I5 v i7 processors

SG27

In struggling with which processor is better? Obviously I7 processors should be generally better than I5 but is 3Ghz I5 better than a 2.5Ghz I7 for example? Just trying to work what games my pc will run. It is I7 2.5Ghz but some game specs state minimum 2.8Ghz I5. Thanks.

Th

GollumFreestyle

this is a tricky one, and not easy to answer.

I7 processors run quicker than I5, whereas CPU clock rate is generally used as an indicator of speed too.

Short answer - go with an I7 quickest clock rate

esuhl

IIRC, the i5s have dual-channel memory, while the i7s use triple-channel memory. All i7s use hyperthreading, while only some i5s do. And i7s have a larger on-chip cache.

So, if RAM performance is the bottleneck on your system, then the i7 will perform better than an i5. Otherwise, there's probably not a huge difference.

GollumFreestyle wrote: »

I7 processors run quicker than I5

That's not true at all. A 2.5GHz i7 will run at exactly the same speed as a 2.5GHz i5 -- the speed is 2.5GHz -- identical for both.

John_Gray

The place to compare them is at CPU Benchmarks.
Benchmarking obviates any misinformation and prejudice by being factual!

esuhl

John_Gray wrote: »

The place to compare them is at CPU Benchmarks.
Benchmarking obviates any misinformation and prejudice by being factual!

Benchmarks are a great place to start... but there are so many different benchmarking tools that it's important to consider what you'll be using your computer for, and find benchmarking tools that reflect your usage.

The link in your post only refers to PassMark tests. There are tests with different benchmarking tools at Tom's Hardware (although it looks like they're quite out-of-date -- maybe there's another site that has run multiple benchmarks tests...?).

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/x86-core-performance-comparison/benchmarks,128.html

SG27

esuhl wrote: »

IIRC, the i5s have dual-channel memory, while the i7s use triple-channel memory. All i7s use hyperthreading, while only some i5s do. And i7s have a larger on-chip cache.

So, if RAM performance is the bottleneck on your system, then the i7 will perform better than an i5. Otherwise, there's probably not a huge difference.



That's not true at all. A 2.5GHz i7 will run at exactly the same speed as a 2.5GHz i5 -- the speed is 2.5GHz -- identical for both.

Yes speed is the same obviously but surely the I7 would perform better. What I'm trying to work out is by how much.

poppellerant

The first differences I can think of is the i7 has a larger cache and it supports hyper threading.

Here is what I think is a reasonable comparison betwen an i5 and i7 processor - the specs, apart from what I said above, are almost the same (but not the same): https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp%5B%5D=1933&cmp%5B%5D=1907

If you can afford an i7, go for it.

SG27

John_Gray wrote: »

The place to compare them is at CPU Benchmarks.
Benchmarking obviates any misinformation and prejudice by being factual!

So according to that my 2.5Ghz I7 4710MQ is better than the top I5 at. 3.5Ghz but some I5s are better than some I7s. I think...

I preferred the days of 166s and 233s etc. Knew where you was then!

SG27

Ok I have use the benchmark and compared my I7 CPU with the recommended for Far cry 4 (hoping to run it at high specs) and looks like I should be fine.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare.php?cmp[]=2219&cmp[]=794

thanks for your help, this is a lot more complicated than it used to be!

securityguy

poppellerant wrote: »

The first differences I can think of is the i7 has a larger cache and it supports hyper threading.

So do some i5s. The fairly elderly one in my Air (mid-2011) does 2-way HT (ie, 4 processors appear in activity monitor even though it's only a 2 core).

Mr_Toad

A long time ago one of the PC magazines did a comparison between the i5 and i7 and while there was a difference the conclusion then was that the better performing i7 was so much more expensive and the performance in day to day tasks, including gaming, were negligible enough to make the i5 the sensible choice.

I have no idea if this is still true or what the cost difference between the two is still significant.