What does i5 have that i7 doesn't?

[manningbowl135]

One of my friends have just bought an i7 and he asked me why intel came out with i5. I couldn't answer him because I don't know anything about the i5. What's it's selling point? It's a bit cheaper, but not that much.

 

[warmon6]

No hyper threading to make the cpu an 8 logical core cpu.

 

[Gulli]

The i5 is cheaper and uses less power, so a better question would be: "what does the i7 have that the i5 doesn't?"

Of course HT and triple channel memory and better support for multiple GPU solutions have their uses but only for a small minority of users (I bought my i7 setup before the i5 was released, otherwise I'd probably have gone for the i5.)

 

[yomamafor1]

One of my friends have just bought an i7 and he asked me why intel came out with i5. I couldn't answer him because I don't know anything about the i5. What's it's selling point? It's a bit cheaper, but not that much.

Core i5 is supposed to be the mainstream CPU, while the Core i7 is supposed to be the high end / enthusiast CPU. Both Core i7 and Core i5 shares the same cores, but Core i7 does not have PCI-E generator built in. So therefore because there are less components on die, Core i7 is able to overclock higher, with better support for multi-GPU configuration.

So in a nutshell, if you are planning to go for a multi-GPU solution, Core i7 is a much better choice for you. If not, Core i5 would suit you better.

 

[jennyh]

One of my friends have just bought an i7 and he asked me why intel came out with i5. I couldn't answer him because I don't know anything about the i5. What's it's selling point? It's a bit cheaper, but not that much.

He will feel less ripped off once he changes over to AMD in a years time.

 

[Gulli]

He will feel less ripped off once he changes over to AMD in a years time.

Yeah because in 2010 God will suddenly let a superior CPU descend from the heavens unto the desk of AMD's CEO, since AMD getting on top of Intel in the near future would require nothing less than a miracle.

Sad really, this means Intel can keep its prices high and will invest less in R&D.

 

[yannifb]

Jennyh, currently im with AMD (955 BE) but in a year that could change or couldn't. If Bulldozer is released, i will stick around, and if the 975 has a Cache increase and 125 tdp (same with Thuban six core) i will stay. Otherwise Intel is getting to enticing.

 

[yomamafor1]

He will feel less ripped off once he changes over to AMD in a years time.

And let me guess, he'll feel that his future health is secured because of AMD?

 

[cjl]

He will feel less ripped off once he changes over to AMD in a years time.

He'll feel less ripped off when he changes to a lower performance platform in a year while spending money?

Last I checked, paying money to get something worse than you currently have is getting pretty solidly ripped off.