# iMac Core i5 vs. i7?



## mkolesa (Jul 22, 2008)

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts regarding the two quad core chips being offered... Obviously the i7 is more of a 'pro' variant but does the geometry have any inherent speed/performance advantages? I'm assuming the i5 is going to be lower power and which may make it a better long term choice for the home user anyway. Anyone know the cost of the i7 upgrade? Thx!


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## live4ever (Jun 23, 2003)

I think it was $220 (forget if I was on the edu store or not). The i7 has hyperthreading and has a higher turbo speed (that is if it is confirmed to be a desktop i7 870 when it ships).


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

live4ever said:


> I think it was $220...


It is, non-EDU pricing.


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## JustAMacUser (Oct 21, 2007)

I read an interesting article on PC World that compared the i5 and i7:

Intel's New Core i7 and Core i5 Processors Explained - PC World

Basically, if you are not going to be pushing processor requirements to the extreme, the i5 is the better bang for buck as the i5 is quite a good processor.


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

What about the i5 versus the core 2 duo?


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## mkolesa (Jul 22, 2008)

*~*



emalen said:


> What about the i5 versus the core 2 duo?


the i5 is a quad core chip, the core2duo is a two core chip. it's also safe to say that intel will be phasing out the core2duos or at least moving them down the food chain to bargain boxes, so in that regard the i5/i7 architecture represents the future and will give you a longer upgrade path.


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## broken_g3 (Jun 27, 2008)

JustAMacUser said:


> Basically, if you are not going to be pushing processor requirements to the extreme, the i5 is the better bang for buck as the i5 is quite a good processor.


Shhhh! PowerPC diehards might hear you and start a long argument as to why the G5 is superior. Take it back before we all suffer!


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## JustAMacUser (Oct 21, 2007)

broken_g3 said:


> Shhhh! PowerPC diehards might hear you and start a long argument as to why the G5 is superior. Take it back before we all suffer!


LOL.. 



emalen said:


> What about the i5 versus the core 2 duo?


One of the advantages of i5 and i7 is that they scale their power usage. They switch to two cores at a higher clock speed when four cores are not needed. When usage spikes and the software can take advantage of four cores, it switches to four. It's a good upgrade from Core 2 Duo.


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