i5 or i7?

[jlichtenfeld@ymail.com]

Should I get an i5 or i7 for in a gaming laptop? And would 2GB of vram serve me well for most games?

[dadasmithywinkle]

Should I get an i5 or i7 for in a gaming laptop? And would 2GB of vram serve me well for most games?

What is the laptop's resolution? Which GPU? What do you plan on doing with it?

 

2GB of VRAM should be fine and if only gaming, an i5 should be fine, too. Since it is a laptop and not uber-upgradeable, get the best that you can afford.

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

Should I get an i5 or i7 for in a gaming laptop? And would 2GB of vram serve me well for most games?

that depends. a I7 dual core and I5 dual core in a laptop is basically the same. an I7 quad core on the other hand(model number ending in QM) would be faster than a I5 as all mobile I5s are dual cores as far as I know, and a quad always beats a dual core, but with some trade-offs and for gaming it's not a HUGE deal

realistically though, a dual core would definitely serve you well and would be quieter, lower power, and cooler and depending on the cooling solution, your GPU might turbo higher.

all things equal, I'd take the I5 

2gb VRAM is enough for a gaming laptop almost certainly.

[DavidHawk62]

Depends which i5 and i7, the differences in the mobile processors aren't the same as on the desktop. An i5 would most likely be fine though. And as long as your display is only 1080p or you plan to run games at lower details or resolution 2GB should be enough for most games.

[hawaiims]

The amount of VRAM is the least of your concern. You could get a 2GB GTX 720 or whatever and it would be 100x slower than a 2GB GTX 960

 

As for the CPU it really depends on other variables. Are you sacrificing GPU to get an i7? Is it a quad core non-ULV (ultralow voltage) i7? What games will you be playing?

 

Etc.. etc.. 

[D2ultima]

an i5 should be fine, too. Since it is a laptop and not uber-upgradeable, get the best that you can afford.

All mobile i5s are dual-core with hyperthreading, and all are integrated as of last year august.

 

an I7 quad core on the other hand(model number ending in QM)

a dual core would definitely serve you well and would be quieter, lower power, and cooler

No "QM" i7s exist anymore. After Ivy Bridge, they swapped the Q and the M, so it reads "MQ" now. Also, all socketed mobile chips are sacked. So "H" or "HQ" are all you get. This also means no "extreme" CPUs exist anymore, regardless of what MSI tells you their GT80 titan has. In fact, they can be sued for false marketing on that point.

Dual core i5s and quadcore i7s are approximately the same in heat output and thus fan speed/noise. Power consumption can be lower with the i5, but not by much, maybe 5-10W.

 

Depends which i5 and i7, the differences in the mobile processors aren't the same as on the desktop. An i5 would most likely be fine though. And as long as your display is only 1080p or you plan to run games at lower details or resolution 2GB should be enough for most games.

Are you talking about midrange? Because decent laptop GPUs are quite strong these days. If you know what you're doing.

 

Is it a quad core non-ULV (ultralow voltage) i7?

No ULV chips are quadcore, so by virtue of owning a quadcore i7 it is instantly not an ULV chip.

[hawaiims]

Are you talking about midrange? Because decent laptop GPUs are quite strong these days. If you know what you're doing.

 

The problem is a lot of people just go off NVIDIA or AMD's numbering schemes when sometimes the differences can be enormous. The GTX966M for example you would assume from the naming scheme that it's around 10-15% slower than a 970M. In reality they are the 966M is 30% slower! And then you have all those 9xxM cards that are extremely old recycled mobile GPUs that have just been renamed. 

 

I guess if you know your stuff it shouldn't be an issue but mobile GPUs can be very misleading. 

[Peter Vaughan Truslow]

No "QM" i7s exist anymore. After Ivy Bridge, they swapped the Q and the M, so it reads "MQ" now.

QM, MQ, close enough for me, I blame intel for changing their naming scheme after several generations of the same thing.

maybe I was speaking in piglatin for that one word 

[D2ultima]

The problem is a lot of people just go off NVIDIA or AMD's numbering schemes when sometimes the differences can be enormous. The GTX966M for example you would assume from the naming scheme that it's around 10-15% slower than a 970M. In reality they are the 966M is 30% slower! And then you have all those 9xxM cards that are extremely old recycled mobile GPUs that have just been renamed. 

 

I guess if you know your stuff it shouldn't be an issue but mobile GPUs can be very misleading. 

965M*

 

There are only four 900M series chips so far: the 980M, 970M, 965M and 960M. The 960M is as of yet unreleased.

Yes, the 965M kind of sucks. But nVidia is just blasting us left and right in the mobile market anyway these days.

 

Also, GTX 960 is more than 15% weaker than a 970, so I'd say nVidia's doing the same thing all round this time.

 

THAT being said I was referring to you saying the i5 and i7 should be about the same.

[jlichtenfeld@ymail.com]

I'm going to need to use this laptop for the next 4-5 years so that's why I need to make sure I get the right CPU and GPU since those aren't upgradable. I'm just gonna go with the i7 quad (it's only like $60 more) and according to my research 2GB of vram should be fine in that time frame. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Brawhammer]

What model is each chip?

 

And what are the clock speeds of each chip?

[jlichtenfeld@ymail.com]

What model is each chip?

 

And what are the clock speeds of each chip?

i7 4700HQ 2.40 GHz

i5 4200H 2.80 GHz

Thanks.

[Brawhammer]

i7 4700HQ 2.40 GHz

i5 4200H 2.80 GHz

Thanks.

