Intel Core i7 720QM vs i5 3337U

[Hogger]

I'm looking at cheap used laptops. one has an i7 720QM which has 4 cores and 8 threads... but is 45nm lithography... the other has an i5 3337U which has 2 cores and 4 threads, and 22nm lithography. I plan on using the laptop for very light gaming (orcs must die, CivV, CS:GO). Should I go for more cores and threads or newer manufacturing process? I looked at CPU Boss for differences and I still can't decide

[Zodiark1593]

What are the video cards in those respective laptops? The i7-720QM did not have an igp, so there should be a dedicated GPU on there? The i5 system probably does not, though it is faster than the low end, old dedicated cards, not to mention the battery life advantage and single-track processing power. 

 

Unless the i7 laptop is packing a Radeon 5870M or similar, I'd probably lean toward the i5 system anyway as the old quad i7s were clocked quite low. 

[PlayStation 2]

7 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

What are the video cards in those respective laptops? The i7-720QM did not have an igp, so there should be a dedicated GPU on there? The i5 system probably does not, though it is faster than the low end, old dedicated cards, not to mention the battery life advantage and single-track processing power. 

 

Unless the i7 laptop is packing a Radeon 5870M or similar, I'd probably lean toward the i5 system anyway as the old quad i7s were clocked quite low. 

The i5 does have an iGPU. From Sandy Bridge on, most if not all mobile CPUs have iGPUs in them, including the Q series.

[Zodiark1593]

1 minute ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

The i5 does have an iGPU. From Sandy Bridge on, most if not all mobile CPUs have iGPUs in them, including the Q series.

Before Sandy Bridge, it was only the dual cores that came with the igp. This was the platform that saw Intel moving the igp off of the Northbridge, and onto the cpu.

 

The quad core was essentially Lynnfield for mobile. As it had no igp, manufacturers required a dGPU, though more often than not, it was the low end cards like the 5470 that were used. 

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, Zodiark1593 said:

Before Sandy Bridge, it was only the dual cores that came with the igp. This was the platform that saw Intel moving the igp off of the Northbridge, and onto the cpu.

 

The quad core was essentially Lynnfield for mobile. As it had no igp, manufacturers required a dGPU, though more often than not, it was the low end cards like the 5470 that were used. 

Yep.