I7 920, 930, 860, or i5 750

[aznsoysauce97]

Hi, I'm fairly new to the whole computer world. I'm thinking about building a new computer sometime soon so I was researching on the CPUs. The i7 920 is currently on sale for around 200$ at a microcenter near me but I wasn't sure if I should wait for the 930 that's coming out soon that will be replacing it. Maybe they are slashing the prices on the 920 because the 930 is suppose to come out this month. I was also considering the 860 but the LGA 1136 kind of discouraged me because it does not support triple memory and not very adequate if I were to crossfire or SLI. Also there is the i5 which I read is good enough for gaming but it does not have hyperthreading. The i5 and i7 860 both have a stronger turbo boost compared to the 920 though. Hopefully the 930 will have the best of both worlds, stronger turbo boost + LGA 1336 socket. =) Ah, it's so hard to pick which CPU to get. I mostly use my computer for playing video games, photoshop, online browsing, converting videos, and sometimes video editing. Can someone give me some help?

 

[mrcmark]

i7 920 for 200 thats a good buy. So are you waiting? if you are then its best to just wait for the quadcore 32 nm. look at the i3 and i5 32nm theyre great in overclocking.

But id go for the i7 920 if youre buyinh now.

 

[3d_computer_system]

I think i 7 920 is good but i have also seen an install of win 7 faster on a core 2 duo, can anyone explain this one???

 

[aznsoysauce97]

is the quadcore 32nm the 930?

 

[andy5174]

1. i5-750 is the no brainer choice for mainly gaming machine, but get 920 instead if you can get a deal of 920+X58+tri-channel RAM for extra $50 or less.

2. 930 will definitely be 45nm.

 

[skora]

Microcenter is an Intel Launch partner. That $200 is their regular price. I'd expect the 930 to have a similar discount over other retailers. It should hit market in the next month or the end of Feb. Faster stock speed and higher OC potential worth the wait.

 

[notty22]

Microcenter briefly raised the price on the 920, but it is back at 200 now. Last quarter the i5 750 was at 149.99 now its 179.99. The 930 (ES) has been in reviewers hands, its 1 multiplier,(133mhz) higher on the DO stepping , thats it. No need to wait for it. Your getting a 'steal' at 200, don't let the great deal worry you, lol.
Also the 860 is 199.99 , a similar sized discount.

 

[aznsoysauce97]

doesnt the 930 have a high base clock rate? the 920 is at 2.66 i heard the 930 is going to be 2.88 and if the 930 is newer, its hyperthreading and turbo boost should be stronger, right?

 

[andy5174]

930 is better if you don't OC, but it is no better than 920 when comes to OC as all LGA1366 i7s have the same upper OC limit(4.2GHz in most cases) including the best i7-975.

In addition, 930 has exactly the same architecture as the rest i7-9xx and so its HT and Turbo should be the same.

 

[aznsoysauce97]

in that case should i just get an i5 and better GPU instead? im currently playing dead space, l4d2, and doing photoshop but when i play games i have to turn them all to lowest settings.

 

[andy5174]

Yes, i5+better GPU will offer better gaming performance for sure.

 

[lordszone]

in that case should i just get an i5 and better GPU instead? im currently playing dead space, l4d2, and doing photoshop but when i play games i have to turn them all to lowest settings.

hi
if you only want the new system for gaming then i suggest go for p55, socket 1156. its better in gaming as compared to core i7 920. and in some cases core i7 860 has beaten core i7 975 which is quite good.
But i personally still like core i7 920 because it will get better for sure and will have quite a lot of upgrades as well. this 1366 socket is targeted to enthusiasts and due to this fact they cant let this socket be less than their mainstream socket and also the fact that core i7 920 is available for some time now and core i7 860 is new so it was obvious that it will be better but im sure they will make core i7 9xx better soon. hope i helped.

 

[aznsoysauce97]

ok the i7 920 and the i7 860 are now both dropped to 199.99 at microcenter. Ugh I dont think a i5 is worth it anymore since the i7 processor is only about 20-30$ more.

