I5 vs i7 for 1 video card setup

[zucchini]

Hello,
I done some research about the i5 and the i7. I want to only run 1 video card ever; I found the i5 would be just as good as the i7 for that. is that correct ? I know the i5 only has 16 channel for one video card and the i7 has 2+ 16 channel. am I right with only getting the i5 for my setup ?

one more question, this is for directx 11. I heard it was going to support use of multi cores in cpu's. that right? if so would the i7 be better than the i5 for that because of hyper threading? or will directx 11 only use the cpu pysical cores

 

[Mobutu]

First if you are going for a single GPU configuration then the i5 750 will actually be a good mach for the i7 920 ... see here : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-lynnfield,2379-8.html

The i5 comes with 16 lanes for a GPU which is exactly what you need and nothing more , whereas the i7 comes prepared for a multi GPU configuration (crossfire or sli) with 32 pci-e lanes.

directx 11 not related to how many CPU cores a game or program uses but to : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422-6.html ... the CPU core usage depends totally on the software developer and THAT's why you will find on the market a lot of programs and games that still are not optimized for 3 or for 4 core processors and hyper threading. read here : http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-core-cpu,2280.html?xtmc=how_many_cores_you_need&xtcr=3

Bottom line : get the i5 750 & and preferable an ati dx 11 GPU offering like the 5750, 5770, 5850, 5870 depending on your budget.

 

[zucchini]

thank you

 

[LePhuronn]

If you're just gaming with a single GPU you could probably even save a few bucks and get a Phenom II 955 BE.

 

[andy5174]

i5-750 is actually better than i7-920 in gaming!

 

[andy5174]

i5-750 is still the better option with 2 or 3-way CF as the difference is minimal!


The difference between 16x and 8x is unnoticeable!

and so the difference between 2 or 3-way CF is also insignificant! (merely 2~3 fps less with P55)

 

[Pro Llama]

If you are gaming, you will see no difference between an i5, i7, PII 965, or PII 955. The bottleneck of your system will be the graphics card, so buy the cheapest of the 4 and get the best gpu that you can.
If the system is being built for another reason the story may change.