Core i7 or core i5 with ssd for budget gaming

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unixguru

Disciple
I am buying a laptop form usa, the HP dv7. It comes with a radeon hd 5650, which I guess will be the main bottleneck in gaming. I have the choice of going with either the core i7 720 qm with an ordinary hard disk or go with a 160 GB SSD and downgrade the processor to a core i5 450.

If I go for the core i5, I also get switchable graphics which would save some power. With SSD and core i5 the price is approx $1050. With Core i7 and 500 GB 7200 RPM drive, the price is approx $960.

Which should I go for? I am going to use the limited time $400 off coupon, so i need to make the decision by tommorow. here is the full config:-

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-450M Dual Core processor (2.40GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)with Turbo Boost up to 2.66 GHz

6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics +HDMI and VGA ports

17.3" diagonal HD+ High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1600 x 900)

SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support

HP TrueVision Webcam + Fingerprint Reader + Digital Microphone

Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth

Full-size island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad

6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
 
^ if you are a Hardcore Gamer & you want performance all the time irrespective of battery backup then go for Core i7 Setup.

but if you are Casual Gamer & want a balance between performance & battery backup then go for Core i5 Setup but even if you opt for any of the setups i'll suggest you to stay away from SSD's as SSD's are still very expensive.

160 GB SSD retails for atleast 20k+.if you want to buy SSD then go for Intel's X25-V 40GB SSD which is the best bet but your laptop must have 2 HDD Bays to accomodate SSD on one & HDD on the other like the 2007 DV9000's have.
 
NAV33N said:
^ if you are a Hardcore Gamer & you want performance all the time irrespective of battery backup then go for Core i7 Setup.

but if you are Casual Gamer & want a balance between performance & battery backup then go for Core i5 Setup but even if you opt for any of the setups i'll suggest you to stay away from SSD's as SSD's are still very expensive.

160 GB SSD retails for atleast 20k+.if you want to buy SSD then go for Intel's X25-V 40GB SSD which is the best bet but your laptop must have 2 HDD Bays to accomodate SSD on one & HDD on the other like the 2007 DV9000's have.
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I agree that SSD's are expensive but I need to bump the price of the laptop to $1299 if I want to use the $400 off coupon. I can bump it in two ways, upgrade to Core i7 for $200 or upgrade to an 160 GB for $270(Intel X-25 M G2, retails for $400). This page on anandtech is what is tempting me to go with the SSD.
 
unixguru said:
I agree that SSD's are expensive but I need to bump the price of the laptop to $1299 if I want to use the $400 off coupon. I can bump it in two ways, upgrade to Core i7 for $200 or upgrade to an 160 GB for $270(Intel X-25 M G2, retails for $400). This page on anandtech is what is tempting me to go with the SSD.
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then get a Core i7 & be future proof.

Upgrading a HDD to SSD in Laptop is way easier & less complex than upgrading CPU..
 
i would suggest to go with ssd config. only those who have used ssd can tell u how big difference it makes .. i5 and i7 wont create performance difference compared to hdd vs ssd . i have upgraded cpu 10-15 times , right now config as in my signature , but never felt such performance gain as compared to ssd upgrade ....

people recommend without even thinking :no: how can i7 improve gaming when 5650 will be the bottleneck , both i7 and i5 will perform same in games limited by 5650 not by processor performance .
 
RoBoGhOsT said:
i would suggest to go with ssd config. only those who have used ssd can tell u how big difference it makes .. i5 and i7 wont create performance difference compared to hdd vs ssd . i have upgraded cpu 10-15 times , right now config as in my signature , but never felt such performance gain as compared to ssd upgrade ....

people recommend without even thinking :no: how can i7 improve gaming when 5650 will be the bottleneck , both i7 and i5 will perform same in games limited by 5650 not by processor performance .
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never said that using i7 will be better for gaming ! but yeah i havent used ssd so u might be right on the fact ! :)
 
RoBoGhOsT said:
i would suggest to go with ssd config. only those who have used ssd can tell u how big difference it makes .. i5 and i7 wont create performance difference compared to hdd vs ssd . i have upgraded cpu 10-15 times , right now config as in my signature , but never felt such performance gain as compared to ssd upgrade ....

people recommend without even thinking :no: how can i7 improve gaming when 5650 will be the bottleneck , both i7 and i5 will perform same in games limited by 5650 not by processor performance .
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completely agree with you that SSD's are very good for performance but this is not the right time to go for SSD,as they are not good VFM also,people require more storage on the go,well i don't know about the others but i do.

OP can upgrade to SSD in near future when SSD's become a bit cheaper.
 
I would suggest that you stay away from HP laptops.. atleast those from the previous gen. Pathetic build quality.

Take a look at some of the laptops on sale at xoticpc.com
Asus have some very nice budget minded configurations.
 
stalker said:
I would suggest that you stay away from HP laptops.. atleast those from the previous gen. Pathetic build quality.

Take a look at some of the laptops on sale at xoticpc.com

Asus have some very nice budget minded configurations.
Click to expand...
The new HP ones are really good. My friend has the new HP dv6 and it's build quality is pretty good. I actually first checked xoticpc but I do not want to buy their custom ones which seem to be the best value for warranty reasons. You are right that Asus has some good config's especially the n61 series but the display on the n61 is shoddy. The Hp dv7 has a decent screen so I am going with it. It's a shame really because it is not too expensive to manufacture a good screen. The Asus 1001p has an excellent screen, much better than the Alienware 11mx!
 
Check this link. Basically you will have to use the coupon code NBG351962 when checking out. This will give you a discount of $400 and remove any existing rebates. It works only for HP pavillion and envy 13 customizable laptops with price above $1299.
 
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