My experience: i5 vs. i7

[DoFoT9]

Yes but the price to upgrade to that chip and the video card makes it not worth it unfortunately.

you can get the 4850 in with C2D model.

I don't know because doesn't the i7 scale up to more than 3.33 when not using all the cores?

yes indeed but i wonder what percentage of games are still singular core, and which are multi-core.

From the Intel spec:


Didn't realize it could also boost all cores if thermals allow.

two main "steps" to TB. first is to kick up the multiplyer to 21x for all cores if thermals allow. if its a single threaded app then a single core gets kicked up to 22x.

 

[eelpout]

Very nice. Do you mind sharing the link to that info?

Via the Intel Processor Spec Finder.

 

[CoolHotCold]

For me I will get the i5.
Theres a price difference of £320 between the i5 and the i7 for me. (bout $520) and for 10% everyday tasks its not worth shelling out that much.

 

[fandangoguy]

My imac i5 and I...

Coming from years of editing DV and HDV on a late 2006 Mac book pro, my still new i5 (problem free so far!) is amazing...With just 4MB and an external Lacie drive I'm more productive for sure. Editing is a joy! It barely gets warm after hours of editing with FCP 7, but exporting a 90 minute movie and then launching DVD studio pro to make a DVD is something else...! it sure gets hotter than my Mac Book pro but I will not abuse it...! If what I read about heat issues is accurate, the i7 would get even hotter...not sure I would like that...
The only thing I'll do soon is get an extra Lacie drive and use CCC 3.3 to make a bootable clone..just in case.
Otherwise, my iMac and I will do lots of videos together.

let's enjoy our iMacs to the fullest!
cheers

 

[OasisNYK]

you can get the 4850 in with C2D model.

I think you missed my point - the price of the 4850 and the price of upgrading the processor make it not worth it - not that you can't get the videocard. At the price of upgrading both you can get the card plus a quad so it is not worth it.

 

[DoFoT9]

......! it sure gets hotter than my Mac Book pro but I will not abuse it...! If what I read about heat issues is accurate, the i7 would get even hotter...not sure I would like that...

let's enjoy our iMacs to the fullest!
cheers

great news to hear that your new mac is helping productivity! they are a powerful machine!

as for the heat, i seriously dont know what you are worrying about. there is no heat "issue". they run perfectly with-in spec. the GPU does get a bit hot but nothing to worry about at all unless you are going to game 24/7 for 3 years straight!

I think you missed my point - the price of the 4850 and the price of upgrading the processor make it not worth it - not that you can't get the videocard. At the price of upgrading both you can get the card plus a quad so it is not worth it.

i did miss that point yes

i agree with you there, i was looking at the top spec 3.33GHz 27". it was more expensive then the base quad-core! add another $280Aus for the i7 and it only ended up being another $400 or so more expensive then the C2D. it was a no-brainer for me really.