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Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 9:33 pm
by doghouse
Looking at two 27" iMacs for HOBBY use (it won't be paying for itself!), one with 2.7G quad i5 processor, one with 3.4G quad i7. The rest of the specs are the same. Price difference is significant...$1419 vs. $1869.

I've read that Live doesn't make the best use of multicores so I'm wondering what difference I might expect for my extra $450.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:47 pm
by FatherSonAndAlcohol
I haven't used an i7 before, but from what I've heard (ironically, from the salesman at the apple store), it doesn't really boost performance by that much. Probably not worth the extra cash, which is why I bought the i5.

But maybe you should wait for a reply from an i7 user. :|

EDIT: I just saw that your question is about the iMac and I was referring to the macbook pro.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:51 am
by timothyallan
How would you quantify the difference? Like the number of Sylenths playing 256 voice 16 note chords at once or something between the two CPUs?

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:14 pm
by doghouse
timothy,

Yeah, that's one way to quantify it. A useful comparison might be "yes, I can now run <some number> times as many tracks with the i7 compared to the i5". Just wondering what peoples experience has been when they upgraded. I really don't care how much faster other apps might be...there are many available benchmarks out there already...I want to know if people saw enough improvement running Live for me to spend an extra 33%.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 1:40 pm
by doghouse
Bumperoo...noone else has gone i5 to i7?

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:50 pm
by darkenedsoul
Well, isn't the i7 multi-threaded vs non-multi-threaded i5 CPU? I have an i7 PC laptop and built a new desktop with i5 2500K but i5 has more memory (16GB vs 6GB). I can't answer your question but I would suspect the i7 will be able to do more due to a) faster, b) multi-threaded (if that makes a diff on MACOS - being linux/UNIX based prolly so). It is hard to justify cost differences and you say HOBBY usage? Think you can go the i5 2500K @ 3.3Ghz turbo 3.7 or 3.8?? Lol I can't even find a 2.7Ghz i5 at newegg. If you can get that bumped up to the 2500K I would go that route unless you need multi-threading.

But that's about all I can think of in regards to the i5/i7 chips, i5 due to almost as fast, a little less cache but not multi-threaded and ~$100 cheaper than it (I prefer to build my own desktops - get what I want, no bloatware installed from mfr and I can overclock it should I choose to easier ;-)).

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 4:04 pm
by milfhuntr
I am running an i7 in an iMac with 8 gig RAM and also in a Samsung Gamer laptop with Windows 7. My Gamer laptop specs out a lot higher, with 16 gig RAM right out of the box. So my laptop will kill the iMac in performance. I do not find many situations where my iMac is hurting for power unless I am running multiple instances of Diva or lots of effects. My laptop never gets bogged down no matter what I throw at it. It will kill any Mac laptop out there, but there is one problem: it is not as stylish at the coffee house.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 4:35 pm
by merges
I unfortunately only have anecdotal evidence, but I switched from an i5 MacBook Pro with SSD to an i7 with a regular HD, and Live works better/faster/more capaciously with respect to CPU, on the new machine. I don't run into the same issues I did with the i5 Mac. If you're using MIDI/softsynths or whatever, you can almost always benefit from the CPU boost.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:35 am
by doghouse
I made my decision and went with the i5. Just couldn't justify the extra $450.

Thanks to all who replied.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 1:36 am
by login
i7 is faster has bigger cache and more virtual cores, but apple asks way too much in reality the difference should be 100 bucks.

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:32 am
by steff3
Well, the difference of $450 is not only the CPU ... that is the whole system in that case, no? You have a different graphic processor, and more limitations with the smaller variant.

personally I think i7 is the way to go if you do not want to buy a new Mac next year ... i7 will last a bit longer.

But that is only my attitude.

Going refurbished is also an option ....

best

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 7:41 am
by esky
i7 is faster has bigger cache and more virtual cores
True, but don't worry doghouse, you'll be happy with your i5. Its a great machine...

Re: Q for iMac owners: .i5 vs. i7 with Live 8

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 3:45 pm
by login
steff3 wrote:Well, the difference of $450 is not only the CPU ... that is the whole system in that case, no? You have a different graphic processor, and more limitations with the smaller variant.
No. As you can see here http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC814LL/A? changing just the processor costs only $200. But you can also change the graphics card, other $100-200.

So i would ahve chose to pick the i7 for 200 more. nethereless is still too much: http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.as ... Processors the difference between them is 115 USD.
Both can use the same motherboard.