Question Is 2 cores enough for studies in 2020? (i7 7500u)

[tdrlnc]

Hello people!

I have some component knowledge inside my head but since I only look and learn about components when I’m looking to upgrade my rig, I am now quite out of date. So I turn to you!

I’m planning to start my studies this fall, to become a real estate agent, so the time to get myself a laptop is creeping up on me. Now, I’ve found a Dell XPS 9360 for cheap which interested me. It has a following:
CPU: i7 7500u
GPU: Intel HD Graphics
RAM: 16gb
SSD: 512gb

I don’t think my studies will demand alot of PC power, perhaps a 3D rendering software at max, but I of course am allergic to sluggish hardware..

My question is.
How well do a i7 7500u perform in 2021?
And will it last me for another let’s say 3-4 years?
My consern is that the PC already is already 4-5 years old.

Thankful for opinions!

Sincerly,

 

[xxscienceboyxx]

Well, a 2 core CPU might work fine for you right now, but I think you should upgrade it soon. You should upgrade to at least to a 4 core CPU, if you'll only be needing it for using google chrome and microsoft office.

 

[tdrlnc]

Well, a 2 core CPU might work fine for you right now, but I think you should upgrade it soon. You should upgrade to at least to a 4 core CPU, if you'll only be needing it for using google chrome and microsoft office.

I’m sorry, I don’t really see that answering what I asked. Not to sound mean but that does not answer if it will work for me 2021-2024. I have not bought the PC yet, so upgrading it is not a discussion.

 

[TerryLaze]

I’m sorry, I don’t really see that answering what I asked. Not to sound mean but that does not answer if it will work for me 2021-2024. I have not bought the PC yet, so upgrading it is not a discussion.

It will be fine for what you want it to but you will have to be careful not to install much bloatware to keep it from becoming bogged down.
3D rendering is a lot more demanding and it will depend on exactly the type of rendering if it will be enough but complex scenes will be very slow on it.

 

[logainofhades]

Personally I would pass. What is your budget for laptop?

 

[tdrlnc]

It will be fine for what you want it to but you will have to be careful not to install much bloatware to keep it from becoming bogged down.
3D rendering is a lot more demanding and it will depend on exactly the type of rendering if it will be enough but complex scenes will be very slow on it.

Do you think it will last me althrough my study period? I’m planning on getting a more high end laptop post education, like a MBP or such.

I just assumed there would be some 3D rendering software for displaying homes perhaps. That is not guaranteed.

 

[tdrlnc]

Personally I would pass. What is your budget for laptop?

How come you would pass? I mean I do not have a set budget. It simply come down to me needing a laptop for fall. I will probably get myself a new laptop post education so my main demand for todays laptop is that is lasts until then, preferably ”unsluggish”.

 

[Alexander Swift]

tdrlnc,

I would consider a Dell XPS 9360 you describe as a practical, but very much entry-level, option. This computer'll do just fine for standard Windows functions, word processing, PDF and other small and medium-sized document manipulation, small and medium-sized spreadsheets, most student-level coding - that kind of thing. And this will, I believe, still be true 4 years from now, as long as you don't install bloatware.

The Dell XPS 9360 should also be good on the Internet, but you may need to choose a lighter-weight browser (like Opera) over a heavy-duty one (like Chrome). I can make no guarantees about whether it will still be good 4 years from now; Internet browsers have gotten more CPU- and memory-intensive over time. I'm running a slightly faster rig, and needed to make the switch to Opera a few months ago.

The Dell XPS 9360 will be extremely bad at anything requiring 3D graphics. If you choose this computer, expect to do your modeling, rendering, and similar graphic-heavy work in the student lab.

Oh, and one more thing: I recommend you check the battery life of the machine - at least, confirm that it hasn't decayed excessively - before plonking down $$. Batteries reduce in capacity over time, and you don't want to buy a lemon.

 

[TerryLaze]

The Dell XPS 9360 should also be good on the Internet, but you may need to choose a lighter-weight browser (like Opera) over a heavy-duty one (like Chrome). I can make no guarantees about whether it will still be good 4 years from now; Internet browsers have gotten more CPU- and memory-intensive over time. I'm running a slightly faster rig, and needed to make the switch to Opera a few months ago.

