From i7-2630qm to i5-4200m - Is it a big downgrade?

[cyber1]

Hi,

My laptop has a i7-2630qm (also a gt540 1gb gpu in case it matters) and since it broke and can't no longer function as a laptop i need to replace. I was looking at a hp laptop with a i5-4200m (and a gt840m 2gb gpu), but i was wondering if it would be a big or noticeable downgrade from my current system? Right now i still find my current laptop does the job well and aside from boot times being slow (due to slow hdd mostly), it doesn't lag or i dont find it slow for what i do. Have in mind that my use is fairly just media/online oriented, not really into gaming (although having the option to play some games is good) or video editing, just some lightroom use sometimes.

I was looking at a asus laptop also with a i7-4710qm, but its 200$ more and i don't know if it's worth the extra money and im having a though time deciding. What do you think?

 

Here are the short version of the specs in case it helps getting a better sense of the situation:

Hp laptop - i5 4200m, 4gb of ram (i do have 4gb from my old laptop, although mhz are lower or i can buy extra 4gb for like 30$),gt840m 2gb, 720gb 5200rpm hard drive, msata port

Asus - i7 4720qm, fhd matte screen, 8gb ram (4gb of those are on-board/soldered on),gtx 850m ,

720gb 7200rpm

I do plan on getting an ssd regardless of which one i pick. I just don't know if for my usage i should just save the 200$ (which does sound good) or invest more, since this has to last another 4 or more years

 

Thank you! 

[MrDucco]

I did some research and found a data table showing results on testing 

 

Performance

Benchmark performance using all cores

 

Core i7 2630QM

7.8

 

Core i5 4200M

7.1

Passmark, GeekBench (32-bit) and GeekBench (64-bit)

 

Single-Core Performance

Individual core benchmark performance

 

Core i7 2630QM

7.9

 

Core i5 4200M

8.7

Passmark (Single Core)

 

Power Consumption

How much power does the processor require?

 

Core i7 2630QM

5.2

 

Core i5 4200M

5.3

TDP

 

Features

How does CPUBoss rank the features of each product?

 

Core i7 2630QM

6.6

 

Core i5 4200M

5.6

Features and specifications that differ between products

 

CPUBoss Score

Performance, Single-core Performance, Power Consumption and Features

 

Core i7 2630QM

7.2

 

Core i5 4200M

7.1

 

 

 

 

I found this on CPU Boss and it shows that in all of them the i7 wins (except individual core benchmark and temperature) but not by much, plus the final score was,

i7 = 7.2

i5 = 7.1

So from the data virtually no difference in the overall score but i havn't either of these processors, so i can only go on with the data. Hope this helped

[Agazed]

Downgrade? More like an upgrade.

[cyber1]

I did some research and found a data table showing results on testing 

 

Performance

Benchmark performance using all cores

 

Core i7 2630QM

7.8

 

Core i5 4200M

7.1

Passmark, GeekBench (32-bit) and GeekBench (64-bit)

 

Single-Core Performance

Individual core benchmark performance

 

Core i7 2630QM

7.9

 

Core i5 4200M

8.7

Passmark (Single Core)

 

Power Consumption

How much power does the processor require?

 

Core i7 2630QM

5.2

 

Core i5 4200M

5.3

TDP

 

Features

How does CPUBoss rank the features of each product?

 

Core i7 2630QM

6.6

 

Core i5 4200M

5.6

Features and specifications that differ between products

 

CPUBoss Score

Performance, Single-core Performance, Power Consumption and Features

 

Core i7 2630QM

7.2

 

Core i5 4200M

7.1

 

 

 

 

I found this on CPU Boss and it shows that in all of them the i7 wins (except individual core benchmark and temperature) but not by much, plus the final score was,

i7 = 7.2

i5 = 7.1

So from the data virtually no difference in the overall score but i havn't either of these processors, so i can only go on with the data. Hope this helped

 

Thank you so much for posting these comparisions, they do help giving a better view in terms of perfomance differences between the two.

The difference in scores doesn't seem indeed to high, so maybe i would be fine with that i5 or won't notice much difference. 

 

Downgrade? More like an upgrade.

My i7, although i find it works well for what i use, it is a bit of old tech. The i5 is newer and even though its a dual core compared to a quad-core, they seem to score close to each other according to the benchmarks MrDucco posted.

 

The problem im having with the hp laptop, although this falls a bit off topic in here maybe, is that they are notorious for overheating issues, i had one years ago and that thing felt and sounded like it was about to take off and cook something along the way. But that was 8 years ago, they hopefully improved but i don't know.

[sirtoby]

You shouldn't use Cpuboss. Their comparisons are highly inaccurate.  The new cpu will technically be a downgrade, but not by much. The 2630qm is a proper quadcore, while the 4200m is a hyperthreaded dual core. You won't notice it at all in real world applications. If you plan on using the laptop as a desktop replacement though, you might want to go with the i7.

[MrDucco]

You shouldn't use Cpuboss. Their comparisons are highly inaccurate.  The new cpu will technically be a downgrade, but not by much. The 2630qm is a proper quadcore, while the 4200m is a hyperthreaded dual core. You won't notice it at all in real world applications. If you plan on using the laptop as a desktop replacement though, you might want to go with the i7.

i did't know that, i'll have to watch that for future references

[cyber1]

You shouldn't use Cpuboss. Their comparisons are highly inaccurate.  The new cpu will technically be a downgrade, but not by much. The 2630qm is a proper quadcore, while the 4200m is a hyperthreaded dual core. You won't notice it at all in real world application. If you plan on using the laptop as a desktop replacement though, you might want to go with the i7.

 

Thank you!

