i5-7300HQ vs i7-7700HQ

[xirokx]

Hi there

Will I see much performance difference in a laptop which has either of these two cpus i5-7300HQ OR i7-7700HQ?

I will use the laptop for

visual studio
netbeans
photoshop (basics) / dreamweaver
some audio editing using audacity
playing fifa 17 / cod / bf - very very very occassionally

I think they are both quad core CPUs but where they differ is the i5 is a dual quad core and the i7 is a quad quad core, if that even exists lol thats the way it makes sense to me. I realise the i7 has hyper threading but not sure if the i5 does too because I read somewhere that these are mobile cpus so they both have hyper threading unlocked.

Please can you let me know if I will experience much difference if I went for the i5 over the i7

thank you

 

[nfsdanz]

Hi,

The i5 7300HQ is a quad core chip (4 cores / 4 threads).
https://ark.intel.com/products/97456/Intel-Core-i5-7300HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_50-GHz

The i7 7700HQ is also a quad core chip but with hyper threading (4 cores / 8 threads).
https://ark.intel.com/products/97185/Intel-Core-i7-7700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_80-GHz

So in this case, it's a similar performance difference to what you would find between the desktop i5 and i7 CPU's (though the i7 7700hq does have a slightly higher clock speed)

If your not doing anything too strenuous with your workload, you won't have any trouble with the i5 - it's still a powerful chip and not some dual core cop out like they used to be in laptops.

I don't really know much about the software you've mentioned as i primarily use my PC for gaming and your general run of the mill stuff like Office so can't really comment on that, but in terms of gaming, for most cases the i5 is still a solid choice. You only really need an i7 if you want a ultra high frame rate at 1080p. So if the laptop only has a 60hz screen at 1080p, the i7 won't make much difference.

It also really depends on price, if the i7 doesn't add much to the price then you may as well go for it, but if its £100's, then it may not be worth it for you.

Hope this helps.

D

 

[xirokx]

thanks for your reply

If your not doing anything too strenuous with your workload, you won't have any trouble with the i5 - it's still a powerful chip and not some dual core cop out like they used to be in laptops

It will primarily be data analysis in MySQL and MS SQL Server as well as writing code in Visual Studio , Netbeans, Dreamweaver (eww) and I have only ever done that using i7 processors and never had any trouble so I wonder how much of a difference it will be if I went i5 because of the loss of hyper threading. I will not be intensive programming but it will not be light either......I am hoping someone can shed some light on this??

Nevertheless really appreciate your response, you confirmed my initial thoughts on i5 and i7 especially with them both being quad core processors and I agree for gaming I will not see much of a difference.

thank you

 

[xirokx]

went for the i7700hq in the end, thanks for your help

 

[Terrorfirmer]

Better choice, will be considerably faster in applications like you've mentioned and definitely much stronger in games like BF1 too.

They're both quads but the 7700HQ has a faster base clock and also has 8 threads vs 4 of the i5HQ.

 

[nfsdanz]

went for the i7700hq in the end, thanks for your help

No worries. Enjoy your new laptop