Another i5 vs i7 thread...

[Theguywhobea]

Alright, I plan to upgrade from my G3258 soon since only having 2 cores is killing me. Now I know that if I was just intended on playing games the i5 would be fine but I feel like I might have more of a need for an i7. Being a computer engineer I run a lot of programs that are somewhat CPU intensive as well as running some virtual machines. I was wondering if it would be worth the cost difference for me to get an i7?

[givingtnt]

it depends on what you run, but im pretty confident that yes, it will be beneficial and worth the 100$

[Gofspar]

run cinebench, /thread

[givingtnt]

run cinebench, /thread

did you even read the thread ?

[The Dragon]

i7 sounds good

[wyattzx]

The i7 is better in every way. Except one: Cost. It costs more. Do you have "more" to spend? Get an i7. It will be more than a marginal difference over an i5 if you do work outside of gaming. 

[Scouten]

pff get x99 and look down on all those old news 4 core processors

 

 

your usage scenarios would benefit from an i7

[Theguywhobea]

pff get x99 and look down on all those old news 4 core processors

 

 

your usage scenarios would benefit from an i7

Lol, I wish I could afford x99, too bad college debts!

[spartaman64]

watamote 

[Theguywhobea]

watamote 

Yup, I am one of the few people on this forum that use Tomoko as their avatar.

[han_han08]

im using gaming:engineering software 70:30 of the time..that mere 30% alone is making me reconsider my planned upgrade to i5..

so I guess you can try looking at it that way. you might regret getting the i5 if you needed that extra power/thread..

if i can make the i7 purchase, i really would 

[Theguywhobea]

The i7 is better in every way. Except one: Cost. It costs more. Do you have "more" to spend? Get an i7. It will be more than a marginal difference over an i5 if you do work outside of gaming. 

What about a Xeon? I was just remembering that they are basically just locked i7's but they are cheaper. Do they need a BIOS flash on z97 boards?

[wyattzx]

What about a Xeon? I was just remembering that they are basically just locked i7's but they are cheaper. Do they need a BIOS flash on z97 boards?

I.. have no idea. :c I am only replying to tell you because you quoted me specifically. 

[Theguywhobea]

I.. have no idea. :c I am only replying to tell you because you quoted me specifically. 

Yeah, just figured I should quote someone to see if I could get a response.

[-rascal-]

My two cents -- go with an i7. (This is coming from an Electrical Engineer... who's courses/classes are 90%+ identical to what you take).

Extra cores and threads will be very useful -- especially when doing simulations with MATLAB, LabVIEW, and CAD work.

Your also using Virtual Machines -- another reason to jump on the i7.

Programming courses will be like cutting butter with either a i5 or i7, UNLESS you decide to take other courses that involves heavy multi-threaded programming (I.e. specializing your degree or doing a CompSci minor, etc).

A SSD to store all the project file(s) you are working will be very beneficial as well.

[Theguywhobea]

deleted

[Theguywhobea]

My two cents -- go with an i7. (This is coming from an Electrical Engineer... who's courses/classes are 90%+ identical to what you take).

Extra cores and threads will be very useful -- especially when doing simulations with MATLAB, LabVIEW, and CAD work.

Your also using Virtual Machines -- another reason to jump on the i7.

Programming courses will be like cutting butter with either a i5 or i7, UNLESS you decide to take other courses that involves heavy multi-threaded programming (I.e. specializing your degree or doing a CompSci minor, etc).

A SSD to store all the project file(s) you are working will be very beneficial as well.

Yeah, thankfully I'm only really compiling code for microcontrollers so they are super easy for just about any CPU. Thankfully this is my last semester so I wont have to use bloated IDE's like Xilinx anymore haha

[SteveGrabowski]

What about a Xeon? I was just remembering that they are basically just locked i7's but they are cheaper. Do they need a BIOS flash on z97 boards?

 

No. Just make sure your board officially supports Xeons.