Thinking about getting a laptop: C2Q6600 VS i7-2670QM Processor

[dt]

Well I have been having this q6600 pc for a good minute and I have no issues with it. The only issue I have is with the computer itself. Since its a desktop, its not mobile. I thought about this i believe about 3-4 years ago when I got the q6600 and laptops sucked at that time and I didn't need mobility. \

Some quick questions...

Is the i7 mobile processor faster than the q6600?
Would it be wise to upgrade now or later?
What would you do in this situation?

A few things that I notice is that I would be able to save money on my electricity bill. Being mobile around the house would be another

 

[jaguarskx]

At the same clockspeed a quad core i7 will be faster than a Q6600. Just be aware that only the models with the QM designation are quad cores.

Depending on what you do, it may or may not be worth buying a laptop. If you play games then you will probably find a laptop to be somewhat lacking and you may feel that whatever laptop you buy will probably be lacking in that area sooner rather than later. Which means you may buy another laptop with better gaming performance. In that case switching to a laptop costs you a lot of money while saving very little money on electricity.

I suppose you need to weigh in the cost of electricity in comparison to the cost of the laptop to determine if in the long run you will be saving money. When simply browsing the web or typing up a document a laptop will likely consume around 20w - 25w depending on the screen size. A desktop and monitor might be around 140w; the larger monitor, the bigger the power draw. So let's just say it's 120w difference.

Assuming you are on the PC / laptop 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. That equals 250KWH of electricity per year. Assuming you pay $0.10 per KWH, then over the course of a year switching over to a laptop will save you $25 per year. Assuming the laptop costs you $999, it would take you 40 years to breakeven between the cost of the laptop and the amount of electricity you save.

If you were to play games, then a laptop with a good graphics card will probably draw 75w of power as opposed to a desktop which might hit 350w. That's a difference of 275w and let's assume you play games 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year. That works out to a difference of 572KWH per year. At $0.10 per KHW you are saving $57.20 per year. That means it will take you almost 17.5 years to break even on the cost of the laptop and the amount of electricity you save.

 

[amuffin]

Wait until june/july, that is when ivybridge mobile cpu's come out.

 

[zhihao50]

I certainly find my i7 2630qm quicker then q9400 which i believe would in turn be quicker then the q6600.

I would certainly wait for the upcoming ivybridge, its going to make laptops run a lot more cooler. While Sandybridge quad core are already efficient, it still can generate a lot of heat on load.

Don't expect desktop level gaming performance.

 

[Raidur]

My buddy bought a laptop and it sits on his desk, hasn't moved except to play a game once or twice at my place. He traded an i5-2500k / GTX 570 system + extras for it. :/

Just make sure you'll actually use its mobility before forking out the extra cash for the components.

+1 It'll be faster.

 

[dt]

ah... That makes sense amuffin!!! I haven't built my computer in years so I forgot all the standard tips. Thanks

@ zhihao50. thanks for the comparision. I really needed one to be sure if getting it would be worth it. very true, I have it cranking out 3.2 ghz oc'd on giving me a 7.3 rating on windows 7. improvement from the non oc'd version 7.0 but it does certainly have some heat issues ( having me thinking about water cooling)

@ raidur You know what.. You do have a good point. I need a computer to be hooked up on the big screen television and I'm just thinking about building a cheap pc to have to play movies on. This coupled with the fact that upgrading a desktop computer is much easier... Good point.

If i have a "need" to use my computer outside the house, I do have my iphone which could do nearly everything except run skyrim lol. If i did need a computer out of the house, what would I need it for... I don't have a good answer for that.. Heck, even gaming at my friends house would be null because he has a laptop and I will have him come to my house lol.

@ all I will definitely wait.

@jaguarskx very true, I do play video games on my computer. My q6600 is running at 3.2 ghz so I'm not quite sure if the i7 is still faster. I also thought about the fact that I would be buying another laptop every few years. The technology is just now catching up to my desktop I built years ago. Based on those calculations, I'm better off keeping it simple and upgrading my desktop.

@ all I will definitely wait. Is it possible to overclock laptops? Because my 3.2 ghz q6600 might actually have the i7 beat.

 

[WR2]

Is it possible to overclock laptops? Because my 3.2 ghz q6600 might actually have the i7 beat.

Not usually.
@ stock the 2.4Ghz Q6600 (3DMark06 CPU score: 3546) won't equal a 2.2Ghz 2670QM (3DMark06 CPU score: 5404).
Don't have a 3.2Ghz Q6600 score to compare. But a Core i7 960 3.2Ghz desktop CPU scores 5360 on 3DMark06.

Ivy Bridge Core i7 3610QM should drop in somewhere around ~6000 on 3DMark06.

 

[Max1s]

The laptop probably has a crap 5200rpm HD, making desktop work very slow anyway.

 

[zhihao50]

or a SSD which makes work goes super fast.

 

[nocteratus]

Here's a useful link with some benchmark of desktop and laptop: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

the Q6600 is at position #88 and the i7 2670QM is at position #27. Hope this will help.
Also I have a i7 2630QM laptop (Asus G74SX) witch is faster than my Q6600 desktop, I have more newer options with my laptop, USB 3, Blu-ray, 1080p screen, ddr3 RAM, wi-fi, DX11 VC and a few more. OK you can upgrade the Q6600, but you'll be limited with some of the options. My desktop has more power for gaming because of the video card witch I can upgrade easily in the desktop. At least I can take my laptop with me, like when I'm watching TV I can have my laptop with me in the living room.

 

[XmortisX]

Wait on ivy if you can! 2670qm over q6600 any day, make sure your laptop as 7200 rpm drive...anything slower will bottleneck i7. best of luck with your decision.

 

[amuffin]

Usually laptops, or at least higher end laptops will let you install an hdd and ssd.