How much are you giving up or gaining from a 3.6 duo i5 to a 2.92 quad i7?

[shuggashane]

Hello all,

I'm looking to get a new computer and I am deciding between two options. Both new 27" iMac's. Difference being:

Option 1: 3.6 i5 duo with 8gb ram
Option 2: 2.92 i7 quad with 8gb ram

I am a designer who utilizes the adobe suite, final cut, and am interested in playing with after effects and cinema 4D.

The dilemma I am having is that yes, I know that adobe and the cinema programs utilize multi-core processing and so the quad core seems more fit. But the jump from 3.6 down to 2.92 seems a bit large. Will the i7 quad make up for the the gap from the 3.6 i5 duo?

Help is appreciated, Thanks.

 

[nobias]

Hello all,

I'm looking to get a new computer and I am deciding between two options. Both new 27" iMac's. Difference being:

Option 1: 3.6 i5 duo with 8gb ram
Option 2: 2.92 i7 quad with 8gb ram

I am a designer who utilizes the adobe suite, final cut, and am interested in playing with after effects and cinema 4D.

The dilemma I am having is that yes, I know that adobe and the cinema programs utilize multi-core processing and so the quad core seems more fit. But the jump from 3.6 down to 2.92 seems a bit large. Will the i7 quad make up for the the gap from the 3.6 i5 duo?

Help is appreciated, Thanks.

Despite the clock speed being slower, the i7 has 2 more cores for a total of 8 threads running simultaneously, twice as many as the i5 duo. It also has 8mb l3 cache vs 4 on the i5 duo.

The i7 is considerably faster.

 

[peakchua]

Hello all,

I'm looking to get a new computer and I am deciding between two options. Both new 27" iMac's. Difference being:

Option 1: 3.6 i5 duo with 8gb ram
Option 2: 2.92 i7 quad with 8gb ram

I am a designer who utilizes the adobe suite, final cut, and am interested in playing with after effects and cinema 4D.

The dilemma I am having is that yes, I know that adobe and the cinema programs utilize multi-core processing and so the quad core seems more fit. But the jump from 3.6 down to 2.92 seems a bit large. Will the i7 quad make up for the the gap from the 3.6 i5 duo?

Help is appreciated, Thanks.

yes it will. a 2.66 i5 will own a 3.6 ghz c2d. like a 3.33 vs a 2.66. the 2.66 (from previous generation) is fasst. but the 2.8 i5 is even faster. combinied with 1333mhz ram and better gpu + better architecture. its all good

 

[Hellhammer]

i7-870 goes up to 3.6GHz with Turbo so it's very capable. More apps will take advantage of extra core in future, including Final Cut so if you want to "future-proof" your purchase, get the i7