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Core i7 vs i5 - noticeable??

M

mattchiro

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 16, 2009
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Does the upgrade to core i7 make a noticeable difference for users surfin the web, coding and occasional photoshop use??
 
Sorry there are many many threads here with same topic. Please in future use the search feature and use one of the existing threads as its very time consuming for people to answer the same question over and over.

Basically the synopsis is for light photoshop, not editing large number of images or very large images with many many layers & filters, then yes i5 is great, but if you are really pushing photoshop or other pro apps the extra i7 boost would be beneficial.

This is for the 11" 1.6 i5 v 1.8 i7, the 13" 1.7 i5 is a lot closer to the 1.8 i7 and the difference would be far less noticeable even if you are pushing full CPU load over the 11" configs.


For your needs - the i5 is the better option on either model.
 
For everyday tasks for 95% of its users, the difference between i5 and i7 is negligible, if it even exists. As always Apple was quite mean in not allowing the 128Gb model to be upgraded to the i7 , but the only difference between the two cpus is 1 mb more L3 cache.
I find this fixation with Photoshop performance a bit too much.
Most people will be browsing the web,listening to music, writing documents and watching movies..
 
Samsumac said:
For everyday tasks for 95% of its users, the difference between i5 and i7 is negligible, if it even exists. As always Apple was quite mean in not allowing the 128Gb model to be upgraded to the i7 , but the only difference between the two cpus is 1 mb more L3 cache.
I find this fixation with Photoshop performance a bit too much.
Most people will be browsing the web,listening to music, writing documents and watching movies..
Click to expand...

There is a speed difference, but its up to the user to decide. I now see a difference in speed with my i7 over my wife's i5. Problem seems to be that the computer needs to index itself. New hard drive and new OS. It will be stable guys. Just takes time. Be patient. I was all about giving up the i7 for i5. Now that it's working like it should be, no regrets.
 
For the vast vast majority of people, the performance difference will not be noticeable. Unless you have them side by side, you're not going to notice anything.
 
Guys, you can say there is no difference all you want, but if that were the case Intel would only release one version, not two. That many people can't TELL the difference is a whole other matter. With a SSD and the internet connection what it is, the processor can have little impact on the web browsing experience or email downloading experience. They seem to be the same because they are going as fast as the rest of the system can handle it. But when you need the extra "uuumph" to encode a video file or whatever, the i7 will have it where the i5 won't.

Whether you want to pay $90 for that or not is a personal choice. The i5 is not a bad choice. It is a good choice. The i7 is just better... :p
 
The MBA makes a great machine for coding (unsless you need much rendering) and even for light Photoshop. The difference between i5 and i7, in my opinion, is not really noticeable, and if surfing the web, coding and light photo editing is what you'd use it for, then go for the i5.
 
Vihzel said:
A few seconds worth?
Click to expand...

Yes. If a few seconds worth it not worth it, buy a previous gen Air with a C2D. I mean, how valuable is your time?

For the $90 difference I find the whole argument amusing. The whole battery drain, heat, fan, blah, blah, blah. Fact is i7 > i5. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble. It may not be by much, and that difference may not be worth $90 to some, but no one ever complained about their computer being too fast. A quick read of Intel's site on the differences between the i5 and i7 should put this discussion to rest.

But it won't. Otherwise, what fun would THAT be? :p
 
ZBoater said:
A quick read of Intel's site on the differences between the i5 and i7 should put this discussion to rest.

But it won't. Otherwise, what fun would THAT be? :p
Click to expand...

I thought we were talking about real world performance. You won't find that on Intel's website. :)
 
LostSoul80 said:
The MBA makes a great machine for coding (unsless you need much rendering) and even for light Photoshop. The difference between i5 and i7, in my opinion, is not really noticeable, and if surfing the web, coding and light photo editing is what you'd use it for, then go for the i5.
Click to expand...

There is a difference. Not a HUGE difference, but you can tell the speed bump. If you feel 90 is too much for that upgrade, then i5 is best for you. As one who owns both machines, I can see i7 being faster of the two. Some might argue that, but until you have both machines in your home and in front of you it's hard to determine that. On paper is one thing, but hands on is another.
 
Apple Expert said:
There is a difference. Not a HUGE difference, but you can tell the speed bump. If you feel 90 is too much for that upgrade, then i5 is best for you. As one who owns both machines, I can see i7 being faster of the two. Some might argue that, but until you have both machines in your home and in front of you it's hard to determine that. On paper is one thing, but hands on is another.
Click to expand...

