i5-540M vs i7-620M

[TheRekz]

Now I am in a such big dillema on which one to buy from these two models, when everything remains the same (500GB @7200rpm, 4GB memory), based on the comparison I did here. The only difference seems to only be the max frequency of the i7 which is 3.33 while the i5 is only 3.066 GHz and also the 1 MB cache different. Is that the only one??

I am going this new mac for web development and some programming. I won't use it to play games at all. I will be running several programs at one time though... I won't do any video editing and maybe just a bit of photoshop.. Please enlighten me

 

[mrklaw]

the 13" MBP would be fine for what you want it to do.

Your basic decision is a classic one of can you afford 'the best' vs can you make do with 'enough'? Its not need, its want, and is therefore difficult for us to help you with.

Summary - don't fret the GHz, just buy whichever has the screen size, battery life etc that you want. For photoshop it might be worth considering the higher res screen (if you're thinking of the 15")

 

[TheRekz]

the 13" MBP would be fine for what you want it to do.

Your basic decision is a classic one of can you afford 'the best' vs can you make do with 'enough'? Its not need, its want, and is therefore difficult for us to help you with.

Summary - don't fret the GHz, just buy whichever has the screen size, battery life etc that you want. For photoshop it might be worth considering the higher res screen (if you're thinking of the 15")

Then may I know what those guys that bought the 15" i7 for besides for the fact that they have tons of $$$$$ in their bank account?

 

[mrklaw]

because they want the latest and greatest. logic doesn't always come into it. If I had the money I'd buy the i7 version. But if I didn't I'd be happy with the base 15". (used to have a 13" and moved up because I needed more screen space)

 

[j0t]

I have the same dilemma: i5, 7200rpm, antiglare for €2291 (edu pricing) or i7, 7200rpm, antiglare for €2474? The difference is only €181, but is it worth it? I *might* use it for gaming, but should I buy the pricey i7 right now or should I buy the i5 then sell it and buy an i7 if and when I begin gaming?

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Gaming is mostly in your graphics chip. If money is no object the upgrade is worth it. If money matters at all, it will make minimal performance difference.

 

[senor ding dong]

I have the same dilemma: i5, 7200rpm, antiglare for €2291 (edu pricing) or i7, 7200rpm, antiglare for €2474? The difference is only €181, but is it worth it? I *might* use it for gaming, but should I buy the pricey i7 right now or should I buy the i5 then sell it and buy an i7 if and when I begin gaming?

honestly, in your case the price difference isn't that huge, so i would say go for it. not that you'll be disappointed in any way with your first configuration, but a little extra horsepower can never hurt

 

[j0t]

Well, the difference in non-edu prices is €200 (or $200, damn you apple). Leaving apart for a second my specific situation, are the additional 256M RAM and the slight performance increase enough to justify the price difference?

 

[TheRekz]

Well, the difference in non-edu prices is €200 (or $200, damn you apple). Leaving apart for a second my specific situation, are the additional 256M RAM and the slight performance increase enough to justify the price difference?

If you game a lot then the RAM might give you a bit of performance improvement

 

[mrklaw]

hmm. Not sure I'd spend £150 (UK difference) on the processor bump, but the processor and the GPU ram...

My head tells me you'd still probably not notice the difference in day to day usage, but if you game it may be useful.

 

[TheRekz]

I don't think that it would be a noticable difference as well. I just bought an i5-540M. I don't think the i7-620M is worthed unless you just have too much money to spend and want to feel that you always had a product which is top of the line

 

[ChronoIMG]

The i7 is not worth it because it's not QUAD CORE. The i5 is plenty fast enough and is basically an i7 with an i5 label. And don't buy the 7200 rpm hard drive from Apple; it's cheaper elsewhere. I believe the sweet spot for this new refresh is the lowest end 15" due to the lack of a real "killer" graphics card option and no quad core i7's.