Which CPU best for emulators :)

[d_yor8]

hello

i'm new in tom's hardware and i must say it's the best page for everything about hardware great work

my question, as you can read, kinda unusual for this page (better asked in the emulator's forum i know), is about i5 430M vs i7 720QM, very good laptop CPU's, which is better for running emulators (dolphin and pcsx2), the emulators uses only 2 cores i know, but who has used them i hope would tell me

sorry if someone has asked a similar question like this before

thnx again

 

[d_yor8]

*Post edited by moderator* Start a new thread if you have an unrelated question.

 

[raclimja]

get the core i7 720QM

with both turbo boost maxed

Core i5 430 from 2.26 GHz to 2.53 GHz
http/ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43537

Core i7 720QM from 1.6 GHz to 2.8 GHz
http/ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43122


Core i5 430M has 3MB cache

Core i7 720QM has 6MB cache

both got hyper threading

so i would say core i7 720QM wins

 

[buwish]

Welcome to the forums!

If you strictly run emulators, the i5 will do the job easily. The i5 you are looking at has 2 physical cores and it has 2 logical cores, i.e. it can handle 4 total threads. If you play other games that are graphics intensive and/or do a lot of video work, I'd go with the 720 (8 total threads). It will cost a bit more, but the added cores would help you out in those areas and in general day to day tasks in regard to speed.

All in all, if you have a fair amount to spend, shoot for the 720. But if you are on a budget, the i5 will do just fine in regard to emulators.

 

[d_yor8]

thnx 4 the info

a stupid question i'll say, but can you "manually" turn on turbo boost for 2 core work or the apps do it automaticly when using the 2 cores only...

i'm asking this because emulators use only 2 cores, so, i need most of it i think 720QM is a hell of a good CPU