When you say you see it being faster, what are you using the laptop for? Is this only when doing CPU intensive tasks, or is there an overall faster feel?
Thanks
 
JR1993 said:
When you say you see it being faster, what are you using the laptop for? Is this only when doing CPU intensive tasks, or is there an overall faster feel?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Overall it feels faster. It is a faster CPU vs. i5. Apps, boot up, importing and exporting are faster. Faster by alot? No not really. Anywhere from 1-4 seconds. Depending on task. That's just from what I've used. But exporting and importing greatly vary. When I imported my photo library, it was done on i7 but still processing on i5. Long enough to noticed the difference in speed. Now were only talking about a $90 upgrade from i5 256gb. My opinion its a good deal. If it were double that I would say skip it and just stick with i5.
 
Apple Expert said:
Overall it feels faster. It is a faster CPU vs. i5. Apps, boot up, importing and exporting are faster. Faster by alot? No not really. Anywhere from 1-4 seconds. Depending on task. That's just from what I've used. But exporting and importing greatly vary. When I imported my photo library, it was done on i7 but still processing on i5. Long enough to noticed the difference in speed. Now were only talking about a $90 upgrade from i5 256gb. My opinion its a good deal. If it were double that I would say skip it and just stick with i5.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for that. Im still wondering whether its worth it for me.... As far as im aware, I dont import and export a lot. However, with it overall seeming faster, i think I will maybe go with it.
 
Very interesting discussion. But in Europe, the upgrade from i5 to i7 costs 150€ thats exact 215 US$. What do you mean? Is it worth the upgrade?
 
Its £86 in the UK, I'm wondering if its worth it when I see about upgrading my model to the 256Gb.
 
Apple Expert said:
There is a difference. Not a HUGE difference, but you can tell the speed bump. If you feel 90 is too much for that upgrade, then i5 is best for you. As one who owns both machines, I can see i7 being faster of the two. Some might argue that, but until you have both machines in your home and in front of you it's hard to determine that. On paper is one thing, but hands on is another.
Click to expand...

You are right its not a huge difference. Its also not a medium difference for the 13" :) I can respect you have both but lets go beyond both onesy-twosy benchmark runs posted here and there, and your one personal experience to look at a large summary of reports taken as a whole.

Basically (assuming we are taking the 13") you get a 0.1 GHz speed jump (1.8 vs 1.7 GHz), an additional 1 MB of L3 cache (4MB vs 3MB), and slightly higher turbo boost upper limit (2.9 GHz vs 2.7 GHz). (reference: http://www.intel.com/consumer/products/processors/comparison-chart.htm make sure you compare the i7-2677M and i5-2557M)

Regardless of i5 vs i7, you are already faster than almost the entire macbook lineup of '10 (if you live by geekbench) so noone should feel particularly snubbed. If you are, please give me your Air :)

You see in this chart two vertical bars right next to each other. The left one is the 1.7GHz i5, the right one is 1.8 GHz i7.
http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/chart/show/441841

Now Lion may be playing games in the background and whatnot, so lets assume of all of these runs, we can just eyeball a poor man's median by the most dense of the vertical groupings and I get i7 at 6300 (ish), and the i5 at 5879 (ish). Lets assume the 32-bit and 64-bit are a wash because the chart mixes them and I am fantastically lazy.

Percentage difference: 7%.
 
For some it will vary if they fell it's worth it.

Today knave a new dilemma. As you know I have a MBA i7. I paid about $1765 after sales tax. Well I just received a $300 amazon gift card. Amazon sells the i5 for 1595. So after gift card I'm looking to pay about 1300. My situation is pay for i5 at 1300 or i7 for 1765. Those would be my final cost. I do love my i7, but that's a big swing in price. What should one do? Sorry to go off topic.
 
MattZani said:
Its £86 in the UK, I'm wondering if its worth it when I see about upgrading my model to the 256Gb.
Click to expand...

Apple have got me in a tight spot. For only £86 it's a no-brainer for me, even if the speed difference isn't huge. That's not a lot more for a better processor. But that assumes the consumer wants 256GB. I'm really only wanting the 128GB. The upgrade to i7 seems a decent deal, but only if you already wanted the 256GB. For me, the upgraded storage space would only be a consequence of wanting the i7. Therefore the difference is closer to £300. Since the storage isn't essential, I have to ask if the processor speed difference is worth £300. I really don't think so.

But if you need that extra space onboard, might as well I say. If you can afford it.
 
Last edited:
Apple Expert said:
For some it will vary if they fell it's worth it.

Today knave a new dilemma. As you know I have a MBA i7. I paid about $1765 after sales tax. Well I just received a $300 amazon gift card. Amazon sells the i5 for 1595. So after gift card I'm looking to pay about 1300. My situation is pay for i5 at 1300 or i7 for 1765. Those would be my final cost. I do love my i7, but that's a big swing in price. What should one do? Sorry to go off topic.
Click to expand...

Keep the i7 and use the gift card for accessories... :D
 
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