System Builder Marathon: $1,250 Mid-Range PC

Features
By Don Woligroski
published

CPU: Intel Core i7 920

Here’s the real crux of this month’s enthusiast machine: the new Core i7 920. The decision to use this CPU fundamentally affected every other decision we made regarding this $1,250 build. The CPU cost over $100 more than the Core 2 Duo E8500 we used in last month’s machine, which forced us to buy an X58-based motherboard for about $75 more than the DFI X38 board we chose last month. The Core i7 920, thus, has a lot to prove in this contest.

Read Customer Reviews of Intel’s Core i7 920

We know that clock-for-clock the Nehalem should beat a Core 2 Duo, but remember that the E8500’s clock speed is 3.16 GHz compared to the i7 920’s 2.66 GHz core clock.

On the other hand, the i7 has four processor cores per die, while the E8500 has only half of that. In multi-threaded applications, the i7 will probably walk away with the win. The i7 920 also has 8 MB of L3 cache, compared to the E8500’s 6 MB of L2, which should help a bit in some applications.

Overclocking the i7 will be an interesting endeavor as it’s a processor with which we have relatively little experience. Conversely, the E8500 sailed past 4 GHz with ease in last month’s testing, its only limitation being the cooler. Will the i7 be able to keep up with its retail cooler?

Don Woligroski
75 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Hellcatm
    Personally I'd get a cheaper processor and motherboard and go with a Gforce 280 video card. You can get a $180 processor and a $145 motherboard and the 280 card has PhysX built in which is really nice.
    Reply
  • enewmen
    I will hope to see how a high-clocked q9550/q9650 E0 will compare with a i7 920. The Motherboard and RAM will be cheaper. So, you can also get more RAM and faster RAM with the q9550 than the i7 920 with the same cash. Or the high-bandwidth/ lower total memory DDR3 tri-channel might actually do better?
    I don't think a i7 920 /w 3 gigs RAM will work as quickly as a q9550 @ 4.0Ghz with a 470mhz fsb and 4+ gigs RAM -even with quad-core supported apps.
    Anyway, I think the outcome will be hard to predict.
    Reply
  • one-shot
    I think the Q9550/i7 920 comparison would be very informative. I have been considering purchasing a Q9950 in the near future. Let's see it happen.
    Reply
  • chriscusano
    I agree with I'd agree with trying to run a comparison with the Q9550. Throwing in an nvidia card would also prove interesting.
    Reply
  • pcgamer12
    Very good article. I just want to say that the Crucial 3GB triple-channel DDR3 1066 kit costs only $73.99; its price surprised me. Go Crucial! I'm definitely looking into a Crucial memory kit for my next upgrade or build, which might or might not be Core i7, depending how the price wars progress between nVidia and ATI (saying AMD still feels wierd to me when referring to video cards). I noticed how the budget had to "settle" for a 4850 X2 when they Core 2 Duo build had money for a 4870 X2. Hopefully, prices will go down faster, and soon.
    Reply
  • Pei-chen
    Page 2 - E8500 has 6MB L2 cache, not 4MB.
    Reply
  • Yes, please try the next system with the Q9550! I would love to see how this processor compares again the new kid on the block. Of course this is the processor I have and also want to see what you get out of it. It would be nice if you chose another Gigabyte board as well to get a more apples to apples comparison with this month's build.
    Reply
  • Huttfuzz
    Yes we want to see Q9550 against Core i7 920. Both overclocked at the same speed. Let's say 3.8 or something like that.
    Reply
  • JeanLuc
    Good article, well done. At first I was a bit worried for the Core i7 was going to get humiliated against the higher clocked E8500 but you summary shows just how much progress has been made with developing software that can take advantage of multiple cores.

    The Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance benchmark was surprising out of all the games you tested I expected that game to be the one which showed off what quad cores can do for games. Perhaps you could add in GTA IV into your future benchmarks as that games seems to love quad cores?

    The temps were a little worrying but the Intel Stock cooler isn’t designed with overclocking in mind and you can pretty much guarantee a decent 3rd party cooler will slash those temps by a third.

    One last thing it might be an idea to compare your very first mid range build to your current mid range build, it would give the readers an idea as to how much more bang for buck we get now days.
    Reply
  • kelfen
    well 4850x2 there is only two in newegg 2gb and 1gb which not sure if ATI rly supported as far as drivers compared to its bigger brother
    Reply