OT: choosing between i7/R9-370 and i5/R9-380

Ecquillii wrote on 2/4/2016, 11:57 AM

Buying a new off-the-shelf computer. I live in North Bay, Ontario, so not a lot of choice locally except for national chains. And in Canada, the dollar has collapsed in comparison to major world currencies, so prices may seem high, but are the new normal here.

I have followed the various threads with similar questions about upgrading computer hardware for use with Vegas Pro, and have narrowed my choice down to two specific models available locally.

In choosing a new computer (I'm upgrading from an eleven year old Core 2 Duo, so anything would be an improvement), I'm wondering if you would help me evaluate the pros and cons of the following two specific computers, an i7 with an R9-370 and an i5 with an R9-380:

1. Asus G11CD-CA001T, 2.7 GHz i5-6400, 8GB RAM, 2GB Radeon HD R9-380, $899.96 CAD (sale on now).

2. Asus M32CD-CA019T, 3.4 GHz i7-6700, 16GB RAM, 2GB Radeon HD R9-370, $1099.99 CAD (sale starts tomorrow).

My main expectation would be an improved preview experience. What should I be considering, and what should I not overlook.

Tim Robertson

Comments

OldSmoke wrote on 2/4/2016, 12:28 PM

That's simple. The i7 is definitely preferable over the i5 regardless of the lower spec GPU.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 2/4/2016, 3:34 PM

> "That's simple. The i7 is definitely preferable over the i5 regardless of the lower spec GPU."

+1

The Intel Core i7 6700 benchmarks at 9957 and the Intel Core i5 6400 benchmarks a full 1/3rd slower at 6520.

Also the Core i5 is 4 cores / 4 thread while the Core i7 is 4 cores / 8 threads (i.e. the Core i5 doesn't support hyper-threading). More threads means more throughput for multi-threaded tasks.

There's no doubt you should get the Core i7. The GPU is NOT going to make as big a difference as the CPU will. You will sometimes use the GPU... you will always use the CPU.

~jr

Ecquillii wrote on 2/4/2016, 3:39 PM

Thank you OldSmoke and JohnnyRoy. 2016 here I come!

Tim Robertson