X1C i7 3rd gen or i5 4th gen? help

[mikesuryo]

Hi guys,

New guy here, nice to meet you all.

I'm planning to buy a thinkpad X1C for office work : my usual work consists of word, excels, spreadsheets, browsing, and a light 2d CAD. (and some light games like cs:go or PES 2017 haha) need a portable device because i constantly move from one place to another.

Now I'm confused as these 2 models is the only available options I've got.

Thinkpad X1C 4th gen
i5-6200U
8GB RAM
256GB SSD
14" FHD
Win 7 pro

and

Thinkpad X1C 3rd gen
i7 5600U
8GB RAM
256GB SSD
14" WQHD
Win 8 pro

which one should I pick? please inform the pros and cons. thanks for your help, guys!

[fb1996]

Hi and welcome the community,

in my opinion, the X1 Carbon 4th Gen is the better choice for a variety of reasons:

• better integrated GPU
• better screen
• support of PCIe NVMe SSDs (the X1 Carbon 3rd Gen only supports SATA SSDs and PCIe AHCI SSDs)
• even thinner and lighter than the X1 Carbon 3rd Gen
• Micro SD card reader (whereas the X1 Carbon 3rd Gen doesn't have a card reader at all)
• three USB 3.0 ports
• new OneLink+ docking port that allows to use a single 4K screen at 60 Hz via the OneLink+ dock while the OneLink Pro Dock for the X1 Carbon 3rd Gen is limited to 30 Hz
• more status indicator LEDs
• slightly larger battery

Best regards

Felix

[Puppy]

FHD resolution on 14" display is a bit low especially for CAD but all Lenovo high-res displays (WQHD, 4K) flickers due to low PWM frequency so the 4th Gen one is safer regarding health issues. There are also reliability issues of latest Lenovo products. Make sure it has at least 3 yrs warranty.

[mikesuryo]

ok thanks guys for the input, so 4th gen > 3rd gen.

but how about the i5 (skylake) vs i7 (broadwell)?

thanks in advance,
mike

[Saucey]

My i5 T430s can run circles over the previous X1C3 I owned which had an i5 processor.
Though the i7 may be stronger, the heatsink is small and will most likely will just throttle, I think the HP Spectre has a beefier HSF system, it has two fans I think.

Checking CPU Boss benchmarks, there isn't that much of a difference.
However, I did like my 8+ hours of battery life I was able to get on the X1C3, but its felt too flimsy for my liking.
I think the X1C4 was redesigned, it did look a bit more tougher.

Also, lastly the WQHD display was a bit too much for my eyes... I didn't care for it after awhile using it.
FHD is good for 14", if it was a 15.6" or maybe an artist tablet, then maybe WQHD wouldn't be so bad.

[w0qj]

Hey folks, the OP (Original Poster) mentioned 256GB SSD, which implies that he is going for the SATA interface for the SSD.

So even if user upgrades to NVMe for his proposed X1 Carbon Generation 4, it would still be using the slower SATA interface, and would never enjoy the NVMe speed.

Am I correct? If not, can someone please correct me. Thanks!

[fb1996]

Am I correct?

No, you aren't.

[jdhurst]

I just got a 4th generation X1 configured as follows:

16 GB of memory (because I run virtual machines) and so then i7 needed for 16 GB of memory. i5 restricts you to 8 GB.

1 TB PCI-e SSD (faster than SATA SSD) and 1 TB was only $90 more than 500 GB PCI-e SSD drive.

Intel 8260 Wireless AC adapter. Now I must replace my Cisco N router with a Cisco 134 wireless AC router.

Regular 14 inch 1920x1080 screen. The High resolution screen was panned in several reviews I read and as it is, the native text size is a wee bit small. I have Windows 10 text size set to 11 point.

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.

Slick machine and I am pleased. Spare now is the immediately prior machine: ThinkPad X230 i5 CPU, 16 GB memory, 500 GB Hard drive, N Wireless and 1366x768 resolution. Not great for Virtual Machines, but I wanted the small size. X1 is bigger width / depth, but much thinner and a whole pound lighter.

[fb1996]

Congrats!