[Solved] I7 at 2.66GHz or 3.00GHz

Hi Im buying a new desktop computer. I plan to use it for gaming (games like farcry2, gta4 etc). I dont really plan to max out the resolution/graphics or anything, just want the game to look decent. I also plan to use the computer for CAD. The graphics card is Nvidia geforce GTS250.

The question I have is regarding the processor. I was going with the i7. However I am trying to decide between i7-920 (2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache with QPI technology) and i7-950 (3.00GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache with QPI Technology).

Now obviously the i7-950 @ 3.00GHz is better than i7-920 @ 2.66GHz. But it also costs me $400 more. So what Im asking is whether the speed boost is worth it.

Im not a hardware expert, Ive always known that more GHz equals faster processor. However with these i7 processors I believe there are 4 cores (8 simultaneous processes) or something like that. So each core will be running at 2.66 GHz in the case of the i7-920. Do computer processes usually require more than 2.66GHZ ? I assume for basic tasks like internet surfing with google chrome and word editing with microsoft office 2.66GHz is enough. Is this assumption correct? From my understanding of things this is only a problem if a software running a single process actually needs 2.66Ghz or more. Do the everyday softwares that usually run on one core/one thread really require more than 2.66GHz for their processing?

What about in the case of more complex tasks like games and CAD. Do games running on a single thread/single core routinely need more than 2.66GHZ? Do games nowadays even run on a single core or will they automatically make use of multiple cores? I assume if theyre using the multiple cores than 2.66GHz should be enough considering theres 4 cores and even if the game/software were to use only 2 cores that would work out to 5.3Ghz. Is that assumption correct?

Or do you guys feel the i7-950 at 3GHz will provide significant improvement over i7-920 at 2.66Ghz. Please let me know what you think, any help will be appreciated.
Thanks
Gary

920 will go past 4Ghz. Limit with my 920 is 4.3Ghz

Umm Ive never overclocked anything in my life... is it easy to overclock it or do I need to learn some programming language? Also does overclocking a CPU damage it or reduce its lifespan? I mean why would anyone buy the faster CPU if you can just overclock the slower one... is it risk free as such?

You are right that my graphics card isnt the best for CAD, however I dont use CAD full time, only when engineering courses/research requires it. As such Ive been running CAD softwares on my present PC with a ge force 7600 without too much lag/framing, so I think the new graphics card will be suitable for my purposes. Thanks for the links tho, will go thru them.

the i7 920@2.66 competes with a rival @ 3.2 the 400 xtra is completely unfounded, get the 920 and dont overclock it, its a beast just as it is.

Toms tested the i7 with crossfire 4870 against pII 955 with crossfire 4890. The 955 was clocked .3 higher. Even with weaker video cards and a lower clock the i7 won most of the benchmarks.
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 360-3.html

Well, the point of the article was not performance, but value. All of the AMD people claimed in the original review that the money you can save with the AMD platform meant you could get better graphics cards compared to a similar priced i7 system. Of course, the review proved that theory wrong...and with the falling prices on the x58 boards and 6gb memory kits the Phenom 955 has pretty much lost its place in the market except for diehard AMD enthusiast.

why not just get the Phenom II 955 @ 3.2Ghz AND SAVE MONEY

i7 is a waste of money for this user and you guys all know it.

my post was a joke, but back on topic, the i7 920 is much better than the amd 955 for cad work.

Well guys, I guess that settles it, I think the unanimous decision is the i7-920, and i guess i can overclock it if i need to. thanks for the help.