i7 at 1.6 GHz or i5 at 3GHz ?

[Pladio]

Hello,

Simple question for the technical minded people here.
Lower clocked i7 vs high-clocked i5 ?
What would be better in general computer usage and for gaming purposes ?
I've been looking for laptops to buy even though I'm not planning on buying anything until May or June.
What do you guys (and girls) think ?

Thanks.

 

[Melcar]

The i5 is at most 20% slower than the i7 clock for clock. Most reviews I've seen have it lower, but that I think will be the biggest difference you will see between those chips in most situations. Of course, it's going to depend on the application being used. The i7 is much better in multi-threaded operations for instance (like video encoding), but at 1.6GHz it won't be winning any prizes.
For general use and games, I say the i5 @ 3Gs will be a much better performer. However, it will also depend on what the laptop will be used for. If it's going to be a desktop replacement laptop for use as a primary machine, then the higher clocked i5 is the way to go; but if it's going to be a secondary machine to use as backup or to use as a machine on the road, then the lower clocked i7 would be a better deal since it should have enough muscle to do most tasks and will have the benefit of running cooler and be easier on your battery.

 

[Pladio]

What if the i5s graphics card is of a lower range than the i7s ?

Let me try and get the specifics, if you don't mind…:

Operating system installed Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Processor type Intel® Core™ i7 Processor i7-720QM
Processor speed 1.6 GHz
Audio features Altec Lansing speakers - SRS Premium Sound
Battery type 6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery
Optical drives SATA optical drive: LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±RW with Double Layer Support
Chassis Jones 2.1
Chipset Intel® HM55
Display resolution 1366 x 768
Display size (diagonal) 39.6 cm (15.6") Diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display
Expansion slots 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34), 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture cards
Graphic card NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 230M, up to 2815 MB total graphics memory with 1 GB dedicated DDR3
Hard drive description 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
Hard disk drive partition up to 12 GB partition for system recovery
External I/O ports 4 USB 2.0 (4th shared with eSATA port), 1 HDMI connector, 1 eSATA + USB connector, 1 VGA port, 1 RJ45 ethernet connector, expansion port, 2 headphones-out, 1 mic-in, 1 FireWire® IEEE 1394 port, consumer IR
Keyboard Full size keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
Maximum memory Supports up to 8 GB DDR3 memory
Memory slots 2 user accessible memory slots
Standard memory 4 GB DDR3 (2 x 2048 MB)
Optical drive Create silkscreen-quality disc labels direct from your PC with LightScribe: Just burn, flip, burn.
Optical drive driver software HP MediaSmart Suite, HP Setup, HP Advisor, HP Support Assistant, HP ProtectSmart, Cyberlink DVD Suite; Windows Media center, Windows Live™ Applications; HP Games Console with hours of free game play, EasyBits Magic Desktop, Norton Online Backup (30-day trial)
Remote control HP Mobile Remote Control
Pointing device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad
Power supply type 120 W AC Power Adapter
Processor cache Level 2 cache 6 MB
Network interface Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Software included Recovery partition (including possibility to recover system, applications and drivers separately); Optional re-allocation of recovery partition; Recovery CD/DVD creation tool; Symantec™ Norton Internet Security™ 2009 (60 days live update); Notebook Help & Support
Pre-installed software Microsoft® Internet Explorer; Windows® Live Messenger, Adobe® Reader, Adobe® Flash Player
Software - Productivity & finance Microsoft® Works and Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 60-Day Trial Version
Webcam HP Pavilion Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone; VGA
Wireless technologies 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth® wireless networking
Product dimensions (W x D x H) 25.8 cm (L) x 37.85 cm (W) x 3.4 cm (min H) / 4.2 cm (max H)
Package dimensions (W x D x H) 450 x 160 x 345 mm
Product weight 2.88 kg
Weight note (metric) Weight will vary by configuration
Package weight 4.72 kg

COLOUR CHOICE Obsidian Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5-520M (2.4GHz, 4 Threads, turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz, 3M cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9.0 / English - (Does not include Microsoft® Word) edit
SERVICES AND SUPPORT 1 year of coverage included with your PC edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE No Security/Anti-Virus Protection edit
Also included with your system
Gedis Bundle Reference N0356411
Order Information Inspiron 1564 Order - UK
LCD 15.6" High Definition (1366x768) WLED
Camera 1.3 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera
Shipping Documents English Documentation
Memory 4096MB 1067MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
Hard Drive 320GB (5,400rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Dell System Media Kit Inspiron 1564 Resource DVD (Diagnostic & Drivers)
Optical Devices DVD +/- RW Drive (read/write CD & DVD)
Power Supply 90W AC Adaptor
Standard Warranty 1 year of coverage included with your PC
Primary Battery Primary 6-cell 48 WHr Lithium Ion battery
Carrying Cases No Carry Case
Cables 1 Meter Power Cord - UK
Video Card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5450
Wireless Networking Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g)
Bluetooth Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Module - European
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Accidental Damage Support No Accidental Damage Support
Online Backup DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year
Labels Wireless Label CI5

 

[Melcar]

It will depend on what you plan to use the laptop for. In my opinion, the laptop with the i5 represents the best choice, as it has enough power to be fairly good at everything (and since I don't use laptops for heavy gaming, I can disregard GPU choices).
Neither is really a gaming machine. The i7 is paired with a good entry level GPU that can technically drive most games at medium settings, but it's clocked too low for it to provide adequate performance on graphically intensive games. The i5 has a good speed, but it's paired with a rather slow GPU that at most will be able to support low to medium settings on games.
The laptop with the i5 will give you a better experience with nearly everything except games. The i7 laptop should be able to provide a better gaming experience, but you will certainly suffer if you do CPU intensive tasks compared to the higher clocked i5. The i7 laptop seems to have better features though.

 

[Pladio]

Thanks. I will keep looking, maybe there'll be a better one yet in a few months.