(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The cost between the two is 70 dollars, with the i5 being cheaper.

I am getting a laptop, the specs on both computers are exactly the same.

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versus

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Which would you prefer and why? I'm not going with a desktop because to get a pretty good laptop for what I want will cost me 500-600$ and I just see spending a little bit extra to be beneficial as I will be using it for the next few years.

The one with Intel Core i7

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From my basic understanding i7 is better however it depends on the GPU.
i5 with a crappy GPU going to hold you back, i7 with a crappy GPU is the same problem going forward.

i5 right now is fine for gaming
i7 is more future proofing.

To be fair, the majority use of this is going to be for school, programming, and some rendering but gaming is something I want on the side.

I plan on buying in a years time a desktop build for the high end games and a lot of the games I want to play are actually from between 2005-2012; ultra graphics isn't really required because I'm fine with medium graphics, which this has shown to be handle well.

The largest issue is towards battery life, I know the i7 conserves power by not activating cores until needed but at the same time I know that games are starting to use 3 cores instead of 2.