Deal: Pickup Core i7's for Less than Core 2's

Browsing through online retailers for the latest prices on CPUs, we came across some good prices on the latest AMD and Intel offerings.

For example, a quick run over to PriceGrabber looking for Core i7 CPUs, lands us with some attractive figures. You can pick up a quad core Intel Core i7 920 for around $$279 but buying a quad core Core 2 Q9650 will set you back $324.99 at the same retailer. Likewise, you can also pick up an AMD Phenom II X4 940 quad core for less than $235.

At this point, if you're looking for parts for a brand new system, a Core i7 or Phenom II would be the way to go. There's no sense still picking up a quad-core Core 2 system when prices are the way they're going. If you're looking to build a budget system or one for HTPC duties, a Core 2 Duo would be a good bargain as well.

Prices above are what we found at the time of this article.

If you're building a high end gaming rig today, which would you vouch for? The latest Phenom II or the latest Core i7? Or skip a PC altogether and go for a console?

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tayb 9 years ago

The CPU hasn't really been what makes Core i7 expensive. All the additional cost with the motherboard and triple channel ram drives the price up.

Other Comments

cheepstuff 9 years ago

it's so weird. an 8-thread cpu cheeper than a 4-thread c2d? the 920 is even more OCable than the other C2D's.
megabuster 9 years ago

Why buy Core2Quad? Well Q9400@4Ghz for $207.00 at eWiz = gaming performance of i7 920@4Ghz but runs much cooler and DDR2+p45 mobo much cheaper setup.
Claimintru 9 years ago

Core2Quad is better for backwards compatibility and single threaded apps by far.
tayb 9 years ago

The CPU hasn't really been what makes Core i7 expensive. All the additional cost with the motherboard and triple channel ram drives the price up.
Anonymous 9 years ago

i dont know. you still need to get a board and ram which wont be cheap compared to a socket 775 and ddr2 ram
cheepstuff 9 years ago

it wont be to long before ddr3 gets cheep to. there are so many companies involved with ram that the prices will be driven under.
Raidur 9 years ago

Phenom II for sure, spend the saved money on GPU power .

I7 if your wallet is big.
IzzyCraft 9 years ago

Well the problem with i7 isn't getting a cheap cpu the 920 is a decent price but it's the like 400+ dollar board and 100+ dollar ram that makes people afraid to go the i7 path.
cruiseoveride 9 years ago

I'm going to wait. The i7 doesnt seem like much of an increase from a C2D, nor does the Phenom have anything to shout about. Maybe the 32nm chips will be better.
mcnuggetofdeath 9 years ago

wow. way to be uninformed. C2Q's still remain superior on single threaded apps as theyre not hyperthreaded. a Q9650 will reach 4GHz on stock voltage, and can do 4.4 on air. a Q9650 has 12mb of L2 cache vs the i7 920 with only 1mb. even if you throw in the L3 cache of the i7 it only ends up with 9mb, still less than the Q9650 which has its 12 running at a much higher speed. As such the C2Q will easily beat out a core i7 in gaming and anything that isnt specifically written to support multiple threads for what is all in all a cheaper platform. (775 vs 1336)
b777 9 years ago

What has Tuan been smoking? Comparing Q9650 (3.0 GHz) to i7 920 (2.66 GHz) is stupid at best. Why aren't you comparing QX9770 to i7 920? Heck, core i7 920 has always been cheaper than the Q9650 (~$300 vs. ~$500, when i7 launched). Tom's hardware has really gone down hill. And I am surprised that Tuan wasn't fired after apple article debacle.
Shadow703793 9 years ago

megabusterWhy buy Core2Quad? Well Q9400@4Ghz for $207.00 at eWiz = gaming performance of i7 920@4Ghz but runs much cooler and DDR2+p45 mobo much cheaper setup.

EXACTLY. DDR3 and i7 motherboards are expensive.
radiowars 9 years ago

If anyone wants, Microcenter offers the i7 920 for $220 (no joke), but you have to pick it up in-store. Still, if you live near one, HOLY CRAP!
truehighroller 9 years ago

@RadioWars

You beat me to it man :^).
MoUsE-WiZ 9 years ago

Quote:

If you're building a high end gaming rig today, which would you vouch for?

Silly question.
SC2 and D3 are still on the horizon... gotta wait till they (or at least SC2) are out before I know what sort of money I need to spend, if any ~_~
shovel 9 years ago

I'm currently building a new i7 920 system to replace my old socket 939 AMD 3800 X2 system. I've spent the last 3 months trying to decide on a C2D, Phenom II or i7. As I only upgrade every 3-4 years, I didn't want to use dead tech & I wanted 4 cores, so the C2Ds are out. (C2Qs are also dearer here than the i7 920.)

Then it comes down to i7 vs Phenom 2. The AM2+ mobo is dead tech, so it's the new AM3 mobo using DDR3. The limited availability AM3 boards are nearly as expensive as the cheap i7 boards.

So in the end I figure didn't pay that much of a premium to go i7. It did cost more than usual, but I figure the machines a bit better than usual.
radiowars 9 years ago

truehighroller@RadioWars You beat me to it man :^).

lol, sorry.
I wish I lived Georgia dammit.
megabuster 9 years ago

shovelAs I only upgrade every 3-4 years, I didn't want to use dead tech & I wanted 4 cores, so the C2Ds are out.

What is the primary function of the machine you are building? Are you on a tight budget? If money is not the problem then go for a $5000 PC with the latest and greatest hardware and have fun. If just deciding between a Q9XXX and i7 920 on a budget I would favor Q9XXX.
cadder 9 years ago

The Microcenter $220 deal for i7 is over now, but they still have the Q9400 for $180. The combined i7 + mobo + ram is still significantly higher than a c2d or c2q, so I picked a Q9400 for my recent build. I was tempted a little by the i7 though.

Maybe it depends on the apps but for at least some, the i7 isn't an improvement in power over the c2d and c2q. Tom's has used i7's in 2 of their systembuilder marathons and for at least some single threaded apps, the i7's were beat by 2 of their previous builds using an E8500 and Q9650. One of the i7's was even beat by Tom's previous E5200. In one of their gaming tests one of the i7's was beaten by 3 previous c2's.
Anonymous 9 years ago

HT =/= 8 thread. HT sucks. It did on the p4 and it does now.

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