It's a system with 16Gb mem it will be fine for chrome.
Anybody having trouble with chrome probably has it running wild without any AdBlock scriptblock and so on, it's the ads that are killing the performance or some addons/extensions maybe.

 

[tdrlnc]

tdrlnc,

I would consider a Dell XPS 9360 you describe as a practical, but very much entry-level, option. This computer'll do just fine for standard Windows functions, word processing, PDF and other small and medium-sized document manipulation, small and medium-sized spreadsheets, most student-level coding - that kind of thing. And this will, I believe, still be true 4 years from now, as long as you don't install bloatware.

The Dell XPS 9360 should also be good on the Internet, but you may need to choose a lighter-weight browser (like Opera) over a heavy-duty one (like Chrome). I can make no guarantees about whether it will still be good 4 years from now; Internet browsers have gotten more CPU- and memory-intensive over time. I'm running a slightly faster rig, and needed to make the switch to Opera a few months ago.

The Dell XPS 9360 will be extremely bad at anything requiring 3D graphics. If you choose this computer, expect to do your modeling, rendering, and similar graphic-heavy work in the student lab.

Oh, and one more thing: I recommend you check the battery life of the machine - at least, confirm that it hasn't decayed excessively - before plonking down $$. Batteries reduce in capacity over time, and you don't want to buy a lemon.

Thank you alot, this will helt me greatly in deciding!

 

[logainofhades]

How come you would pass? I mean I do not have a set budget. It simply come down to me needing a laptop for fall. I will probably get myself a new laptop post education so my main demand for todays laptop is that is lasts until then, preferably ”unsluggish”.

I still have an older Asus i5 2c/4t laptop, and it seems to ramp up to 100% far too often, doing just about anything. It has been sidelined to just being used to pull pictures off of SD cards, from my trail cams. Wife was using it for online classes, until I bought a new Lenovo Legion, and gave her my i7 7700hq equipped Acer predator. She instantly noticed the difference. I even had a 500gb Samsung 850 Evo in it, and it still was a struggle. Windows 10 has become bloated, as they are trying to be Apple. I wouldn't go with anything below a 4c/8t these days.

 

[Baqir Abbas]

Hello people!

I have some component knowledge inside my head but since I only look and learn about components when I’m looking to upgrade my rig, I am now quite out of date. So I turn to you!

I’m planning to start my studies this fall, to become a real estate agent, so the time to get myself a laptop is creeping up on me. Now, I’ve found a Dell XPS 9360 for cheap which interested me. It has a following:
CPU: i7 7500u
GPU: Intel HD Graphics
RAM: 16gb
SSD: 512gb

I don’t think my studies will demand alot of PC power, perhaps a 3D rendering software at max, but I of course am allergic to sluggish hardware..

My question is.
How well do a i7 7500u perform in 2021?
And will it last me for another let’s say 3-4 years?
My consern is that the PC already is already 4-5 years old.

Thankful for opinions!

Sincerly,

Hi tdrInc,

Reply for How well do a i7 7500u perform in 2021?

It is for me. The specs are as follows;
i7 - 6600U @ 2.6 GHz Boost Clock up to 3.4 GHz (its 2C/4T)
Intel HD Graphics 520
12 GB DDR4 RAM @ idk how much frequency
128GB M.2 Storage (not NVME)
1 TB 2.5" SSD

It runs pretty much everything I want to which includes :-
Adobe Illustrator CC 2018 (lightweight not very demanding)
Sketchup Pro 2021
Corel VideoStudio Ultimate 2020
Visual Studio 2019
MS Office 365
Bluestacks (Android Emulator)
World of Tanks Blitz
Hyper-V (Windows 7/Ubuntu as virtual machines)

So my final verdict yes in 2021 it is enough provided you have sufficient RAM and use an SSD.

Reply for And will it last me for another let’s say 3-4 years?

I think not because mine sometimes gets too hot and the U series processor will downgrade overtime especially with such load. At least mine for sure will. I will have to buy a new laptop an year or two later at most, and you might too.

Hope that helps. Cheers! ✌✌

 

[geofelt]

The i7-7500U is a decent processor for a laptop. It has 2 cores, but 4 threads which is plenty.
The very big plus for the unit is the 500gb ssd. It is the ssd that transforms the quickness of a laptop compared to the usual 5400rpm hdd.
16gb is more than a low end laptop usually has.
If the price is right, I think it is fine.