You can limit i9 to i7 frequency but no guarantee you can overclock i7 to i9.

i9 will be better binned silicon an probably run cooler and with less power on light use.

IMHO i9 is better then i7 but usually price/performance favors i7. For the same price go for i9

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I would try to avoid Dell as they aren't known for their longevity, especially when it comes to windows installations. The specs are good, i5 CPU and 8gb of ram is more than fine for what you want to do, but id try to find an equivalent that isn't Dell. More on reddit.com

thank you Dell for not installing 2x4GB Thank you for not soldering the RAM, which is very common these days, especially on higher end laptop computers. Even for their business line (Latitude) Dell solders quite a bit (WiFi and RAM), on laptops that were meant to be self serviced by IT professionals. More on reddit.com

Not a bad little notebook, and in my opinion a steal for $200, and depending on what you are looking for there are touch screen ones, as well as FHD 1920x1080 ones in inventory. Inventory changes very frequently at Dell. You might even get one with a cellular modem, again that isn't listed but you could get one. My experience with Dell Refurbished A grade look really good, lightly used, if used at all. Now, you probably get one with a SATA SSD, no way to tell. But with the prices of 1 TB NvMe drives, this is an easy fix. There is only 1 slot for memory, so 16GB is the max. This model is simple to open up, has captive screws, so you don't have to worry about losing them when you take off the back. These are business class computers, off lease and some business paid some big bucks a few years ago. Much more durable than the lower cost consumer Dell computers, and upgrading them are simple. I have a Dell precision where you can swap the hard drive in seconds, just remove the battery, and toggle a switch and it is ejected from the computer. Actually much easier than setting up a dual boot computer, as everything stays on the hard drive. I realize this is a very specialized use of a computer, but i use this as an example of the benefit of the Dell business grade computers. It will never run Windows 11, but it is $199, and this might not matter for your use. Probably going to be more durable for the kids, and much better than anything in this price range. More on reddit.com