Business laptop -- how much cpu is needed?

[FraggerCrue]

I am buying a new laptop and having trouble deciding on a processor. Here is a list of processors available:

i7-4940mx

i7-4910mq

i7-4810mq

i7-4710mq

i7-4610m

i5-4340m

i5-4310m

i5-4210m

The laptop will have 8gb of memory and at least a 128gb SSD drive (perhaps even an M.2 PCIe x4 SSD). It will also have a dedicated video card. It needs to be able to run at least 4 monitors (3 external + internal).

I use and have open at any given time the following apps:
Chrome browser (multiple windows and many, many tabs)
Google Drive Sync
Adobe Acrobat Pro (multiple pdf's open at once, often creating, sometimes editing)
OpenOffice (a few documents open)
MSOffice ( a few documents open)
Quickbooks Pro 2014
Windows Explorer (multiple windows)
I also often run a media player or stream music from the internet (Google Play, Pandora, Amazon Prime).

When working I am constantly flipping between monitors and windows, various tabs in Chrome and opening new documents. I will be using a docking station at home and work. It will be used on battery 6-12 times/year and probably only 30 minutes, at most.

I don't like waiting on the computer. Unless I find a really good deal on the 4940mx, I wouldn't consider buying it based on price, tdp, and performance. It simply doesn't outperform the 4910mq sufficiently to warrant the extra cost.

Questions:
1) With this type of use will I experience any real world difference between these processors?
2) Running multiple apps like this, is it better to have 4 cores than 2? I assume that, if background apps are tying up 1 or 2 cores, the foreground app will roll to the next available core, but I'm not sure that is how it works.
3) I know cpu bus speed used to effect the speed of the memory and, iirc, the PCI lanes, so do I need to take that into consideration? I don't want to invest in fast memory and SSD drive only to have them slowed down by going with a cheaper processor.

Thanks in advance for any help,
dk

[David (PassMark)]

Running more than 4 monitors from a laptop might be an issue. This requirement more than anything else might determine what you purchase.

You might also consider buying a high end desktop machine and a low end laptop (or Chromebook with remote desktop access) for the 4 hours a year that you need portability.

A good desktop will outperform a laptop, be more upgradable and support nearly any number of monitors.

[FraggerCrue]

I've got the monitor angle covered. And, if a desktop would work, I would be all over it. I've built my own systems for 20 years (thanks to Win95, I have an easy time remembering when I built my first computer). No, I work from home nearly as much as I do at the office. For various reasons, it needs to be the same computer at both locations, so it has to be a laptop.

I've always tried to balance price and performance and I've always avoided those nose bleed expensive cpu's like the 4940mx. However, unlike a custom desktop, I have to get the cpu choice right the first time in a laptop, as I won't be able to swap to a faster processor a year down the road.

[David (PassMark)]

Have a look at the list there & get what you can afford (and is available to you locally).
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/laptop.html

You might want to consider 16GB of RAM, or at least make sure you can upgrade to 16GB in the future.