<p>Hey guys, potential mechanical/biomedical engineer here and I'm trying to decide between laptops and i've got almost everything figured out, but the big hurdle is:</p>
<p>Do i go with the i5 or i7 intel processor?</p>
<p>the engineering department recommends an i5, but I've also heard that it's going to be obsolete soon ...</p>
<p>So what are your thoughts? What are you buying and why? and if you're already in engineering at a college, what are you using?</p>
<p>The i5 is nowhere near obsolete; it’s the best processor line on the market, hands-down.</p>
<p>Basically, the i7 is the exact same as an i5 processor of the same clock speed (X.X Ghz), but with “hyperthreading”. Hyperthreading increases your computer’s performance with a very limited number of programs, and is otherwise useless. Unless you will be rendering videos, using Photoshop, or modelling with 3DS Max/Maya on a daily basis, it’s not going to benefit you at all. i7 processors will tack anywhere from $50 to $100 onto the price of your laptop, so you should really consider whether you’ll be using something that gains from it. If not, I’d stick with the i5.</p>
<p>i5 isn’t the best processor line on the market; rather, it’s the most cost efficient line. It’s a tradeoff of 10-15% processing power at the expense of shaving off $50-100.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, it can be said that i3s are your entry level units, i5s are your mainstream units, and i7s are your enthusiast units.</p>
<p>As I said, the difference between the i7 and i5 (of the same speed) in an enormous majority of programs is practically nonexistent. It’s a pretty safe assumption that anyone outside of graphic design or animation will not get an increase in performance from “upgrading” to the i7 unless it has a higher base clock speed.</p>
<p>so the 3D CAD software shouldnt have a problem running on the i5’s?</p>
<p>and does writing code and programming and such also influence the processor choice?</p>
<p>No, and no. Writing undergraduate level code and running it typically doesn’t take a ton of processing power.</p>
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<p>A 2nd gen Core i3 is fast enough for undergraduate work(unless you are doing something special).</p>
<p>My friends even used a Core 2 Duo based laptop for their whole undergrad mech. engineering degree.</p>
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<p>If you want a ** new ** computer that is durable and optimized for Autocad and other such programs you may want to consider the lenovo Thinkpad W530.</p>
<p>FYI The Quadro line of video cards from Nvidia are optimized for CAD applications.</p>