Is there a noticeable speed gain from upgrading processor?

[kat.hayes]

Anyone have any idea if there are any noticeable speed gains by upgrading the process? What type of applications might see an improvement? Would you notice using the OS on a day-to-day basis, or only with certain applications?

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
vs.
3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz

Thanks.

 

[bp1000]

Anyone have any idea if there are any noticeable speed gains by upgrading the process? What type of applications might see an improvement? Would you notice using the OS on a day-to-day basis, or only with certain applications?

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz
vs.
3.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz

Thanks.

You won't see any tangible difference from running the i7 day to day. Most browsers, mail clients, desktop publishing apps dont even run across multiple cores. They only use 1 of the 4 cores.

The SSD and RAM will make the biggest day to day differences.

Only apps like FCP, After Effects, Photoshop will benefit from the i7 slightly over the i5. Some others too but you would know if you needed the i7.

 

[kat.hayes]

I do work with Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere.

Would it be foolish to buy a new iMac and not get the i7 considering that I do use these programs? OR will these programs only benefit from the i7 in very specific instances?

Thanks.

 

[bp1000]

I do work with Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere.

Would it be foolish to buy a new iMac and not get the i7 considering that I do use these programs? OR will these programs only benefit from the i7 in very specific instances?

Thanks.

The gains tend to come rendering video, 3d modelling and handbrake. There is some gain in apps like PS but the difference i dont think is worth it.

In my opinion you are unable to notice a difference in normal operation in PS, however if you do complex batch operations you may get a tiny bump. Even then its unlikely to max CPU. A lot of still graphics work is offloaded to the GPU these days.

You might find this article helpful.

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/443...well-test-benchmarks-igpu-adobe-photoshop-cs6

p.s. in that link you want to compare times for the

i7 4770
i5 4670

Please note, other filters like blurs on RAW files might produce bigger differences, it's just a high level idea not a comprehensive overview If you work with D800 36MP RAW panoramas applying filters might take some time on both but i still think the differences in seconds you would be able to count on 1 hand unless you batched 100 similar images.

Here is a link to the GPU functions in PS : http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/photoshop-cs6-gpu-faq.html#cs6_features

I imagine similar GPU acceleration for other Adobe products you use. Of course i'm sure you know at least 16GB ram is recommended whether you do the apple upgrade or do it yourself as there is slots on the back for that.

 

[yjchua95]

Speed gain? Nope, unless you happen to do a heavy load of image processing, video processing, and exporting RAW to JPEG images.

i5s only have 4 cores and 4 threads, while i7s have 4 cores and 8 threads. Each thread is a virtual core.

It's a no brainer to upgrade to the i7, because the price difference isn't that much. Same applies for the GTX 775 to GTX 780. RAM, that's another story. Apple overprices RAM. Order one with 8GB and buy 4x8GB RAM yourself elsewhere for a fraction of the price Apple charges for the 32GB RAM upgrade.