Core i5 or i7

[Sewie]

Hello dear TVP friends,

I'm looking into buying a pc-laptop for working with TVP. Now these new processor types don't make things easier choosing one. It used to be so that the clockspeed was a pretty good indication for how fast the system would be. Nowadays with these Core i5 and i7 mobile processors it's all quite confusing.

I' m thinking of buying a laptop with the core i5-540M processor wich has a decent clockspeed but 'only' two cores, and less cache memory. Or an i7-740QM wich has a lower clockspeed, but four cores and more cache memory.

According to the benchmarks all over the internet the i7 is the way to go if working with multimedia and animation. But I'm wondering what would work better when drawing and animating with TVPaint; four cores with a lower clockspeed (1.73) or two cores with a higher one (2.53)...? I'm under the impression that for drawing, especially with complicated custom brushes, it's better to have a decent clockspeed instead of more cores... But I could be wrong.


Does anybody here have any idea what the best choice would be or are you all as confused as I am with these new processors?

[Shanytc]

For most of the parts, the main "big" difference is the Cache memory that the CPUs hold inside of them.
The lower the cache the 'slower' it gets, since it doesn't have a lot of accessed frequent memory data.
Now, clock speeds are also an important by it self, but now days, the new i5/7 technology uses some other tricks to gain boost of the processor.

If you take the core i5-5xxM series we can see this:

• *CPU Cores: 2
  *L3 Cache: 3 MB
  *Features: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64, XD bit (an NX bit implementation), TXT, Intel VT-x, Intel VT-d [1], Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, Smart Cache.

Compared to i7-7xxM:

• *CPU Cores: 4
  *L3 Cache: 6 MB
  *Features: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64, XD bit (an NX bit implementation), TXT, Intel VT-x, Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, Smart Cache

Basically "theoretically" you get x2 speed with the i7.

But the story doesn't ends here, while many others thinks that the CPU is the key feature, they are wrong! here are what's most important:
1. Memory!

• *i5 supports dual channels of DDR3
  *i7 supports triple channels of DDR3 <- faster access

At least 2gb is recommended for any setup! (6-12 is ideal for high graphics)

2. HDD (Hard Drive)
This is the main bottle neck of any computer (desktop or mobile). The HDDs are what causing the computer to be super slow no matter the CPU/Memory, just because the HDD read/write speed just doesn't match the speeds of read/write of the cpus/memory, therefore they always need to 'wait' for I/O operations of the HDD to complete in order to execute more code that's relying on HDD I/O.
Companies like Western DIgital, Seagate..etc keep making HDD with faster RPM speeds (faster read/write) just to make sure that the bottle neck times will reduce for the end user.

However, there is a solution! Welcome the SSD flash drive! The SSD flash drive make wonders for your computer, with (atm) around 180mb for read and 70mb for write! and the best part? you can connect several of them in raid mode (all connected together acts as one drive) and the speed will rise to the number of those drives!! (ie, 2 SSD == 360read, 140 write).
I strongly recommend to get a SSD for any desktop computer or laptop as the primary OS drive and another 1.5T-2T drive for backups, media..etc

so what's the catch with the SSD drives? Their price... They cost.. oh yeah they are not cheap. But! It's a 'high' price to pay for performance.
If you go with SSD, get the Intel X25-M SSD (or newer), they are the most reliable at the market nowdays.

3. Graphic Cards
Unfortunately, laptops lacks of any good graphic cards and you'll have to do with built-in ATI Raedon / NVIDIA GeForce GPU (I don't know if NVIDIA released their Tegra line, which supports HD playback, but that's a good thing to check out in the store).

4. System Cooling & Stability
The cooler the system, the more stable it becomes.. this is very true when you're starting to OverClock your CPU and Memory (in relation to each other) in order to gain more speed performance. The i5/i7 were made 'Over-Clock' friendly.
Actually the entire Inel i5/i7 line is based on slowly over-clocked CPUs as a strategy to sell their CPUs. (Some models with reduced L cache)
* Laptop don't have much options for cooling, but at least you should get your self a laptop-cooler, for example this

So to conclude your options:
1. You can take a lower end CPU only if you counter act with higher memory (2gb minimum) + SSD flash drive / graphic card is not an option in most cases
2. Get a good CPU, higher memory (4gb+) and SSD - enjoy ... / graphic card is not an option in most cases
3. Get a ready made setup mac book pro - use mac ready made laptop and enjoy the 'bug' free world, but the oh so 'I'm under apple control' feeling

I hoped I helped in some way

[Sewie]

Yes you've helped a lot! Thanks for the explanation
I'll most probably go for the i7 with HDD. SSD's don't have a lot capacity (yet) and, frankly, I find them still a bit too expensive. So, for now, an old fashioned 7200rpm HDD will have to do.

[Shanytc]

I'm glad i could help!
Yes, SSD doesn't have a lot of capacity, that's is why I use my SSD as the drive for the operating system and software while the 2T foe media, images..etc
It's the perfect setup like this.

Good luck with your computer choice!

[MichaelT]

My advice: if you can't afford the SSD _don't_ try out a laptop with an SSD!
I recently worked on one with an SSD as the startup/program volume (it had another one for all the big user data) and was shocked by the performance increase. I personally won't buy any new computer without an SSD as the system drive (it's even worth it to upgrade older laptops with an SSD, sometimes the performance boost is enough to use them another few years).
I hope prices will come down soon.

Of course SSD don't speed up the raw calculating power of a Computer, but with one you realize (especially on laptops) how many times the bottleneck is HD access/read/write time.

[Sewie]

Good to know that, when and if, prices will go down it'll be worth the upgrade.