Is there a big difference between Intel i7 and i5?

[ickleNUKE]

Is there a big difference between Intel i7 and i5? What would they be?

 

[random5]

No there isn't unless you're doing a lot of rendering and got shitload of extra cash.

 

[zeyuanfu]

Yes.
1, i7s (at least on Haswell) are quad-core with Hyper-Threading and i5s are quad-cores without H-T
2, i7s (generally) have more cache
That's about it if you don't want to get in the technicalities. The abovementioned differences make i7s more efficient in rendering, editing, etc.

 

[Supernova1138]

Are we talking about mobile or desktop CPUs? On Desktop, with current generation Intel chips, the only difference the i7s have over the i5s are an extra 2MB of L3 cache and Hyperthreading, and maybe slightly higher stock clockspeed depending on the models you're comparing.

If you're looking at mobile chips, then it get more complicated. For laptop CPUs, i7s come in dual core and quad core varieties. The dual core i7s are similar to the mobile i5s, in that they are dual cores with hyperthreading, and the main difference is the i7 is clocked higher than the i5. If you have a quad core version of the chip, denoted by the letter 'q' in the model number, then it is a quad core with hyperthreading.