I'm very curious to see the difference between the i5 1.6GHz and the i5/i7 1.7 & 1.8GHz processors.
Skip to the bold below if you want the TL;DR version.
The main concern I have is the HD3000 graphics is running 50MHz slower, and I'm wondering if there are other parts about the inner workings that are inferior (in terms of the graphics). As far as processing power goes, it should be fine... I photoshop a bit, use iTunes, word documents, etc... lots of normal and demanding stuff that an i5 1.6GHz with turbo to 2.3 should be fine for... but the graphics will be the limiting factor here! And so I don't want to not only have to go with HD3000, but have to go with a downclocked HD3000!
I noticed the i5 1.6GHz vs. the i5 1.7GHz, the i5 1.7GHz (which has a 1200MHz HD3000) ran at 5 frames-per-second higher on WoW in one of the quick reviews someone posted earlier. However, this may be attributed to the fact that the i5 1.7GHz has a turboboost to I think 2.5 or 2.6GHz (and WoW may, in this case, be limited by the i5 1.6GHz only turboboosting to 2.3GHz). I don't play WoW, but that's just an example of a difference in FPS that is actually quite major.
I'm not buying this as a gaming machine, but if a $135 upgrade for a student in Canada makes the difference between being able to do A, B, and C, or only being able to do B, and C... well I'll spend the extra $ 135 and do A B and C all in one The only thing is that it's a built-to-order, and I want to buy tomorrow (there's no overnight shipping here, and I go on vacation... so I'll have to wait almost a month to get an Air otherwise).
Soooo... any benchmarks on the i5 1.6GHz? Particularly to do with the HD3000 running at 1150MHz as opposed to 1200MHz? I *really* hope it's just a 4.16% difference in graphics performance (the 50MHz) as opposed to something more major. I'm not too concerned about the processing performance difference: should be capable enough for productivity.
Skip to the bold below if you want the TL;DR version.
The main concern I have is the HD3000 graphics is running 50MHz slower, and I'm wondering if there are other parts about the inner workings that are inferior (in terms of the graphics). As far as processing power goes, it should be fine... I photoshop a bit, use iTunes, word documents, etc... lots of normal and demanding stuff that an i5 1.6GHz with turbo to 2.3 should be fine for... but the graphics will be the limiting factor here! And so I don't want to not only have to go with HD3000, but have to go with a downclocked HD3000!
I noticed the i5 1.6GHz vs. the i5 1.7GHz, the i5 1.7GHz (which has a 1200MHz HD3000) ran at 5 frames-per-second higher on WoW in one of the quick reviews someone posted earlier. However, this may be attributed to the fact that the i5 1.7GHz has a turboboost to I think 2.5 or 2.6GHz (and WoW may, in this case, be limited by the i5 1.6GHz only turboboosting to 2.3GHz). I don't play WoW, but that's just an example of a difference in FPS that is actually quite major.
I'm not buying this as a gaming machine, but if a $135 upgrade for a student in Canada makes the difference between being able to do A, B, and C, or only being able to do B, and C... well I'll spend the extra $ 135 and do A B and C all in one
The only thing is that it's a built-to-order, and I want to buy tomorrow (there's no overnight shipping here, and I go on vacation... so I'll have to wait almost a month to get an Air otherwise).Soooo... any benchmarks on the i5 1.6GHz? Particularly to do with the HD3000 running at 1150MHz as opposed to 1200MHz? I *really* hope it's just a 4.16% difference in graphics performance (the 50MHz) as opposed to something more major. I'm not too concerned about the processing performance difference: should be capable enough for productivity.