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Quick background: I'm looking for a new laptop - my old one which had a Core i7 (and died after a year) didn't overwhelm me with its speed, so I figure I shouldn't get anything worse than an i7 in this one. I then noticed that there were many different "versions" of the Core i7 (e.g. 4700MQ, 3517U, etc.) - I had no idea, and really thought there was just one Core i3, one Core i5, and one Core i7.

I found cpubenchmark.net which has a comprehensive list of many processors. They assign a "Passmark CPU Mark" to each of them. For example, the 3517U's value is 3738, while the 4700MQ's value is 7982. My question: what's the real difference between these two? Is this rating linear (e.g. is the 4700MQ more than twice as fast as the 3517U?)? If I have two otherwise identical machines, how much of a difference will I notice between the two processors?

Hennes
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Jer
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1 Answers1

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Most of the times, the criteras are :

  • Clock speed
  • Multiplicator unlocking
  • L2/3 cache size
  • number of cores
  • Hyperthreading(2 execution lines per core)

(TDP depends of most of those criteras)

By variying all those, constructors build a very wide range of processors in each generation. But as stated in other comments, that is not always the most impacting factor in a computer "speed feeling" which heavily depends on the OS and software used.

Note that some of those models are the exact same chips on which the clock speed depends on how well they succeeded in the QA tests. Melting 22nm tracks can be sometimes a bit less well-made on the same production chain, giving a slower processor for the same heat generated.

An i5 is often way enough, and a SSD will impact greatly the feeling of a smooth computer.

mveroone
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