Anybody else considering the i3?

[scottysize]

Went with the i5. I'll wait and see what happens with Broadwell at the end of the year. If I can't live without the Broadwell, I'll probably sell the i5 at a loss and get the Broadwell. It'll have to be a quad core though. I'm not buying an i7 dual core. That's just dumb. I mean, the new phones are coming out with quad cores, wth MS?

 

[drolem]

I'm not buying an i7 dual core. That's just dumb. I mean, the new phones are coming out with quad cores, wth MS?

I have a feeling a dual core i7 would run circles around most quad core chips (mostly ARMs, I think) that you can find in phones.

MS will use whatever Intel can provide -- because of power consumption, form factor and TDP, they don't have a whole lot choice.

 

[daniielrp]

I'm not buying an i7 dual core. That's just dumb. I mean, the new phones are coming out with quad cores, wth MS?

You CANNOT compare a quad-core mobile CPU to an i7.

I know synthetic benchmarks are not a be all and end all, but look at these numbers for a quad-core android and the i7 coming in the SP3:



Against:



Source - geekbench.com

More cores doesn't always mean 'better'.

But as I said, you can't compare the two, they are designed for completely different kinds of devices, with different power levels needed, different power available to them etc.

The scores above give some indication of raw power, but how that translates into device usability will be wildly different from device to device.

As another, far better example, compare the Surface RT performance (on a quad-core processor) to the SP1 or SP2 with their dual core ones, the difference is phenomenal.

 

[GreyMatta]

is the broadwell upgrade just a case of MS soldering the new CPU onto the existing hardware or is it a new socket / chipset etc?

 

[scottysize]

I was just making a point that even the mobile industry is getting into quad cores. A dual core i7 is a waste of money when the dual core i5 runs just as fast. I was NOT trying to compare a mobile processor to a computer processor. That would be retarded.

 

[daniielrp]

I was just making a point that even the mobile industry is getting into quad cores. A dual core i7 is a waste of money when the dual core i5 runs just as fast. I was NOT trying to compare a mobile processor to a computer processor. That would be retarded.

1. They're are not "just getting into quad-core", mobile phones have had quads for a good while now.
2. NO, a i5 will not run 'just as fast' as an i7. Hence the price difference.
3. The fact that you initially mentioned it, made it seem like you were trying to compare a mobile processor to a PC one. Yes, that is retarded.

 

[scottysize]

You're going to tell me that there's a clear cut winner and it's worth and additional $600 plus the added 3 month wait?

http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4650U-vs-Intel-Core-i5-4300U

This is using the CPU specs that I've been able to find: http://www.zdnet.com/which-cpus-will-you-find-in-the-surface-pro-3-7000029820/ We don't actually know what the i7 processor will be, but I's say they got it right.

 

[daniielrp]

You're going to tell me that there's a clear cut winner and it's worth and additional $600 plus the added 3 month wait?

Intel Core i7 4650U vs i5 4300U

This is using the CPU specs that I've been able to find: Which CPUs will you find in the Surface Pro 3? | ZDNet We don't actually know what the i7 processor will be, but I's say they got it right.

If we're being literal, the 7.3 is clearly better than 7... so there's you're winner. Also, $600? The 256GB i5 to i7 is a $250 jumps, not $600. Unless you're talking about the top level i7, where most of that cost is on the jumps to 512GB, which is not bad when you consider the difference between a Pro 2 256 and 512 was $500 without a processor change..

 

[CrippsCorner]

1. They're are not "just getting into quad-core", mobile phones have had quads for a good while now.
2. NO, a i5 will not run 'just as fast' as an i7. Hence the price difference.
3. The fact that you initially mentioned it, made it seem like you were trying to compare a mobile processor to a PC one. Yes, that is retarded.

This man talks a lot of sense, 'quad-core' is just marketing sometimes... I've been trying to inform my brother of all this kind of stuff recently as he's looking for a new laptop.

 

[scottysize]

If we're being literal, the 7.3 is clearly better than 7... so there's you're winner. Also, $600? The 256GB i5 to i7 is a $250 jumps, not $600. Unless you're talking about the top level i7, where most of that cost is on the jumps to 512GB, which is not bad when you consider the difference between a Pro 2 256 and 512 was $500 without a processor change..

Shoot. That's right. I forgot that I went down on HD as well. $250 more.

So you think that the i7 that is coming out August 31st is going to run faster than the i5? I'd love to see those results in September. I guess we'll find out then.

 

[daniielrp]

Shoot. That's right. I forgot that I went down on HD as well. $250 more.

So you think that the i7 that is coming out August 31st is going to run faster than the i5? I'd love to see those results in September. I guess we'll find out then.

Depends on your usage, Windows may run a bit faster, but the most benefit will be from processor intensive tasks.

 

[MickeyLittle]

Shoot. That's right. I forgot that I went down on HD as well. $250 more.

So you think that the i7 that is coming out August 31st is going to run faster than the i5? I'd love to see those results in September. I guess we'll find out then.

Yes I agree that the i7 is going to run faster than the i5. Will you notice it if all you do is check email and a few websites, probably not because both processors are fast. But when you start pushing the Surface 3 with some labor intensive applications the i7 will make a world of difference.

I use my tablets 10 hours a day but tablets that is mostly on Web surfing, emails, Word and Excel, and reading so the i5 is more than enough for me.