What are the main differences between Intel Core i3, i5, i7?

[Antony]

What are the main differences between Intel Core i3, i5 and i7? Besides the price tags.

And which one shall I look for?

And does it mean that I shall no longer getting a computer running Intel Core 2 Duo series?

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[richard mitnick]

Antony-

Surely, no more Core 2 Duo. They are still all over the place as are Celerons, but they are aimed at the low end of the market.

I bought and i7 machine to get a hyper threaded quad with turbo (built in overclock determined by Intel)

I bought an i5 to get a hyper threaded mobile dual core on a minimum die (for heat) in a laptop with turbo.

When I bought, i3's were dual core, but no hyper threading which I think they have now, and no turbo about which I do not know.

So, those are factors: quad vs dual; hyper threading; turbo.

If it's for a laptop, try for 25 nanometer, but if it is any mobile processor, it should be O.K. In a laptop, the question is heat.

>>RSM

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[Antony]

Ten years ago, getting a computer seem to be a pretty easy task... Just look at the clock speed, and get as much RAM as possible. These days, you can just look on the clock speed.

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[iJohnE]

And you still want to get as much ram as possible.


If you're looking at the new iMacs, for you I would recommend the Core i5.

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[richard mitnick]

I second John's suggestion. If it is a MacBook or MacBook Pro, make sure it is a mobile chip, signified by the "M" at the end of the identifier. My Dell Studio14, which I am using here in San Diego visiting my son and his family, and which I bought for travel (and crunching) has an i5-520M.

Also, regarding heat, I am having great success with Targus chill pads, which connect via USB. There is one with four USB ports; but I think they need an AC adapter which did not come packed.

Also, having become sensitive to heat, one of my time wasters is to go to the local big box stores and feel the bottoms of laptops. MacBooks and MacBook Pros run pretty cool.

Wishing you an early Spring.

>>RSM

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[Mandrake]

What are the main differences between Intel Core i3, i5 and i7? Besides the price tags.

And which one shall I look for?

And does it mean that I shall no longer getting a computer running Intel Core 2 Duo series?

Put the exact model number of the CPU you're looking at into Intel ARK. It'll give you all the specs you could ever want.

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[richard mitnick]

Before you follow Mandrake's very good suggestion, go to Intel's site and look at the variety of stuff available to help you narrow down your search.

>>RSM

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[Antony]

Thank you for the link Mandrake. It is pretty useful.

Also, thank you Richard for the advice.

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