plug in their "laptop". And Dell's touchpads have been so bad that everyone has add-on mice. What a waste of an idea.

It's no wonder some of the best selling laptops are now Apples and netbooks.

And the apple unibody aluminum is way more durable. imo..

 

[gnasher729]

Did you just agreed with the fact that Envy's lineup is fast, if not faster than apple, costs less, weight is similar and battery life is better?

No. I said that for situations where four cores are used, it would be a bit faster, but not much faster because 4 x 1.6 GHz is a bit more, but not much more than 2 x 2.8 GHz. I also pointed out that referring to the Turbo Mode is misleading, because a Core 2 Duo at 2.8 GHz using one or two cores will always be faster than a quad core CPU using one or two cores with a turbo mode that increases the clock speed to _at most_ 2.8 GHz (and I'd like to see Intel docs stating that turbo mode goes from 1.6 to 2.8 GHz).

I didn't mention price, weight or battery life. And I personally don't want to carry a battery extension pack round with me.

 

[Davidkoh]

I think you all missed something very important about the HP envys... they don't have an optical drive. I can't wait for the day apple will remove the drive for their laptops and ship with an external. Look at the 13", the optical drive takes about half of the computer! You could almost have enough place for cooling for a core i7 and a dedicated GPU (or maybe not ) but you could definitely double the battery life. The 15" and 17"ers could get i7 though and a bigger battery.

Yeah, I would love them removing the drive to put a battery in the space the drive is

 

[TH3D4RKKN1GH7]

I actually installed Win 7 last week, hey, it's free as a student, so why not?
And even on my SSD it wasn't really fast. No instantly opening programs. Maybe im just used to OS X, but I expect my programs to open fast. If im going to open say AIM and Skype, I expect AIM to be loaded and logged in before I even reach the skype icon with the pointer. I lasted 20 minutes in Win 7, then I installed XP again.

Also, I bet ya that in the future computers will have space inside for these "slice" batteries that you can insert yourself. Combine that with good power efficiency, some nice design and such, and ill be first in line to get that

I find that to be highly unusual considering it was remarkably speedy on a 1.6Ghz Dual Core, 1GB of RAM HP laptop. It seems that a lot of people on here have these Windows horror stories and then proclaim the entire OS is **** but its not like OSX doesn't have its fair share of issues.

 

[Shodan]

These threads are always a joke. One person wants to game on a laptop. Ouch. Another wants to build it from scratch. What, with a soldering iron and everything? Some want to have a portable device, presumably to not charge the battery for a week. And some just want it to look a certain way. NONE of these are compatible with each other. Yet, you all argue over various features as if they are actually going to matter to the other person. Can't you see they won't?

People who think HP laptops are wonderful are never going to appreciate what a MBP offers. And vice versa. And people who think watching BDs on a 15" screen is useful are nuts.


I gotta say, though. PC laptops in this decade have really destroyed the portable computer concept. Watching people on the road drag out cord after cord to use their "portable" computer is sad. Conference rooms need power strips for everyone to plug in their "laptop". And Dell's touchpads have been so bad that everyone has add-on mice. What a waste of an idea.

It's no wonder some of the best selling laptops are now Apples and netbooks.

QFT.

 

[sleyeu]

Wait for arrandale. You'll get your precious i7 then in a package that won't burn your nuts

i had to read thistwice before i lol'd

i actually lolled, unlike the 99.9% of so called "lols" which are small internal chuckles.

 

[kryptonianjorel]

There are still a few Bloomfield based notebooks. Clarksfield and Lynnfield are out today.

You sure about that? I really dont think you know what you're talking about. Bloomfield is a 130W processor.

I see the mobile P series and lower voltage components used be everyone else.

Then you haven't been to best buy in a while. The battery life of every cheap (which is every one) hp laptop was either horrid with regular processors, or ~3.5 hours with celeron.

I'd like to know what you're getting at. Could you elaborate?

Uh, exactly what I said. HP thinks its better to use weaker processors to save power instead of power efficient processors. Its like buying a smaller TV to save electricity instead of buying an efficient TV

I'm sure that an Arrandale has same performance as a Clarksfield while both being Core i7.

ok

I can't ignore the Athlon II line against Celeron and Core 2.

?

PenrynQC now has 3 models. Since LGA 775 has finally made it to the iMac there's the option to use the Core 2 Quad S but Apple isn't and didn't back when they launched.

You're right. 65 W however, may be too hot for their current design. Not to mention that apple does its best to keep its segments divided. No other mainstream computer company does that; it makes my head spin trying to tell the differences between all the acer laptops, for example. They're trying to keep the iMac targeted to normal home use. If you need or want more, but the MacPro.

 

[Eidorian]

You sure about that? I really dont think you know what you're talking about. Bloomfield is a 130W processor.

Sager and Clevo have Core 2 Quad and Core i7 920 based notebooks.

Then you haven't been to best buy in a while. The battery life of every cheap (which is every one) hp laptop was either horrid with regular processors, or ~3.5 hours with celeron.

The option to purchase a notebook with the P Series or lower voltage is still there.

Uh, exactly what I said. HP thinks its better to use weaker processors to save power instead of power efficient processors. Its like buying a smaller TV to save electricity instead of buying an efficient TV

What price points are you talking about? You can save money on a Celeron or Pentium Dual Core. There are several options binned out to CULV and the standard components still fall in line with standard volage or slightly lower.

You're right. 65 W however, may be too hot for their current design. Not to mention that apple does its best to keep its segments divided

A sad but true fact.

No other mainstream computer company does that; it makes my head spin trying to tell the differences between all the acer laptops, for example. They're trying to keep the iMac targeted to normal home use. If you need or want more, but the MacPro.

I don't have any problems with the numerous models.