Thinkpad Carbon X1: i5-5300U VS i7-5600U for media work?

[mschubb]

Could use some real world advice...

I'm ready to get a Carbon X1 (3rd Gen Broadwell refresh) with 8gb RAM but am having trouble deciding on a processor. Thought I wanted/needed the i7, but not sure it's worth the money.

Laptop will be used sometimes for location media shoots -- so media file transfers plus lots of Adobe Lightroom, some Photoshop and occasional Adobe Premiere for HD and 4K footage. (But I have a desktop to use for serious editing.)

Would the i7-5600U be a worthwhile upgrade for this kind media work? (33% more cache, 10-15% higher clock speeds and intel graphics at 950Mhz instead of 900Mhz.) Would these differences be noticeable for doing this kind of media work?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or info.

Mark

 

[jaguarskx]

If the performance is not an absolute high priority, then the i5-5300u should suffice.

Since the CPU speed difference is 300MHz, and the price difference between the two versions is not more than $200, then I would consider that to be a reasonable premium.

When it comes to video processing you will want as much horsepower that you can afford because it is extremely CPU intensive. For relatively short videos CPU performance should not be too much of an issue. But the longer the video it the sooner the project will be completed so if time is important, then spending more money on a faster CPU is would be worth it.

I do not encode / create 4K video, however, at that resolution having a dual core CPU will cripple your productivity. I recommend at least a quad core CPU for that resolution, but that means shifting over to a workstation laptop with a quad core CPU, or a desktop with at least a quad core CPU.

 

[mschubb]

Sorry to be so slow to respond; was on an unexpected work trip.

Good advice to get a quad core workstation laptop, but for something I need to carry every day, I think I'm sold on the 3.1lb portability.

Prices seem to jump around week by week on the US Lenovo site. At the moment, they want a $350 premium for the i7 3.20GHZ over the i5 2.90GHZ. That just seems too damn high.... a $200 jump would be an easy yes. Maybe I'll wait a few weeks and see if prices change.

 

[mschubb]

BTW, I carry it every day for writing/email type work. Using it for media production is typically several days a month...