I7 or Duo Processor

[ibi153]

I am curious which of these two processors would be better. My understanding of the i7 is that it is a quad core which runs more efficiently, so it can provide two different levels of performance given the current needs. However when I look at these two options they are roughly the same price. My inclination is to think the Duo provides 2.8 GHz consistently and the i7 would be switching on and off, or staying in turbo mode most of the time since 1.6GHz (in non-turbo) wouldn't be able to keep up most of the time.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9600 (2.8GHz/1066Mhz FSB/6MB cache)

Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

Anyway, question is, given these two processors what are differences between them and is one more preferable over the other?

 

[BadTrip]

the i7 will crush the core 2 duo at multithreaded tasks, and beat it at everything else

 

[dia-j]

I did some search for it over the internet and according to benchmark resaults the core i7 processor has more points than the t9600 .
Also t9600 is one year older and has less developed technology than core i7 series so go for the second one.

 

[warmon6]

I am curious which of these two processors would be better. My understanding of the i7 is that it is a quad core which runs more efficiently, so it can provide two different levels of performance given the current needs. However when I look at these two options they are roughly the same price. My inclination is to think the Duo provides 2.8 GHz consistently and the i7 would be switching on and off, or staying in turbo mode most of the time since 1.6GHz (in non-turbo) wouldn't be able to keep up most of the time.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9600 (2.8GHz/1066Mhz FSB/6MB cache)

Intel Core
i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

Anyway, question is, given these two processors what are differences between them and is one more preferable over the other?

Core i7 (4 core / 8 threads)

core 2 duo (2 core / 2 threads)

Now it will depend on what you doing to chose the right cpu:

If your gaming and not much anything else then the core 2 duo will be the choice.

If your multi-tasking or using heavy multi-threaded program then the i7 will be the choice.

For gaming the reason why i say core 2 duo for gaming is because of 2 things. At the moment games only use 2 core. (game will start use quad core cpu sooner or later), and with that being said a game will be faster on a duo core cpu than a slower quad core cpu.

Yes core i7 can reach those speeds with turbo boost but it can only operate in single core at those speeds.
It can run at max 2.4 GHz in dual core state and 1.7 GHz in triple & quad core mode.

http://www.intel.com/technology/product/demos/turboboost/demo.htm?iid=tech_tb+demo


So what are you going to use it for?

 

[warmon6]

My inclination is to think the Duo provides 2.8 GHz consistently and the i7 would be switching on and off, or staying in turbo mode most of the time since 1.6GHz (in non-turbo) wouldn't be able to keep up most of the time

Almost forgot, Most intel and AMD cpu's are rarely running at stocked GHz unless it needed.

When cpu is in idle Intel speed step and AMD "cool n quite" (i think) will reduce the cpu speed to 800 MHz or lower to reduce power consumption. (nice feature for laptops when running on battery.)

 

[chankey007]

So what's the conclusion?

Should I buy a laptop with
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

or

Core 2 duo ?

 

[Raidur]

We'd have to know the price difference and your needs to make an educated decision, but the i7 is the better cpu.

 

[cjl]

The i7 is faster in just about every possible scenario, at the cost of increased heat and power usage.

 

[cjl]

The Mobile I7 sucks up battery life like nothing. If not doing heavy video editing stick with the Arrandale. The I5 520M and 540M's are about 50% faster in multi threaded apps then the C2D and don't kill the battery

The reviews I've seen don't make it look quite that bad. It is worse than a Core 2 Duo, but they are still mobile chips with a 35W (IIRC) TDP, and they have fairly low idle power.

I agree that for most users, Arrandale is the way to go, but if it's not an option, I would go with the mobile i7 over a Core 2 Duo in most cases.

 

[warmon6]

wow, i almost thought this was new thread, until i saw post from me back many months ago.......

 

[warmon6]

http://files.myopera.com/Mysticmaster/blog/facepalm.jpg

Who the F brought this back to the top?

thats what i was thinking.

 

[chankey007]

I want a laptop with 4 GB ram and a good processor. 320 GB HDD will be enough for me. Price range is $850.

 

[chankey007]

i7 is 1.6GHz so will it create any trouble because as far as I know more GHz means more speed.

 

[cjl]

The i7 is faster, and it doesn't run at 1.6 all the time. It can change its clockspeed depending on the application. It will always beat all but the very fastest Core 2 mobile chips.

 

[chankey007]

Can you suggest a laptop for me in the range of $850.
http://indiangeeks.wordpress.com

 

[chankey007]

I got sony vaio E series ( It looks great ! )

http://javaenthusiastic.blogspot.com/