Is the 2.0 Ghz processor worth it on a MBA.

[jpdunford]

I am going to buy 11 inch MBA.

To upgrade processor buyer needs to purchase 128GB model instead of 64GB.

Because I do not need 128GB we will assume the cost of upgrading to 128GB is additional processor cost.

Difference between 64GB with 1.7Ghz and 128GB with 2.0Ghz = 340 US dollars.

Do you think this is worth doing for the price considering I do not need the extra 64GB so the 340 dollars extra is purely processor cost.

 

[rabidz7]

Yes, the architectures

I am going to buy 11 inch MBA.

To upgrade processor buyer needs to purchase 128GB model instead of 64GB.

Because I do not need 128GB we will assume the cost of upgrading to 128GB is additional processor cost.

Difference between 64GB with 1.7Ghz and 128GB with 2.0Ghz = 340 US dollars.
Do you think this is worth doing for the price considering I do not need the extra 64GB so the 340 dollars extra is purely processor cost.

The i5 and i7 have compleatly different architectures one is hyrerthreaded and one isn't, the i7 basically has around 170 precent more power. I always get my macs used though.

 

[NutsNGum]

..the i7 basically has around 170 precent more power.

Er, no. It's more like around 10-15%

 

[rabidz7]

Well if the other poster is right...

I would still get the upgraded model, just because it is called an i7. If they both were i7's I would get the affordable model.

 

[jpdunford]

Thx all

 

[BB.King]

The i5 and i7 have compleatly different architectures one is hyrerthreaded and one isn't, the i7 basically has around 170 precent more power. I always get my macs used though.

That is only true with desktop CPU. On the mobile side, both the i5 and i7 have hyper-threading.

The main differences between those two CPUs in the Air are the extra clock speed and 1MB more onboard cache on the i7.

I don't think you will be able to tell the diference with daily non-CPU intensive tasks between the i5 and i7.

 

[brendu]

That is only true with desktop CPU. On the mobile side, both the i5 and i7 have hyper-threading.

The main differences between those two CPUs in the Air are the extra clock speed and 1MB more onboard cache on the i7.

I don't think you will be able to tell the diference with daily non-CPU intensive tasks between the i5 and i7.

This. If you are doing mostly web browsing, office, iTunes, and e-mail then the i5 is plenty powerful for your needs. I am assuming here but since you say 64GB is enough space for you, you are not going to be doing much in the way of photo or video editing so I think the i5 is the right choice.

 

[jpdunford]

Thanks all very helpful I understand now.

The 1 thing I do which is processor intensive is to play FPS games.

I guess upgrading the processor is not worth it because the performance will be held back by the lack of a graphics card?

 

[rabidz7]

Yes

Thanks all very helpful I understand now.

The 1 thing I do which is processor intensive is to play FPS games.

I guess upgrading the processor is not worth it because the performance will be held back by the lack of a graphics card?

If you are gaming, performance will be bottle necked by the graphics and the cpu will not help.

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If you game on a macbook air you are going to probably get unplayable fps like on my old macbook pro. I would get a new or 2011 macbook pro 15 inch with the 1 gb of graphics like mine.