 

Alright.

 

i7 4700 HQ Stands for High Graphics, Means the graphics chip on it is boosted a bit. 4 cores 8 threads.

 

i5 4700H has only 2 cores and 4 threads.

 

I would go with the i7 4700HQ Purely because it has 4 cores. Games are starting to use multi core CPUs much more these days.

[jlichtenfeld@ymail.com]

Alright.

 

i7 4700 HQ Stands for High Graphics, Means the graphics chip on it is boosted a bit. 4 cores 8 threads.

 

i5 4700H has only 2 cores and 4 threads.

 

I would go with the i7 4700HQ Purely because it has 4 cores. Games are starting to use multi core CPUs much more these days.

Basically i7 for future proofing otherwises i5 would have done a decent job? What's your opinion on the vram thing. Is 2Gb going to be enough? Or its it worth spending that extra couple for future proofing?

[Brawhammer]

Basically i7 for future proofing otherwises i5 would have done a decent job? What's your opinion on the vram thing. Is 2Gb going to be enough? Or its it worth spending that extra couple for future proofing?

 

Alright, eh.

 

i5 has 2 cores. As we seen in the latest Scrapyard wars, 2 cores is not good enough for games these days. Most will use 4 cores and more are starting too. I suggest the i7 only because the i5 has 2 cores and is not a quad core processor.

 

2GB Of vram is okay, it should do you for now, but more games are using 3gb+ Of vram. The AAA Ones anyway.

[simson0606]

Basically i7 for future proofing otherwises i5 would have done a decent job? What's your opinion on the vram thing. Is 2Gb going to be enough? Or its it worth spending that extra couple for future proofing?

the i7 wil do very fine, i've had an i5 and i was not very pleased (though i can be a heavy user from time to time)

 

2gb for a gpu is more than enough, the gpu couldn't really use more in most cases, but what gpu are you referring to? as mentioned before there can be quite a difference, i'd go for a 965m at LEAST, 970m preferred especially in combination with the i7

[D2ultima]

i7 4700 HQ Stands for High Graphics, Means the graphics chip on it is boosted a bit. 4 cores 8 threads.

What the FUCK are you talking about? HQ does not stand for high graphics. The "H" signifies soldered to board, and the "Q" signifies quadcore. A "4700MQ" would be a socketed variant. The "H" does not nearly stand for high graphics.

 

Next, all non-ULV mobile chips are equipped with the highest iGPU intel offers. You could get an i3-4000M and it'd have the same HD4600 graphics as the $1200 i7-4940MX, so hunting for a better iGPU is moot with intel chips. If it's not "U" or "Y", it'll have the best non-iris-pro iGPU intel offers.

 

All i3 and i5 chips are dual cores and even a couple i7s in the mobile market. No "Q" after its number, no quad.

[Aniallation]

^ loooool

[typographie]

Basically i7 for future proofing otherwises i5 would have done a decent job? 

 

Dual-core chips with hyperthreading still do fine in most games (see the desktop i3's), but having four physical cores is a worthwhile improvement. In this case that means I'd recommend the i7 if your budget allows.

 

It's not so much about "future-proofing," because this processor will be long outdated before 8 cores are a real issue in gaming, but many current games do scale well up to four fast physical cores.

[Brawhammer]

What the FUCK are you talking about? HQ does not stand for high graphics. The "H" signifies soldered to board, and the "Q" signifies quadcore. A "4700MQ" would be a socketed variant. The "H" does not nearly stand for high graphics.

 

Next, all non-ULV mobile chips are equipped with the highest iGPU intel offers. You could get an i3-4000M and it'd have the same HD4600 graphics as the $1200 i7-4940MX, so hunting for a better iGPU is moot with intel chips. If it's not "U" or "Y", it'll have the best non-iris-pro iGPU intel offers.

 

All i3 and i5 chips are dual cores and even a couple i7s in the mobile market. No "Q" after its number, no quad.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html

 

I take all my information from official sources.

[D2ultima]

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/processor-numbers.html

 

I take all my information from official sources.

Then intel's website is a load of crap, because the iGPU is the same. The only time "High Graphics" would make sense is on the 48xxHQ and 49xxHQ line, where Iris Pro 5200 GPUs are used. 47xxHQ does not have it, so performs the same as MQ and MX as far as the iGPU is concerned.

 

Also, that website is incomplete, as chips like the i5-4200H do not have a "Q" on them, therefore are, as far as that website is concerned, unclassified. All the "H" realistically stands for is that it's soldered, and the "M" means it's not. "U" and "Y" are very low power chips, and should be soldered all over either way.

[Brawhammer]

Then intel's website is a load of crap, because the iGPU is the same. The only time "High Graphics" would make sense is on the 48xxHQ and 49xxHQ line, where Iris Pro 5200 GPUs are used. 47xxHQ does not have it, so performs the same as MQ and MX as far as the iGPU is concerned.

 

Also, that website is incomplete, as chips like the i5-4200H do not have a "Q" on them, therefore are, as far as that website is concerned, unclassified. All the "H" realistically stands for is that it's soldered, and the "M" means it's not. "U" and "Y" are very low power chips, and should be soldered all over either way.

 

Then I do apologize. But you must understand that I take my information from Official sites. Not my fault if Intel can't keep up.

[D2ultima]

Then I do apologize. But you must understand that I take my information from Official sites. Not my fault if Intel can't keep up.

No harm no foul. At least now you know what it's all really about, and I've learned Intel is utterly retarded when it comes to their mobile hardware.