Conclusion

I've wanted an i7-920 system for a while now but I don't really know if it's worth the extra dough now that the 15-750 system is starting to cost so much less.

Very neat article as usual.

Lots of new stuff in the list with the inclusion of new Intel CPUs.

Hopefully, there would be something new that will come from AMD.

Yes the LGA1336 system is worth it... the prices are probably going to drop just a tad bit in the next few months as there are also a bunch of sub$200 core 1336mbs out there. If you read this article, the author even states that it will be well worth it especially this year when usb3.0, sata and ssds become cheaper and the norm. Expect to see a new LGA1336 processor coming out as well but for now the i7 920 is a jewel. It is like the older q6600 when it first came out. Great in overclocking and really preforms well overall fora decent price. There are few problems with heat, games, video, processes, ect that the i7 920 will give you....

If you're going multi-GPU, go for a i7 920, otherwise, grab its cheaper brother.

We can only hope. Sad to say, but I think I'd rather a Intel 32nm dual core with HT over a quad core AMD.

AMD, wake up pretty pleae. My old 1.6GHz athlon (which I still have, though it's burried under a foot of snow outside) was a beast, and my Pentium D and i7 since just haven't felt to par for me.

I just built my first i7 comp and I'm going to purchase a 920 for now until the 930 comes out (I'm going to sell the 920 to a friend who is going to be building a comp soon). Are there any performance/spec numbers as of yet and what to expect comparing the 930 to the 920? I know it's 32nm and 2.8GHz, so I'm assuming that the performance will probably compare more to something like the 940 or 950 and it should overclock just as well if not better.

what reason is there to pick the core i5 660 over the core i5 670??
core i5 660 is $208,- while the 670 is $200,-
The 670 also has faster clocks, anybody know??

I just noticed the PII X4 910 is rated below the PII X4 810. Can someone please explain to me if this is just an error, or, if not, how is it that increasing cache size by 50% hurts performance.

According to this wiki page i7 930 is still 45nm:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ [...] 2832_nm.29

I think the tier below phenom II x4 BE 965,955 should be phenom II x4, 945, 940... not phenom x4 945, 940...

Always look forward to these articles. Thanks again.

I do appreciate the value perspective and not recommending the 920, since most value-minded people would not go for multi-GPU setups that need a far more expensive board like the X58.

Isn't the Phenom II 720 only 109.99 at newegg?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819103652
True enough there's no heatsink, but you can still get a half-decent one for ~$20.

I own a Core i7-920, and no. It's not worth the extra cost. It cost more, RAM cost more, mother cost more, at it eats so much more power, that you will need to buy a better power source.

also it produces too many heat, and gets too high temperature, so is not really a good overclocker, unless you also spend on a really really expensive cooler.

the 920 only makes sense if you plan to go for SLI/Crossfire, but then again, dual video cards only make sense if you use only top cards.
otherwise, go for cards with dual video on a single package (as the ati 5950, or Geforce 295) because they eat less power, are more silent, produces less heat (which is a real problem with the 920), and don't ask for so expensive power sources.

You don't need an after-market heatsink with the Phenom II x3 720, you can overclock it to 3.4 GHz stable with the stock heatsink, just apply good thermal compound (at the least, Arctic Silver 5). I compared two of my builds, one with a $35 heatsink and one with stock, and the differences in heat is minimal unless the CPU is stressed, then the difference is around 5C. However, with the stock cooler, you won't be able to overclock to 3.7 GHz.

The i5-750 have the best value for gaming at this time. Even using SLI/Crossfire the platform loses very little performance. And with the money you save you can spend more on your graphic card. Besides with monsters like the ATI 5850 or anything better, you won't have to worry with SLI or Crossfire anyway.

If you are not afraid of overclocking you will be good for long while.

RAM does not cost more, wtf are you talking about? Motherboard and Heatsink costs are what set you back. For a $170 Motherboard and a $35 Heatsink, you can overclock stable at 3.6 GHz. For a $300 Motherboard and a $55+ cooling solution, you can hit the 4.0 GHz stable. It's all up to whether you, as a builder, sees a need for a 400 MHz additional overclock for $150 (or $37.50 per 100 MHz).

The Core i7-920 is the BLACK of CPU's. Once you go BLACK, you don't go back...

The biggest factor I see for getting a CPU is what it's intended for, and if the prices for higher-line CPU's ever go down. Owning an LGA 1366 x58 and an AM3 motherboard, I know there's an upgrade in the future lined up for both the Intel and AMD world regarding CPU and Video Card upgrades. The LGA 1156? It's a dead end to me.

Microcenter (if you're near one) has the I5-650 for $149.99. I really wish it was time for me to upgrade!

I still don't think 4.0 ghz is really needed for games. Once you start cranking up settings/resolution you're much more likely to hit a GPU bottleneck that will mean your overclock has no tangible effects in gaming, at least if you're using a quad core. I know a few articles on this site have showed that is the case.

Now if I only can get my wife to let me buy the Q9400 replacement that is coming out soon, I think I'll be good for another 2 years on my system.

Not any more

http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0317379

Never mind. Though it said 750.....

Tom, when are going to get an edit feature in this!