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I7 worth the premium?

  • 29-12-2009 6:44pm
    #1
    MackDeToaster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 330 ✭✭


    I'm finding my HP dv2175 with 2gig ram is really struggling doing 15mp photo panoramas, so I'm looking to upgrade.

    I'd like something with a full hd screen, and plenty of processing power. NVidia is also high on the wishlist requirement as I only run Linux, but I'm not interested in gaming. I'm looking at the HP DV8-1080 which is around 1400 euros, but am more interested in the Acer Aspire 8940, but can't find anyone in the Republic that sells them (I could get a German keyboard one sent over for about 1350).

    However, I'm mostly wondering if the I7 processor is worth the extra 3-400 over the standard 2-core cpus ? There's a really nice Acer 8935g going for just under the grand now with blueray, 18" full hd screen, 4gig ram, etc. I'm liking the general specs, but I'm not sure that it's got much more processing power then my HP. Any ideas ?


Comments

  • #2
    Voodu Child
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    The i7-720qm (which is the basic version, 820QM and 920QM are more expensive) should have a retail price of €300 or under. Thats for the chip itself, and that is the retail price, meaning that a laptop manufacturer could bulk order at a lower price.

    So I would certainly say it is not worth €400 above the cost of an identical Core2Duo equipped model. Remember that most mobile Core2Duo chips have a retail price of €150-200 anyway. So the i7-720qm should really only carry a premium of 100-150 at most. And that is the case in most models ive seen - in fact ive seen Dell sell i7-720QM laptops for as low as €600.

    As for whether it is worth it to you or not, that just depends on how you intend to use your laptop. If you do a lot of CPU intensive stuff (video encoding etc) you will certainly appreciate an i7 quad core. If you are just web browsing, it is a waste of money.

    Also, note that there will be plenty of affordable i3 and i5 laptops arriving in January. They will offer some of the architecture benenefits of i7, but cheaper and less power hungry. Being dual-core designs, they are a more suitable comparison to Core2Duo's.


  • #3
    MackDeToaster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 330 ✭✭MackDeToaster


    Many thanks, that's quite interesting. I think the premium on most of the laptops I've been looking at can be partly accounted for by the 18" hd screens and blueray.

    The Acer 8935 is an exception because it's discounted in a sale, it's 245 euros pricier on laptopsdirect, so normally only about 160 cheaper than the HP i7.

    The Acer is incredibly tempting at that price, but I'm definitely suspecting the i7 might be worth it for what I'm doing, i.e. the heavy photo processing and mathematics/simulation/modelling.


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