Early 2011 i7 or late 2011 i5?

[tazmando]

Dilemma:

Seen an Early 2011 13in i7 for £999 which is a £300 discount from original price.

Amazon selling late 2011 13in i5 £899 which is a £100 discount.

A £100 for an i7 is it worth it? Macworld speed tests seem to show the late i5 as faster in a lot of the test. Is this correct?

Would appreciate any thoughts to help me choose. While i am not a heavy user i do like to future proof where i can.

 

[Naimfan]

Given the price difference, I'd probably get the 2.7 GHz. At regular prices, the i7 isn't worth the difference, but at that price I would.

 

[smali]

Do you need an upgrade right now? Might be worth waiting for the redesign.

 

[GuitarG20]

what are the GHz of the two processors? normally i know that GHz doesn't mean much but it allows me to look at the geekbench benchmarks and see what kind of a speed difference there is.

 

[Mojo1]

I would go with the i5. You save more money and all you give up is a negligible increase in speed for some operations, which isn't actually noticeable when using the computer. The money you save will pay for a nice RAM upgrade should you find it necessary after using the MBP for a while.

Check Barefeats.com for speed tests comparing i5 and i7 Intel CPUs in MBPs.

 

[tazmando]

what are the GHz of the two processors? normally i know that GHz doesn't mean much but it allows me to look at the geekbench benchmarks and see what kind of a speed difference there is.

I7 is 2.7 ghz, i5 is 2.4 ghz

 

[AdrianK]

6853 for the i7 vs 6096 for the i5. 12% difference between them.

 

[GuitarG20]

6853 for the i7 vs 6096 for the i5. 12% difference between them.

so is the difference worth the price, OP? How heavy is the load you're gonna put on the computer?

 

[tazmando]

Thanks to all for your thoughts and advice.

I decided that the i7 was worth the £100 difference for the modest speed bump, however, the mind fever that grips you when you see a deal has passed. Financially, now is not a good time for me to buy when i have other priorities. So will go back to waiting and playing apple top trumps or "if money was no object what would i buy?"

 

[teknikal90]

lol thanks but no thanks?