 

[andy5174]

Go for i7-860 if that is the case. Remember that i7-920 require expensive X58 MB and tri channel without giving you any significant performance gain and worse than 860 in most cases.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3641&p=7

 

[croc]

ok the i7 920 and the i7 860 are now both dropped to 199.99 at microcenter. Ugh I dont think a i5 is worth it anymore since the i7 processor is only about 20-30$ more.

Horses for courses... If ALL you are interested in is good gaming, and only ever one GPU, then a P55 MB will dou you just fine. Just be aware that there are limitations to the 1156 Intel processors concerning GPU usage and memory access. X58 is not more expensive for any person doing professional graphics work or professional CAD work (time IS money!). But if you are aware of the limitations, and they don't really affect your uses, then you have what looks to be a good build on the boil.

 

[andy5174]

Do some research in TOM and Anandtech article and you will realize the difference between 1366 and 1156 is minimal.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p55-crossfire-nf200,2537.html

p.s. Even 10% difference means 4~5FPS under 1920x1200.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

930 is better if you don't OC, but it is no better than 920 when comes to OC as all LGA1366 i7s have the same upper OC limit(4.2GHz in most cases) including the best i7-975..

That's not reflected on the OC boards that I have been following....and also requires a qualifier....we taking real use or simply highest frequency w/ LN2 and other goodies as i think a Celeron still holds that record.....

....we talkin i7 "on air"...we talking HT and all other BIOS features enabled ? ...we talkin maintaining CAS timings or relaxed ? ... we upping voltages on more than Vcore ?

Scanning thru this thread for example, the 940 consistently outscores the 920, the 950 the 940 and so on when using same BIOS settings.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210275&page=2

 

[andy5174]

I was not talking about any specific chip but average chips.

BTW, I never see any i7-975 get a 24/7 STABLE OC of 4.2GHz+ so far.

 

[croc]

Do some research in TOM and Anandtech article and you will realize the difference between 1366 and 1156 is minimal.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/p55-crossfire-nf200,2537.html

http://media.bestofmicro.com/D/7/236347/original/image004.png

http://media.bestofmicro.com/D/8/236348/original/image005.png

p.s. Even 10% difference means 4~5FPS under 1920x1200.

I think I expressed my opinion pretty well... 1156 CPU's do have limitations, both in their GPU access and in their memory access. If all you want is gaming, fine... They will do the job quite well. I am well aware of those benchmarks, and several others as well thank you. Now look at some benchmarks for PSCS4, or ACAD, or MAYA3D...

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I was not talking about any specific chip but average chips.

BTW, I never see any i7-975 get a 24/7 STABLE OC of 4.2GHz+ so far.

Go to page 135 of above link....4.7 Ghz ...one there above 5.0 but i didn't search for it.

 

[andy5174]

I think I expressed my opinion pretty well... 1156 CPU's do have limitations, both in their GPU access and in their memory access. If all you want is gaming, fine... They will do the job quite well. I am well aware of those benchmarks, and several others as well thank you. Now look at some benchmarks for PSCS4, or ACAD, or MAYA3D...

 

[andy5174]

Go to page 135 of above link....4.7 Ghz ...one there above 5.0 but i didn't search for it.

Do they mention that it is 24/7 stable? There are a lot of i7-920 can reach 5GHz but not 24/7 stable.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Reasons for 1366:

1. future availability of hexacore processors for X58-based platforms
2. the LGA 1366 interface’s ability to support triple-channel memory that will probably only noticeably benefit hexacore processors.
3. the X58’s additional support for high-bandwidth devices such as professional RAID controllers
4. PCI-E bandwidth issues on 2 or 3 PCI-E x16 lanes but ONLY with GFX cards that need more than x8.
5. Your software uses what the 1366 has (and, at least today, that doesn't include gaming).

 

[andy5174]

All your statements are quite TRUE.

However, we have to consider if the performance gain worth the premium. It does NOT seem so to me according to the performance charts from Anandtech and TOM.

 

[croc]

All your statements are quite TRUE.

However, we have to consider if the performance gain worth the premium. It does NOT seem so to me according to the performance charts from Anandtech and TOM.

IFF you are interested in gaming, (and only gaming, using one GPU) THEN you are correct. I made that quite clear in my first post.