Is the i7 upgrade worth the price increase?

[maflynn]

Given that it seems you get the HD5000 GPU with the i7 configuration, is it worth the 250 price increase?

What type of performance increases can we expect with the GPU?

Edit: My expected usages are office apps, internet, database, maybe a VM if I feel brave, maybe a game or two but mostly work type stuff.

 

[Dadstar0410]

Then no, it is not worth the price jump. There are countless videos on YouTube of people successfully playing Diablo III on an OG SP. The original. Therefore, you should be fine with an i5 (or even i3) of the third generation. That will easily suit your needs.

 

[darthhen]

maflynn,

You would probably benefit from doing a search from the Internet comparing i5 and i7 performance. You mention "work type stuff" what type of programs do you run at work? Is it constantly thrashing the CPU? If possible, check to see how your programs performs using an i5 and i7 CPU.

I use a Lenovo T430 at work, running a lot of VBA scripts in Excel and Visio. I find that forcing the CPU into high performance AND Turbo mode does speed up the VBA scripts. But I don't know if Microsoft would include an application that lets you force the CPU into Turbo mode for the SP3.

FWIW, I'm getting i5 with 4GB of RAM. I thought about getting 8GB version, but didn't feel that I would use that much memory for the mundane things I'll be doing on my SP3.