Core i7 vs. i5 7th Gen: Which should I pick?

So, I’ve been handed this golden opportunity to snag a used desktop setup straight from a corporate office for a bit of pocket change. Is there anything more tempting than scoring some decent hardware without actually breaking the bank?

So, we're looking at these used setups, and honestly, they're all pretty much priced the same:

HP EliteDesk featuring a Core i7, 32GB of RAM, a Seagate 256 GB SSD, and a 500GB WD Blue drive.

2. Dell OptiPlex | Core i5 7400 | 8GB RAM | SanDisk 128GB SSD | Seagate 1TB HDD

It would work fine for multimedia, browsing the web, maybe some light gaming, or just a reliable family computer for my wife to use. 🙂

Which one actually makes more sense to grab—a Core i7 from the Haswell era or an i5 from the seventh generation?
I’m leaning towards a newer i5; honestly, 8GB of RAM should be more than enough for what I need to do, right?

There isn't really much room for debate here, as a 7th gen i5 is pretty much your only logical move for what you're looking to do. I just find myself wondering, though, what kind of games were you actually planning on running on a setup like that?

wanderingbison9 said:There isn't really much room for debate here, as a 7th gen i5 is pretty much your only logical move for what you're looking to do. I just find myself wondering, though, what kind of games were you actually planning on running on a setup like that?

Fair enough, thanks!

Tetris 😁

But seriously, I have a dedicated rig for gaming, so this machine isn't exactly meant for that kind of heavy lifting...

How little are we talking here, if you don't mind me asking?

fadedorca66 said:How little are we talking here, if you don't mind me asking?

not really
$50-$100

That's fine, go ahead and grab it

For that kind of cash, you should grab both. Strip the drives out of the first one and sell the rest as parts. Use the leftover money to upgrade the RAM on your other machine.

urbanheron4 said:For that kind of cash, you should grab both. Strip the drives out of the first one and sell the rest as parts. Use the leftover money to upgrade the RAM on your other machine.

One device per person, right? Otherwise, I’d just scoop up the whole lot and host a massive garage sale...😁😁

Personally, I’d go with the Core i7 since it's a 4/8 setup, whereas that i5 is just 4/4.

Alexander Moore67 said:Personally, I’d go with the Core i7 since it's a 4/8 setup, whereas that i5 is just 4/4.

Same here.
The i5 might have slightly better single-thread performance, but the Core i7 wins on multi-threading.

I'd go with the 3770. You get more RAM and an SSD included, which is actually pretty important nowadays, even if you're just using it for media consumption.

Yeah, the gap between those generations is pretty slim (each jump was barely noticeable anyway), plus that Core i7 has a higher base clock, so it basically levels out

But the Core i7 only supports DDR3. That 7400 uses DDR4, though you might find a version with DDR3 depending on the motherboard. Plus, the first one has way more RAM and a bigger SSD. Honestly, we really ought to know which specific motherboards are inside both machines before deciding.

But honestly, if you're looking at the Core i7, the graphics are pretty weak, and the multimedia capabilities just aren't there. An i5 actually comes with decent video decode and encode support for things like h264, h265, and VP9, whereas the Core i7 lacks all of that—and let's be real, it definitely isn't going to handle those tasks through software alone. If you can't rely on the hardware, why would you even bother using this machine for heavy rendering in Austin or similar programs?

wanderingbison9 said:But honestly, if you're looking at the Core i7, the graphics are pretty weak, and the multimedia capabilities just aren't there. An i5 actually comes with decent video decode and encode support for things like h264, h265, and VP9, whereas the Core i7 lacks all of that—and let's be real, it definitely isn't going to handle those tasks through software alone. If you can't rely on the hardware, why would you even bother using this machine for heavy rendering in Austin or similar programs?

That’s pretty much where my head is at too.

These i7 units were likely used by developers for their own niche requirements—my current company is in the IT sector, after all.

What am I supposed to do with 32 GB of RAM on a rig from 2012? Just sit there and watch YouTube? :😁

dustybadger11 said:That’s pretty much where my head is at too.

These i7 units were likely used by developers for their own niche requirements—my current company is in the IT sector, after all.

What am I supposed to do with 32 GB of RAM on a rig from 2012? Just sit there and watch YouTube? :😁

Well, nothing much, really, though you have to admit that modern laptops handle those basic tasks perfectly fine even with just 8 GB of RAM...

With that i5 processor, you should still be able to stream YouTube in 1440p if you happen to have a monitor that supports that resolution...

It’ll work fine for browsing or watching YouTube and stuff. But don't forget, since you're using integrated graphics, that 8 GB of RAM is being split up to act as video memory. That isn't exactly a huge amount to work with. If you're planning on gaming, you won't be very happy with the results.

urbanheron4 said:It’ll work fine for browsing or watching YouTube and stuff. But don't forget, since you're using integrated graphics, that 8 GB of RAM is being split up to act as video memory. That isn't exactly a huge amount to work with. If you're planning on gaming, you won't be very happy with the results.

But honestly, how much fun can you really have with ancient HD 4000 graphics paired with an old Core i7? Most games that are even remotely playable on hardware like that don't really demand much RAM anyway—once you subtract what the video memory takes, you're mostly looking at things like Tetris 😛. I think the only truly useful detail would be knowing if there's room to upgrade the RAM or if there are two extra slots available, though since it's a pre-built machine, I wouldn't hold my breath.

wanderingbison9 said:But honestly, how much fun can you really have with ancient HD 4000 graphics paired with an old Core i7? Most games that are even remotely playable on hardware like that don't really demand much RAM anyway—once you subtract what the video memory takes, you're mostly looking at things like Tetris 😛. I think the only truly useful detail would be knowing if there's room to upgrade the RAM or if there are two extra slots available, though since it's a pre-built machine, I wouldn't hold my breath.

That i5 graphics isn't exactly lightning fast compared to Haswell either; it’s more about the DX12 features and stuff.

As far as rendering goes, both processors can software decode pretty much any reasonable video content, so that shouldn't be an issue.

If it's not a Small Form Factor, there's a good chance it has 4 slots. If I recall correctly, old HP desktops almost always came with 4 slots.
Also, could easily just be one 8GB stick inside.

Look, at least the graphics are roughly twice as fast as before, which isn't exactly groundbreaking, but it might just be enough to push certain games from being unplayable to actually playable. As for video decoding, wouldn't you agree that having a dedicated chip handle that load uses significantly less power than forcing every single core to run at full throttle?

After all that overthinking and weighing the options, here’s my final verdict:

Go with the first PC if you plan on dropping money on a dedicated GPU—just anything that isn't integrated graphics. That Core i7 is still a solid performer. Honestly, the speed difference between DDR3 and DDR4 isn't massive enough to ruin your day in real-world use. Plus, there's plenty of it lying around, so you can just grab what you need when you need it.

If you aren't planning to buy a graphics card, then go for the second one since the integrated graphics are better. Still, it wouldn't be a bad idea to eventually throw some more RAM and a larger SSD at it, depending on what kind of software you're actually running.

Though, I'd suggest double-checking the motherboards just to make sure you aren't buying a lemon with a major defect.