Core i5 vs Core i7 Non Retina

[phly]

So I'm currently looking for an upgrade. Thanks to the insight of the folks here I was able to get me my first macbook. I'm enjoying it and its a dope little machine. I got the early 2011 core i5 2.3Ghz. With standard 4gb ram and 500gb HDD. My question is this. Is it worth it to invest in a core i5 2.5ghz mid 2012 which i really wanted. Or is it better to invest in a core i7 2.9Ghz (which are apparently very rare to find unless someone is having one here and keen on selling it) Or are the differences so negligible that its advisable to stick to what i have and up the ram and throw in an ssd. I'm set on the core i7 as I'll be dabbling in video and even though its got an HD 4000. Its better than HD 3000.

So what is the best route to take. Keep my current system and upgrade it. Get the core i5 2.5Ghz and upgrade that one. Or just save all i can and get the core i7 instead. Will I see a significant gain between the core i5 and core i7 where Mac is involved? I know in the PC aka windows world the higher the better but can the same be said for Mac as well??

 

[bwana]

So I'm currently looking for an upgrade. Thanks to the insight of the folks here I was able to get me my first macbook. I'm enjoying it and its a dope little machine. I got the early 2011 core i5 2.3Ghz. With standard 4gb ram and 500gb HDD. My question is this. Is it worth it to invest in a core i5 2.5ghz mid 2012 which i really wanted. Or is it better to invest in a core i7 2.9Ghz (which are apparently very rare to find unless someone is having one here and keen on selling it) Or are the differences so negligible that its advisable to stick to what i have and up the ram and throw in an ssd. I'm set on the core i7 as I'll be dabbling in video and even though its got an HD 4000. Its better than HD 3000.

So what is the best route to take. Keep my current system and upgrade it. Get the core i5 2.5Ghz and upgrade that one. Or just save all i can and get the core i7 instead. Will I see a significant gain between the core i5 and core i7 where Mac is involved? I know in the PC aka windows world the higher the better but can the same be said for Mac as well??

So after an lengthy two weeks you're looking to upgrade?

 

[phly]

Haha yes, this one was just temporary as it was not "exactly" what I wanted and there is a trade in option in place should I not be fully satisfied. Now as much as I have grown to like it, I really think an upgrade is necessary and I reckon its wiser to rather get one now than later funds permitting offcourse. Then I can settle for one and know thats my daily driver from thereon.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I assume you're talking about the 13" models here. To answer your question, I refer to cpubenchmark.net (since they have all the relevant CPUs, so it's at least comparable). Here are the models with their scores, and the percentage increase:

Early 2011 2.3 GHz Core i5 (I5-2415M) - 3266
Mid 2012 2.5 GHz Core i5 (I5-3210M) - 3786 - 15%
Mid 2012 2.9 GHz Core i7 (I7-3520M) - 4529 - 38%

That said, you said you're doing video. Where exactly are your performance concerns? I'm using a 2011 MBP for video too. All Macs from that time on - really, all i3/5/7 should be able to handle video rendering software.

The big CPU hog is always exporting. If you're using iMovie (or Final Cut), exporting takes advantage of the Intel QuickSync extension for doing hardware encoding. If you use this, the export speed is the same regardless of CPU (on the more recent high-end desktops, doing a DVD encode is actually faster in software than using QuickSync, but this is not the case for FullHD).

In my view you'd do better maxing out the RAM and getting an SSD. Samsung 850 EVO/PRO is available up to 2TB

 

[phly]

Thank you for that info. Glad to hear that even on a 2011 system video editing is possible and only export time is the main slowpoint. I experience considerable waiting time launching apps. Adobe Suite is the main suite I use on the macbook although I got it to get into final cut pro as well as motion. I figured that adding ram and using an SSD will make life way snappier. I already have a 256GB that I'm planning to use. Just need to get the actual machine (looks like a 2.5ghz Core i5 will have to do for now). Use that SSD and add ram into it. 15% increase isn't much but the ram and SSD will make a huge difference I'm sure.

 

[noxibox]

I experience considerable waiting time launching apps.

An SSD will make a big difference to this. A faster CPU will make very little. The memory upgrade will help if you're short on memory for what you're doing (you can see what you're using in Activity Monitor).

 

[koffiejunkie]

Thank you for that info. Glad to hear that even on a 2011 system video editing is possible and only export time is the main slowpoint. I experience considerable waiting time launching apps. Adobe Suite is the main suite I use on the macbook although I got it to get into final cut pro as well as motion. I figured that adding ram and using an SSD will make life way snappier. I already have a 256GB that I'm planning to use. Just need to get the actual machine (looks like a 2.5ghz Core i5 will have to do for now). Use that SSD and add ram into it. 15% increase isn't much but the ram and SSD will make a huge difference I'm sure.

I'll echo @noxibox's comments - the gain in CPU performance is difficult to notice unless you happen to rely on a specific feature of the new CPU. At work I have a 2015 MBP 15%, so I switch back and forth between it and my 2011 model at home on a daily basis. I really cannot tell the CPU difference. With an SSD and 16GB RAM in both, both fly at absolutely everything I do. It may be that exporting that video clip takes 40 minutes on the work machine instead of 45 on my home one, but is that difference really worth the extra money?

I'd say max out the RAM and put in an SSD (remember to install Trim Enabler) and see how that works for you. The expense to get 15% extra performance really isn't worth it - you'd do much better spending a bit extra for the current model, which is about 40% faster, or make the jump to a 15" - the two extra cores really put it in a different performance class, particularly for things like exporting video (as long as you're not using single-threaded software).