2.9GHz i5 vs 3.1GHz i7 RMBP 13" which would be better?

[handymanshandle]

Okay so comparing the RMBP (Early 2015) to the QHD Dell XPS 13 (2015) the RMBP has a slight edge over the XPS 13 in terms of CPU, iGPU and battery.

I seem to be unable to determine any huge difference between the 2.9GHz i5 and 3.1GHz i7 besides base clock and turbo-boost. Because they both have hyperthreading so they're both seen as a quad core and they have the same Iris Pro 6100 iGPU so really is there any real performance boost of the slightly faster i7 or is it just sort of a family name trick that Intel sometimes uses to make people spend more than they really have to? (Because ULV i7s and i5s are practically the same. Except for the ULV i7 in the RMBP uses the same iGPU as the ULV i5.) 

[Glenwing]

The performance difference won't be noticeable. Just consider them as the same CPU. Intel makes a ton of unnecessary models. There was a string of Ivy Bridge i5 chips where literally the only difference was that one was a 2.7GHz, one was a 2.8GHz, the next at 2.9GHz, then 3.0GHz, then 3.1GHz, then 3.2GHz, then 3.3GHz... separate model for each one. Intel is strange like that.

[Sauron]

It IS mainly clock speed, maybe a little more cache but I doubt it. Since you won't really be overclocking any of these they feel they can get away by naming the higher clock variant i7. What is the price difference here? If it's more than 100$ don't even consider the macbook.

[MrSuperb]

If you get the Macbook go with the i5

[handymanshandle]

The performance difference won't be noticeable. Just consider them as the same CPU. Intel makes a ton of unnecessary models. There was a string of Ivy Bridge i5 chips where literally the only difference was that one was a 2.7GHz, one was a 2.8GHz, the next at 2.9GHz, then 3.0GHz, then 3.1GHz, then 3.2GHz, then 3.3GHz... separate model for each one. Intel is strange like that.

Okay, yeah I was pretty sure that the i7 is a familial naming thing that Intel does to essentially give off the essence that because it's i7 it's better. (Obviously in certain cases this is not true.)  

It IS mainly clock speed, maybe a little more cache but I doubt it. Since you won't really be overclocking any of these they feel they can get away by naming the higher clock variant i7. What is the price difference here? If it's more than 100$ don't even consider the macbook.

Well it does have a smaller SSD, essentially what I'm trading is 256GB of extra storage for some performance gains and Apple Care. Now adding in Apple Care it does cost $250 extra, with out Apple Care the RMBP is about $100 cheaper than the QHD XPS 13 (i7 5500U with 512GB). (256GB and 512GB isn't much to begin with so I'd probably get like a 1TB or 2TB WD My Passport Ultra regardless.)

If you get the Macbook go with the i5

 Okay.

[Mew]

The Macbook is a quad core and the Dell is a dual core if I'm seeing right http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-retina/. You'll see a pretty big performance difference in multithreaded tasks.

[handymanshandle]

The Macbook is a quad core and the Dell is a dual core if I'm seeing right http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-retina/. You'll see a pretty big performance difference in multithreaded tasks.

Oh I was talking about the 13" RMBP that is a dual core too.