i3, i5 and i7

[Jnardis]

What's the difference between the 3? My gf just puraches the new bottom of the line iMac for me a few weeks ago. It's more for internet use and playing around with music. I assume it an i3, but don't really know what the differenes are since it's my first iMac.

 

[jmpage2]

What's the difference between the 3? My gf just puraches the new bottom of the line iMac for me a few weeks ago. It's more for internet use and playing around with music. I assume it an i3, but don't really know what the differenes are since it's my first iMac.

There's literally a wealth of information out on the internet about the difference in these three processors. It being a Mac has little to do with it as there is little software that is optimized for the differences in the processors (such as hyper-threading).

In a nutshell the difference is this;

i3 (fast) < i5 (faster) < i7 (fastest)

 

[emaja]

For those uses, even the i3 is overkill. She can use almost any computer for her needs.

That said, i3 is fine for her.

 

[Spike88]

My wife and kids do "typical" home computing tasks as well. re: Some Interent, some word processing, some DVDing, some Sounds clips, some of this and some of that. Was told the new 2010 i3 are an "excellent choice" for their "typical" home computer with NO games tasks.

Within the MS Windows 7 world, I would only look at the i5 and i7 models. My prime focus on the i7 models. If wondering, Windows must perform many back ground "Virus scanning" and many other background services tasks. Thus, why they need a i5+ machine for same tasks. For iMacs and mini-Macs, there's much less background tasks "bogging their ix CPUs down". Thus, IMO, the i3 in the Mac Platforms are great base for the typical home user...

If wondering, I bought an iMac i3 CPU model for my wife. It should arrive in the next few days.... She'll probably use for 3-4-5 years, then we'll upgrade to USB 3, SSD and better future iMac technology. This is assuming my wife wants to continue with MAC OS systems - for her next system upgrade / replacement. Our current iMac i3 box would then be passed over to our kids - for their "thin client" internet access tasks.


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[Jnardis]

So far the i3 has been awesome. It gets hung up a few times here and there, but speed is fine for us. I was wondering how much faster the i5 and i7 could be, but since we don't do much of anything bu music and internet I assume this should be fine.

 

[2005CTS]

There's literally a wealth of information out on the internet about the difference in these three processors. It being a Mac has little to do with it as there is little software that is optimized for the differences in the processors (such as hyper-threading).

In a nutshell the difference is this;

i3 (fast) < i5 (faster) < i7 (fastest)

Actually there is the quad core i5 as well.