CPU selection for laptop running VM's?

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awahl90

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Jun 23, 2011
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Good afternoon All,

I'm looking to buy a laptop for the following purpose: Running multiple VM's while testing tools such as wireshark, Nmap, and Kali Linux (among others) along with basic everyday usage. I would like to also get a laptop with at least 8 GB RAM (upgradable to 16 GB), 1 TB hard drive, and 1080p resolution. The only issue is what kind of CPU is good enough? I know the 5th generation just came out, however will a dual core i7 be enough? Thoughts?

- David
 
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Matt Dobe
Well, an i5 is quad core with no hyper threading (for the extra virtual threads) whilst the i7 is a quad core WITH the hyperthreading which can help a lot when rendering/manage large/multiple work loads. If you have the money go for an i7 and a minimum of 16GB ram if you are wanting to run multiple virtual machines.

I only suggested an i5 if you are on a tighter budget as it still would be fine.
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Matt Dobe

Matt Dobe

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Jan 20, 2015
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An i7 is the best you can get. And its a hyper threaded quad core so you have 8 total threads.

To be honest for your needs, a mid range i5 would be perfectly fine as VM's usually eat up ram as opposed to processing power. I would consider 16GB ram depending on your workload.

 
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awahl90

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Jun 23, 2011
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Hi Matt,

So you do NOT suggest going for a quad-core then?

 
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Matt Dobe

Matt Dobe

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Jan 20, 2015
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Well, an i5 is quad core with no hyper threading (for the extra virtual threads) whilst the i7 is a quad core WITH the hyperthreading which can help a lot when rendering/manage large/multiple work loads. If you have the money go for an i7 and a minimum of 16GB ram if you are wanting to run multiple virtual machines.

I only suggested an i5 if you are on a tighter budget as it still would be fine.
 
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