Upgrade - So what is the difference between i5 and i7 proces

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Upgrade time. So what is the difference between i5 and i7 processors and is it worth the $100 or so difference in price?
My computing consists of email , websurfing, stock charts and occasional photo manipulation. I try to upgrade every three years, if for no other reason than to stay up with the technology. (Which might be a reason to go with the i7.)

Comments?

drc

goretsky · Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:26 am Post subject:

Hello,

Phyiscally, the Intel Core i7 processors come in Socket 1156 (same as i5) and Socket 1366 packaging, while the i5 come only in Socket 1156.

All Core i5 and i7 systems use DD3 memory, however the Socket 1156-based systems use dual channel memory (e.g., two memory modules must be installed at a time) only, while Socket 1366-based systems can use a triple channel (three memory modules must be installed) or dual channel memory configuration. Using triple channel increase memory bandwidth.

Core i5 chips have four cores with four threads. Core i7 chips have four cores with eight threads. This means that with HyperThreading enabled, you'll "see" four cores reported with an i5, and eight with an i7.

Socket 1156-based systems have one PCIe x16 slot or two x8 PCIe slots, while Socket 1366-based systems have two x16 or four x16 PCIe slots.

You might want to consider getting the least expensive Socket 1366-based Core i7 CPU, 6GB of ram (a kit of three 2GB modules) and an X58 chipset-based motherboard. That should give you a decent platform to use for the next three years, which should scale nicely should you want to add additional memory or use multiple video cards.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Thanks Aryeh, I'll consider that.

drc

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Goretsky,
Well my scroogy nature got the better of my scientific curiosity. I went with the i5 processor and the Intel P55 WB board (1156 socket). I didn't realize till after I had purchased it that this board has neither an IDE or a floppy drive output. It will, however, boot from a thumb drive. So the only problem is that I can't use any of my old IDE drives. Since the barebones kit came with a 1 terabyte drive not a problem.

I will put Windows 7 on to start with and use the XP mode to run some of my legacy software.

Question. Will my Lite-On DVD drive boot from the Win 7 DVD without a DVD driver being entered? Since there is no floppy I can't go into DOS to set up the DVD.
Or should I find a boot disk set up for CD? I've never tried this without a floppy drive before.

drc

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

Newer computers boot from USB sticks. I have external floppy drives connected by USB. I haven't tested so I don't know if you can boot from a boot floppy placed into the external drive.

Later today, I will see if this works and report back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. computer with no fd installed, running XP Home. I checked the BIOS and this computer is to old so does not offer the option to boot from a USB drive.

2. computer with no fd installed, running XP Home. I checked the BIOS and this new computer also does not have the option to boot from a USB device. I'm really surprised.

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

zlim,
My new computer with Window 7 RC running does have the option to boot from a USB drive, but I am unsure how to set up the USB drive to boot from it. Is there a reference that you are aware of.

I used Gparted to set up the first partition of 360GB, but when I went back to set up extended partitions the Gparted killed my mouse. Sad

I then tried using the tab key, but it would not move to all selections. Win 7 is running on the first partition but I'm unable to set up other drives.

drc

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2636

google "unetbootin" that is how to make a thumb drive bootable.

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Thank you! I'll try it.

drc

goretsky

Hello,

The computer's BIOS should not have any trouble booting from DVD±RW disc drive. Since the motherboard does not have a PATA device connector, though, you'll need to either use a DVD drive with a SATA interface, or purchase a PATA-to-SATA converter to use with an existing PATA DVD drive.

I would suggest going with a SATA DVD drive, myself. A quick check of NewEgg for SATA+DVD reveals DVD-ROM drives starting under $20.00USD and DVD-RW drivers starting under $30.00.

Microsoft Windows 7 will probably recognize the SATA controller and install to the hard disk drive as it should without the need to load external device drivers, but just in case it does not, you can copy them from the CD or floppy which came with the motherboard (or download them from the motherboard manufacturer's support web site) to a USB flash drive and you can have the installer for Windows 7 load them during the installation process.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Aryeh,
You are correct! It booted from the Win 7 disk without having to enter a driver. After Win 7 was installed I then ran the MB disk to make sure all drivers were loaded.

I have another problem on the horizon. I prepurchased Win 7 so that when the RC version runs out in March I will be ready to install the RTM. If I had to bet I would bet that that prepurchase will turn out to be Home version. The home version does not contain the XP mode. I have two important programs that I need to run in XP mode. Is there a way to run XP in a virtual machine if the OS doesn't contain XP Mode?

drc

goretsky

Hello,

You should be able to use a virtual machine program such as VirtualBox or VMware Workstation to run Microsoft Windows XP in a virtual machine under Microsoft Windows 7.

One thing to keep in mind is that upgrading from the Release Candidate (Build 7100) to the Released To Manufacturing/Gold/General Availability/Shipping (Build 7600) version of Windows 7 is not supported by Microsoft, so you will likely need to back up any data and perform a clean install of the operating system once the Release Candidate version expires.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Aryeh,
Thank you for the suggestion. I will do that. Since this is a new system I will wait to load it up with all my programs for another two or three days and will simply wipe the drive and start again when I get the disk for the RTM version.
I have never run a virtual machine. Anything I should be aware of?

drc

goretsky

Hello,

There's nothing really "different" about installing or using an operating system inside of a virtual machine. A few tips, in no particular order:

I would suggest you defragment the hard disk drive before installing any virtual machine software as virtual machine images can consume large amounts of disk space.
If you have floppy diskette images or a CD/DVD ISO for the operating system you wish to install, try mapping the virtual machine you create to install from those instead of from physical media as it will be much faster to read those from your hard disk drive.
Learning the key combinations to the guest operating system between full-screen and windowed modes under your host operating system will be helpful.
Virtual machines run faster from a directly-attached hard disk drive (PATA, SATA, SCSI, SAS, et cetera) than from an externally-attached USB or FireWire interfaced hard disk drive.
Virtual machines are always going to run slower because of the overhead for virtualization, so limit them to the applications which need to be run in the virtual environment.
Just like a "real" operating environment, virtual machine environments need their operating system and applications patched, require security software, need to be periodically defragmented, backed up and so forth. Figure out these requirements for your virtualized environment and accordingly plan ahead.

That should cover the major issues. Running a virtual machine is really like having another spare computer around so I would suggest thinking about it in that fashion, i.e., what needs to be done from a management and maintenance perspective.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

donrc · Joined: Feb 16, 2003 Posts: 882

Thank you sir, you are a fount of wisdom. I am working with a 1 terrabyte drive so space should not be a problem. I have downloaded Virtual Box and am working to become acquainted with it. Today is the day that my prepurchased Win 7 disk should arrive in the mail. After that is installed I should be all set.

Again, thank you for your help. This is the best board on the net. Everyone is very helpful.

drc