i7-3520M or i7-3630QM?

[ubuysa]

I'm planning to get an Optimus IV (15.6") to be used mostly for general work. I do a lot of Corel graphics work (nothing too complex) with a bit of simple photo-editing and word-processing, typically all at the same time (ie. with all applications open at once). I also like to play with VMs (via VirtualBox) on odd occasions. No gaming.

I'm struggling to decide whether to opt for the i7-3520M with a slightly higher clock speed and 2 cores or whether to go for the i7-3630QM with a little slower clock speed and 4 cores. I know the 3630 has a higher power requirement but I mostly run my laptop on mains power anyway so that's not really an issue.

The 3520 is more expensive than the 3630 and I'm strongly leaning towards the 3630 if only for that reason. So is the i7-3630QM my best choice or are there reasons I should go for the i7-3250M? A side-by-side comparisson at http://processors.findthebest.com/compare/992-994/Intel-i7-3520M-vs-Intel-i7-3630QM shows that the 3250 supports "Trusted Execution Technology", "Virtualization Technology to Directed I/O", "vPro technology", "FCBGA1023" and "FCPGA998" whereas the 3630 does not. I have no idea what those features are or whether I'm likely to need them?

RAM will be 12GB (only because the motherboard has 3 banks and it seems silly not to fill them) first hard disk will be an Intel 520 series 120GB SSD and the second a 750GB WD Scorpio Black (7200RPM)

 

[Music Guy123]

i7 3630 most certainly imo! 4 cores/8 threads are much better!

If possible, for £30 more than the 3520, the 3740 will be a very good, powerful choice!

All the best, hope this helps

 

[Toxophilix]

This is almost certainly not going to be an issue for you, but if you will be running VMs then the VT-d technology (the "Directed I/O" feature) could conceivably be of interest. It's Intel's implementation of IOMMU. Here's their puff-piece on it: http://software.intel.com/en-us/art...ms-for-efficient-virtualization-of-io-devices. TLDR: It should make VMs faster and more stable when you have a large number of them running on the same physical host.

If your use of VMs is just for fun then VT-d is not at all necessary.

Note that, to use it, you need virtualization software that supports it - and I don't think VirtualBox does - and also a BIOS that lets you enable it.

So I'd be 99% sure that you don't need to worry about VT-d, but as you mention VMs as being an interest of yours I thought I'd mention it.

Otherwise I agree with Music Guy. Actually the 3630QM is one of Intel's better value processors, imo.

 

[beg]

Toxophilix you are slightly wrong my mate, VT'd doesn't make VM's faster directly or more stable, what it does is that you can dedicate hardware to a VM to run directly on the VM instead of through the host OS. Without VT-D you basically simulate every driver that the VM will have, with VT-D you don't have to simulate. This is turn gives faster access to hardware / requires less cpu which is why it might feel more responsive or faster in your case.

On a side note, I got a 3740 and maybe someday I'll try out the VT-d

 

[Toxophilix]

Toxophilix you are slightly wrong my mate, VT'd doesn't make VM's faster directly or more stable, what it does is that you can dedicate hardware to a VM to run directly on the VM instead of through the host OS. Without VT-D you basically simulate every driver that the VM will have, with VT-D you don't have to simulate. This is turn gives faster access to hardware / requires less cpu which is why it might feel more responsive or faster in your case.

Well, I know what it does. I was trying to summarize the point of the technology for the OP. Saying that it gives guest OSes direct access to hardware is not really helpful without some idea of why that might be desirable.

 

[beg]

Well, I know what it does. I was trying to summarize the point of the technology for the OP. Saying that it gives guest OSes direct access to hardware is not really helpful without some idea of why that might be desirable.

cyaaaa goodn ight

 

[ubuysa]

Thank you all for the responses. I now see that VT'd is not an issue for me, I rarely run more than one guest OS at at time and only for fun so the performance gain of the hardware assists is of little import. So I'm still leaning towards the 3630QM, and even more so now

Thanks!

 

[beg]

Yes I agree ubuysa.

If you need vt-d get 3740 as upgrade, 3632qm is a downgrade in cpu speed compared to 3630.