While we lamented the inability of our previous T470s to exploit the full potential of the Core i7 CPU’s Turbo frequencies, its performance was still very good overall considering its size. The limiting factor was operating temperatures, hamstrung by a relatively weak cooling system and compounded by conservative thermal limits set in the firmware. We have no reason to expect that this has changed with the Intel Core i5-7300U installed in today’s review unit, but perhaps the gap between the two CPUs isn’t as pronounced as one might expect given the thermal constraints.

And, as it turns out, this is precisely the case. Although the Core i7 still wins out in shorter-term single-core tests (such as the Cinebench R11.5/R15 single-core CPU benchmark), the Core i5 actually completed the lengthier Super Pi benchmark 4 seconds ahead of the Core i7. Multi-core tests are just as illuminating: in both Cinebench R11.5 and R15 multi-CPU, the two T470s models are within 1 percent of each other in terms of overall performance.

What this means is precisely what we had theorized before: for most people, the Core i7 option in the T470s really doesn’t add much raw performance—again, thanks to the thermal constraints and the conservative limitations imposed on the CPU by the firmware. The Core i5-7300U in today’s review unit provides a much more affordable and balanced option.

Our Cinebench loop test (a relatively new addition to our repertoire) revealed no significant drops in performance over a long period of time (a series of several dozen consecutive runs of Cinebench R15 multi-CPU). This suggests that, unlike the Core i7-equipped T470s we reviewed previously, this configuration should have no problems maintaining CPU performance in real-world applications over a sustained period.

On the other hand, performance while operating unplugged is considerably below that while connected to an outlet. This problem is not as severe as it was on the WQHD model we reviewed, but it still exists: we recorded roughly 2.4 to 2.6 GHz while running CB R15 multi-CPU. It doesn’t appear that the CPU ever reaches anything above base frequency (2.6 GHz). However it also isn’t far below it (we saw 2.3 GHz once for a moment, but for the most part it’s close to 2.6 GHz). In single-CPU it does go above 2.6 GHz momentarily on occasion, to 2.7 GHz and even very briefly to 3.1 GHz. But it’s still by and large at or around 2.6 GHz.