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Imac i7 vs i5 Gaming
- Thread starter electricdreams
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You talking the i5 and i7 on the 27"?
If so, then the i7 will be faster in all respects. It's faster at stock and turbo clocks, and has more L3 cache.
I know Barefeats posted a thing about the i5 being slightly faster in some respects. I've asked Rob-art to send me a copy of the timedemo for the games he has tested to verify this. No response.
i don't own a i7 imac yet, but on my PC, the cpu runs a LOT hotter when HT is enabled. So i assume what happens on the imac is that the i7 chip ends up turbo boosting for a lot less with HT due to heat, therefore, making the i5 faster after turbo boost because its at a higher clock speed.
intelligently interprited
I agree with you. I also thing that running two programs on 1 core would give less performance with the same 2 programs running on two separate cores. Say if you always close your programs and try not to waste cpu on programs that your not using, you have an i5 with 4 cores and an i7 with 4 cores and 4 virtual cores, your running two programs on both. The i5 would run each program on 2 separate cores, but the i7 would run it on the same core, meaning the i5 would give better performance on those two programs than the i7. In terms of gaming issues, the i7 ever so slightly shaves over the i5, but when your playing the game you wont even notice it, 3.1 vs 3.4 - the 0.3 is a measly upgrade to pay 160 quid on, all extra you will get is hyper threading and the i7 processor logo on the box. Is that really worth the extra 160. If your a power user, and will have 8 programs on at once, hyper threading is defiantly for you you need an i7, but if your sensible and still want to run those cpu intensive programs but your sensible and close them when you dont need them, the i5 is perfect.
I agree with you. I also thing that running two programs on 1 core would give less performance with the same 2 programs running on two separate cores. Say if you always close your programs and try not to waste cpu on programs that your not using, you have an i5 with 4 cores and an i7 with 4 cores and 4 virtual cores, your running two programs on both. The i5 would run each program on 2 separate cores, but the i7 would run it on the same core, meaning the i5 would give better performance on those two programs than the i7. In terms of gaming issues, the i7 ever so slightly shaves over the i5, but when your playing the game you wont even notice it, 3.1 vs 3.4 - the 0.3 is a measly upgrade to pay 160 quid on, all extra you will get is hyper threading and the i7 processor logo on the box. Is that really worth the extra 160. If your a power user, and will have 8 programs on at once, hyper threading is defiantly for you you need an i7, but if your sensible and still want to run those cpu intensive programs but your sensible and close them when you dont need them, the i5 is perfect.