1. #1

    Apple Macbook Air 11 inch (i5 vs i7) for WoW

    Hi Everybody,

    I have decided for the MBA 11 inch and since it is not really massively customiseable, my question is simple:

    I occasionally enjoy a bit of WoW here and there, so I would be curious to know if the i7 2GHZ is a clear cut "it's better" than the i5 1.7 GHZ (not taking into consideration the price difference). All else is equal...4GB RAM, HD 4000 GPU.

    So...will I benefit in any way from i7 or not?

    Thanks in advance

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Viena View Post
    Hi Everybody,

    I have decided for the MBA 11 inch and since it is not really massively customiseable, my question is simple:

    I occasionally enjoy a bit of WoW here and there, so I would be curious to know if the i7 2GHZ is a clear cut "it's better" than the i5 1.7 GHZ (not taking into consideration the price difference). All else is equal...4GB RAM, HD 4000 GPU.

    So...will I benefit in any way from i7 or not?

    Thanks in advance
    yes the clock speeds will grant abit higher fps, however don't expect to raid/pvp on either of them. (unless you turn all settings low perhaps/resolution adjust)

  3. #3
    I play WoW on a laptop with similar specs. I can do underpopulated cities and 5mans, just nothing too fancy. The HD 4000 isn't cut out for that. The one in the i7 is clocked slightly higher than the one in the i5, IIRC, so you'll gain a bit more from it but not much.

  4. #4
    Assuming the i7 is QM and the i5 is dual core, the i7 will perform better because WoW is triple threaded. Gimped performance of the third thread, on slower HT cores, will cause WoW performance to suffer.

    On the flip side, you have to determine whether the GPU coming with the MacBook Air will actually be powerful enough to produce a GPU bottleneck.

    Anandtech WoW CPU Benchmarks

    i7-3770K - quad core with HT - 4+4 cores
    i5-3570K - quad core no HT - 4+0 cores
    i3-2100 - dual core with HT - 2+2 cores

  5. #5
    My knowledge on Mac systems is somewhat limited, but to my understanding WoW is still a very CPU heavy oriented game even on the x64 client. Having a higher end CPU will improve things when updating the gpu isn't available so go with the i7, especially if its a g3 ivy bridge i7. They're quad core with multithreading so the os should register them as an 8 core processor, each single core being able to do 2 simultaneous tasks, where in the i5 is just a dual core with multithreading so only 4 cores. 8>4.
    Quote Originally Posted by Izhara
    Also, my money's on the Life-Binder whupping his ass and making him cry uncle in thirteen different languages. Then punting him into the Nether for the hell of it.

  6. #6
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by yurano View Post
    Assuming the i7 is QM and the i5 is dual core, the i7 will perform better because WoW is triple threaded. Gimped performance of the third thread, on slower HT cores, will cause WoW performance to suffer.

    On the flip side, you have to determine whether the GPU coming with the MacBook Air will actually be powerful enough to produce a GPU bottleneck.

    Anandtech WoW CPU Benchmarks

    i7-3770K - quad core with HT - 4+4 cores
    i5-3570K - quad core no HT - 4+0 cores
    i3-2100 - dual core with HT - 2+2 cores
    mobile I7 chips are 2 cores from the ULV series which i believe is in the air.

  7. #7
    Mechagnome Biggayshammy's Avatar
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    Im glad someone started a thread like this. I was interested in getting the new imac and I wasnt sure how it would handle WoW but I honestly really know nothing about copmuter specs anymore.

    The processor is 2.7GHz
    2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz) with 6MB L3 cache

    Video card
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory

  8. #8
    Also curious with the AIR, would you get a lot of overheat running something like wow on a smaller system like that or less?

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Biggayshammy View Post
    Im glad someone started a thread like this. I was interested in getting the new imac and I wasnt sure how it would handle WoW but I honestly really know nothing about copmuter specs anymore.

    The processor is 2.7GHz
    2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz) with 6MB L3 cache

    Video card
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory
    You should be good for medium settings. The CPU is decent but the GPU is a bit on the slow side for higher settings, this all depends on the resolution of course.
    Intel i5-3570K @ 4.7GHz | MSI Z77 Mpower | Noctua NH-D14 | Corsair Vengeance LP White 1.35V 8GB 1600MHz
    Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Windforce 3X @ 1372/7604MHz | Corsair Force GT 120GB | Silverstone Fortress FT02 | Corsair VX450

  10. #10
    Brewmaster Xl House lX's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Biggayshammy View Post
    Im glad someone started a thread like this. I was interested in getting the new imac and I wasnt sure how it would handle WoW but I honestly really know nothing about copmuter specs anymore.

    The processor is 2.7GHz
    2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz) with 6MB L3 cache

    Video card
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory
    The iMacs will run WoW fine, though if you want to record/stream on one I'd go with high end model 27', but the base 21' model will run wow fine as well. I am interested in getting one as well.

    Also, inb4 the Mac haters get in here.
    Call me House.

  11. #11
    Mechagnome Biggayshammy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trogdora View Post
    The iMacs will run WoW fine, though if you want to record/stream on one I'd go with high end model 27', but the base 21' model will run wow fine as well. I am interested in getting one as well.

    Also, inb4 the Mac haters get in here.
    i dont record/stream. and i raid 3 days a week... i havent owned a mac since G3s were relevant and i absolutely loved mine then. my PC is just fine but i want something new to play with. the apple website says the imacs will run starcraft just fine so if it can handle that it can handle wow

  12. #12
    Brewmaster Xl House lX's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Biggayshammy View Post
    i dont record/stream. and i raid 3 days a week... i havent owned a mac since G3s were relevant and i absolutely loved mine then. my PC is just fine but i want something new to play with. the apple website says the imacs will run starcraft just fine so if it can handle that it can handle wow
    Oh yeah definitely. And if something ever did happen to your PC and you needed Windows, theres always Bootcamp Assistant to partition Windows to the HDD.
    Call me House.

  13. #13
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Biggayshammy View Post
    i dont record/stream. and i raid 3 days a week... i havent owned a mac since G3s were relevant and i absolutely loved mine then. my PC is just fine but i want something new to play with. the apple website says the imacs will run starcraft just fine so if it can handle that it can handle wow
    well just know what you're getting yourself into , a desktop with laptop parts.
    also starcraft is easier on hardware.
    gaming on a mac/apple can be done, but it is not the right tool for the right job as simple as that.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by yurano View Post
    Assuming the i7 is QM and the i5 is dual core, the i7 will perform better because WoW is triple threaded. Gimped performance of the third thread, on slower HT cores, will cause WoW performance to suffer.

    On the flip side, you have to determine whether the GPU coming with the MacBook Air will actually be powerful enough to produce a GPU bottleneck.

    Anandtech WoW CPU Benchmarks

    i7-3770K - quad core with HT - 4+4 cores
    i5-3570K - quad core no HT - 4+0 cores
    i3-2100 - dual core with HT - 2+2 cores
    They have 3xxxU processors.

  15. #15
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by ZenX View Post
    They have 3xxxU processors.
    i7-3517U is the best low voltage chip out there this one is likely the one of the air. (if the expensive model)
    else it is a i5 dual core clocked @1,7Mhz (no further details provided on those but i think they are from the ULV line-up aswell)

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