I don't really have a desktop, my laptop is my only computer. I was afraid that the difference between quad to dual core was noticeable, even in common tasks like video+chrome(im one of those people that has way to much tabs open on it, im trying to work on that lol) and thunderbird, really just everyday stuff, compared to my current i7, but i probably wouldn't notice it in that scenario right? 

 

Also, what about passmark benchmarks? I found their website and it let me compare and get these results:

i5 4200m - 4072 ; i7 2630qm - 5565 (http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2016&cmp[]=873 ). Again, the i7 wins but the difference doesn't seem that high.

Now if i compare it to the i7-4710HQ that is 200$ more, the score almost doubles the i5. But that would probably be more noticible only in some games and 3d/video rendering software right?

[sirtoby]

i did't know that, i'll have to watch that for future references

Thanks. Cpuboss and Gpuboss aren't very good for comparing parts. They simply compare things that don't matter, like the tdp, why does it impact the score?!

Thank you!

I don't really have a desktop, my laptop is my only computer. I was afraid that the difference between quad to dual core was noticeable, even in common tasks like video+chrome(im one of those people that has way to much tabs open on it, im trying to work on that lol) and thunderbird, really just everyday stuff, compared to my current i7, but i probably wouldn't notice it in that scenario right? 

It really depends on what you want to do with the laptop. The i7 has a higher tdp than the i5 so it'll kick out more heat. This requires a bigger cooling solution so the laptop will be less portable. If you're focused on portability, then I'd go with the i5. The i7 only makes sense if you need the power. I personally only ever had laptops with i5's in them, since I own a desktop computer, so my experience with the mobile i7's is limited. If you want to compare the cpu's for yourself, then have a look here http://ark.intel.com/compare/78931,76348

Personally, I'd go with the i7 due to its better gpu since it's your only pc, but I don't know how much of a gamer you are

[cyber1]

Thanks. Cpuboss and Gpuboss aren't very good for comparing parts. They simply compare things that don't matter, like the tdp, why does it impact the score?!

It really depends on what you want to do with the laptop. The i7 has a higher tdp than the i5 so it'll kick out more heat. This requires a bigger cooling solution so the laptop will be less portable. If you're focused on portability, then I'd go with the i5. The i7 only makes sense if you need the power. I personally only ever had laptops with i5's in them, since I own a desktop computer, so my experience with the mobile i7's is limited. If you want to compare the cpu's for yourself, then have a look here http://ark.intel.com/compare/78931,76348

Personally, I'd go with the i7 due to its better gpu since it's your only pc, but I don't know how much of a gamer you are

 

I can't really be considered a gamer i think. I installed two games on my computer over these past years and i don't even have them installed anymore lol i do plan on getting gta v, but other than that i don't really game on my laptop. I do like to have the possibility on my "back pocket" to know that i can run some games or some more intensive programs, especially since this is my only computer, and that was the reason behind my first i7 laptop but looking back i haven't used much intensive software or games so maybe its a bit of an overkill.

I am a bit more concerned about temperatures, so its good to know that the i5 doesn't heat up as much in case i go with it. The "problem" is that the i5 is on hp laptop and those are notorious for overheating issues, i had one 8 years ago that was uncomfortable to use and that is what is making me question it a bit because i don't know if hp still suffers from those problems. Maybe they changed their cooling systems or the way they build them, at least i hope so.

[sirtoby]

I can't really be considered a gamer i think. I installed two games on my computer over these past years and i don't even have them installed anymore lol i do plan on getting gta v, but other than that i don't really game on my laptop. I do like to have the possibility on my "back pocket" to know that i can run some games or some more intensive programs, especially since this is my only computer, and that was the reason behind my first i7 laptop but looking back i haven't used much intensive software or games so maybe its a bit of an overkill.

I am a bit more concerned about temperatures, so its good to know that the i5 doesn't heat up as much in case i go with it. The "problem" is that the i5 is on hp laptop and those are notorious for overheating issues, i had one 8 years ago that was uncomfortable to use and that is what is making me question it a bit because i don't know if hp still suffers from those problems. Maybe they changed their cooling systems or the way they build them, at least i hope so.

Can you please give me the exact model numbers of the laptops in question? I'll have a look a their cooling solutions. You'll get an answer tomorrow since it's 3 in the morning here and I'm tired. Don't expect gta v to run well on any of the laptops you mentioned. the 850m will be able to do 60fps at 720p with medium details. Playable, but not great. The 840m is much worse.I'll get back to you when I had a look a the laptops.

[cyber1]

Can you please give me the exact model numbers of the laptops in question? I'll have a look a their cooling solutions. You'll get an answer tomorrow since it's 3 in the morning here and I'm tired. Don't expect gta v to run well on any of the laptops you mentioned. the 850m will be able to do 60fps at 720p with medium details. Playable, but not great. The 840m is much worse.I'll get back to you when I had a look a the laptops.

 

Sure. And thank you so much for all the help!

Okay, so here are the models:

Asus k550jk - dm013. (Link to k550jk asus page, not in english but it might give you a general idea of specs) I don't know if this dm013 variant is available on all countries, but aside from screen resolution or storage they shouldn't be much different from each other

Hp envy 15 j170np - (Here is the site for the hp, but it isn't in english )Information on this doesn't seem easy to find, maybe there is a different model number with the same specs and from the same line that is a bit more popular. I noticed under your username that you are from Germany, so i check on hp.de site and the similar one they have is the envy 15-j128g. Although the one im considering doens't have fhd screen, only 4gb and an hdd instead of a ssd (which i will buy later). Im conviced that the hp is similar to the one this video

 

Again, thank your for your help!

Good night!