HD3000: There's a difference

[PaulWog]

http://ark.intel.com/products/56858/Intel-Core-i5-2467M-Processor-(3M-Cache-1_60-GHz)

http://ark.intel.com/products/54617/Intel-Core-i7-2677M-Processor-(4M-Cache-1_70-GHz)

While the difference is miniscule, there is a difference. The i7-2677M runs at 1200MHz turboboost for the HD3000. The i5-2467M runs at 1150MHz turboboost for the HD3000.

The difference in performance? I don't know. 50MHz is very little. But 50MHz is going to possibly mean a frame or two in real-life situations in games. Other than that, you probably shouldn't care graphics-wise.

The turboboost ratio is hugely different between the two in terms of processors by the way (processing-power, not graphics power):
2.7GHz turboboost for the i7
2.3GHz turboboost for the i5

 

[Ridley]

The other difference is the i7 has an extra megabyte of L3 cache which should should trump the differences in clockrate as the biggest difference between the i5 and i7. Not sure it's worth the $$ until the benchmarks come in though

 

[Philflow]

[
The turboboost ratio is hugely different between the two in terms of processors by the way (processing-power, not graphics power):
2.7GHz turboboost for the i7
2.3GHz turboboost for the i5

That's 17% more CPU power... but we don't know how long it lasts. The last Macbook Air had serious throttling issues.

 

[PaulWog]

The other difference is the i7 has an extra megabyte of L3 cache which should should trump the differences in clockrate as the biggest difference between the i5 and i7. Not sure it's worth the $$ until the benchmarks come in though

True enough.

I'm hoping for benchmarks today.

I think I'm going with the i5 tomorrow unless if a benchmark comes in and says to do otherwise.

I just can't wait the time it will take for s&h. The reason being that a week is fine for me... but I'm going on vacation this Saturday for 10 days... so I'd have to order it when I get back. Meaning that's a 20-ish day wait (3 days to vaca, 10 days vacation, 7 days wait once ordered after getting back).

I mean... I plan to play Starcraft 2 on this thing (one of the few only games I'll occasionally play on it casually... it's for school & other things mainly). But I think the HD3000 will be the limiting factor... not the difference in cache size or clockspeed. The 50MHz difference in HD3000 speed probably doesn't warrant the extra $$$ dished out.

And it's possible that with benchmarks, we might find the i5 actually runs more efficiently (battery life) under circumstances where the Air is on and off constantly doing some decent processing (not just idling).

 

[vader_slri]

The turboboost ratio is hugely different between the two in terms of processors by the way (processing-power, not graphics power):
2.7GHz turboboost for the i7
2.3GHz turboboost for the i5

I see 2.9GHz turbo for the i7.

Here are all 3 CPUs:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/54617,54620,56858

 

[axu539]

True enough.

I'm hoping for benchmarks today.

I think I'm going with the i5 tomorrow unless if a benchmark comes in and says to do otherwise.

I just can't wait the time it will take for s&h. The reason being that a week is fine for me... but I'm going on vacation this Saturday for 10 days... so I'd have to order it when I get back. Meaning that's a 20-ish day wait (3 days to vaca, 10 days vacation, 7 days wait once ordered after getting back).

I mean... I plan to play Starcraft 2 on this thing (one of the few only games I'll occasionally play on it casually... it's for school & other things mainly). But I think the HD3000 will be the limiting factor... not the difference in cache size or clockspeed. The 50MHz difference in HD3000 speed probably doesn't warrant the extra $$$ dished out.

And it's possible that with benchmarks, we might find the i5 actually runs more efficiently (battery life) under circumstances where the Air is on and off constantly doing some decent processing (not just idling).

Looks like I'm in about the same camp as you, heading out on a trip for about a month on Saturday. My guess is that the i5 will not be significantly less powerful than the i7, especially for general usage.

 

[bp1000]

This isn't a like for like but a similar situation

I bought 2 of the same laptops a few years ago but mine had the slightly faster CPU, more ram and a backlit keyboard and a faster HDD.

Day to day there is no difference in the processing power. Yet mine has 0.2ghz more and higher cache.

You can tell the HDD is slightly faster but CPU intensive tasks barely makes any difference that you notice. Perhaps if you bench it you will get a slightly higher score.

I'm glad i had that experience as in the past i would always go for the highest available CPU option. This experience made me realise the difference just isn't noticeable and not worth it.

If it was a much higher clock speed, then yes, it would be worth it. But not in the air, too much heat and clock speed throttling.