I5 vs i7 processor

Is it worth paying $150 more for a CPU with an i7 processor over an i5?

it really depends on what you are using it for. Also, with i7 you have to get more expensive ram, motherboard, and everything else for it to be worth it.

i got an i7 860. its amazing get it. hyper threading is going to be use a lot more in the future so get it.

Are considering the p55(LGA1156) or the x58 chipset (LGA 1366) or just an i5 or i7 on the p55?

i7 920 any day - sure it is more expensive, but the performance due to triple channel memory is worth having.

HT doesnt do a great deal - not thats really noticable.

I believe AMD is adding their equivalent of hyperthreading on their next major new chip.

Not really, or at the very least it was legal (as they share info periodically as part of their license agreements). I don't remember the full story on that and the IMC, but I remember arguments about it in the past.

o ok, it just normally seems that AMD invents and innovates things, and intel just changes the name, like x86-64 technology, IMC, and integrating graphics on the video card.

Ah thanks, that is the discussion I was referring to. Good read in my opinion.

Triple channel does nothing for the desktop user without them having insanely fast SSDs in their rig. Triple channel is a marketing ploy, it looks great in synthetics but is useless in most real world tasks. Going with i5 750 or the X3440 makes much more sense, the extra $140-$200 saved can do better things that will actually make a difference.

I was under the impression that the diminishing returns illustrated by any form of RAM beyond DDR2 800 MHz was a result of the hard drive bottleneck.

Today an HP rep told me the i7 was similar to the AMD Quad Core Phenom, Is he correct and if so which processor is better?

1366 was out of budget for me for a long time since last year . but when 1156 came out , and especially i5 750 for 200$ , i bought a nice cooler , hyper 212+ for 30 , and i had it to 4.0ghz(20x200) with antec 300's good airflow . i am primarily a gamer and this system will last me at least 2-3 years before new uArch and process come out . i am fully satisfied with this setup .

+1 cyberkuberiah

I get a little tired of a lot of arguments for and against the i5/i7 vs Phenom being all about the gaming. Yes they trade blows in that environment but for what I really use my computer for the i7 on X58 blows everything else out of the water.

I actually USE triple channel memory because I do video, motion graphics and 3D, I actually USE Hyperthreading because Adobe CS4 is multi-thread (and multi-core) aware.

It really is a simple situation that I find amusing and frustrating that is still open for debate:

If you're a media professional or high-level amateur/enthusiast, you simply cannot beat i7 on X58 - you WILL use the extra capabilities, and you'll be thankful for it.

If you're a hardcore gamer then you're either looking at top-end Phenom II X4 or i7 on X58 because you'll need all the PCI-E lanes you can get for your multi-GPU set up.

If you're any other kind of gamer then Phenom II is your friend (or Athlon II if you're on a tight budget) with a single but stonking graphics card

And yes, i5/i7 on P55 is intentionally missing - when compared to the mid-to-high end Phenoms and their exceptional price I just don't see i5 being worth anything.

I chose i5 / LGA 1156 because:

1. I want to have the option to SLI and crossfire and P55 performs better in that area than Phenom II, and no there is no bandwidth issue the x8/x8 speeds shaves off 2% of the performance maybe.

2. The i5 750 is faster in all non-gaming apps than Phenom II.

3. When games come out that need more from the processor or the system in general, i5 750 will do better than Phenom II.

4. I don't need the slight benefit of hyperthreading or triple channel for what I do so no need to waste my money on LGA 1366.

I was going to get the X3440, but this was too good a deal to pass up:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] u=I69-0750

With free shipping that was not bad and its $45 cheaper then the best price I can find on an X3440.

If you use hyperthreading then that X3440 truly is a great deal.

That Xeon is a nice deal, but I got the i5 750 for $150 + Tax which also was just too good a deal to pass up.

Nothing is better than a low-power Xeon server

Mine can pour me tea made from recycled garbage

http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0317378

i7 isn't that much more expensive... $20 or $30 bucks for a slight clockspeed bump and Hyperthreading is worth it.

Nope - they're unrelated. The hard drive determines how quickly you can load data into memory, but the memory speed and bandwidth determine how fast data can get from the memory to the CPU to be processed. The reason that there isn't much gain on most applications that typical users are running is because for most ordinary desktop apps, there is a relatively large amount of processing to do on a relatively small amount of data. This means that the CPU is not limited by how fast it can get new data, it is limited by how quickly it can process the data it already has.

Many large scale scientific and professional apps operate on much larger data sets however, and as a result, the CPU can be bottlenecked by how quickly it can obtain the data. This is where the additional memory speed helps.

Well give yourself a cookie. Oh and by the way, unless that is Canadian money you paid way too much.