Upcoming CPUs

[Stromgarde]

I'm planning on building a new computer in mid-october when Win7 comes out, is the i7 still projected to be the best CPU for your money or is something better likely to come out by then?

[Octavious]

I'm planning on building a new computer in mid-october when Win7 comes out, is the i7 still projected to be the best CPU for your money or is something better likely to come out by then?

I'm in the process of building an i7 system at the moment, and in short the answer is yes. Intel is expected to put out the i9 series (iirc) sometime in the Spring of '10, but I can't verify that at the moment since I can't browse at work. (I can browse BG thank GOD, they block Google and most every search engine, ;_; I can't do any searchings)



edit: fixed, D: posting at work ftl, see Ceph's info

[Cephius]

The i5 750 and the i7 860 are due in early 2010, and the 32nm core i3 and i5 processors will be available later next year.

[Octavious]

The i5 750 and the i7 860 are due in early 2010, and the 32nm core i3 and i5 processors will be available later next year.

Yea Ceph is right. I don't know why I keep thinking i9, I wish I had the ability to google-fu at work so I could check my facts. :'(

I was correct that the new lines will use the same socket as the i7 yes? I believe it's the same socket, but again I can't verify. D:

[Cephius]

Yea Ceph is right. I don't know why I keep thinking i9, I wish I had the ability to google-fu at work so I could check my facts. :'(

I was correct that the new lines will use the same socket as the i7 yes?

Newp... the current i7 processors use LGA 1366, the new ones use LGA 1156. New mobos for all!

[Octavious]

Newp... the current i7 processors use LGA 1366, the new ones use LGA 1156. New mobos for all!

bwah D: damnit, I texted a friend and its the Xeon that was the same. oh well, I suppose a fresh mobo will have that wonderful new-mobo smell after all. D: I'm going to fix my post, lol, thanks Ceph, sorry for my fail attempts at work.

[Stromgarde]

But aren't all of those weaker than the current i7's? From what I read on Ars Technica the new i5 and i3 are slower than the existing technology, which was meant primarily for technology enthusiasts / early adopters. What about the i7 860 relative to the 950 (which is what I'm looking at picking up)? You were correct about i9's being available in Q1 2010, but entry level for those is projected to be $1000ish when they come out.

[Cephius]

But aren't all of those weaker than the current i7's? From what I read on Ars Technica the new i5 and i3 are slower than the existing technology, which was meant primarily for technology enthusiasts / early adopters. What about the i7 860 relative to the 950 (which is what I'm looking at picking up)? You were correct about i9's being available in Q1 2010, but entry level for those is projected to be $1000ish when they come out.

The i3 and i5 will be slower, yes. IIRC they are dual cores with hyperthreading, so 4 virtual cores. The i7s are quads, so 8 virtual cores with hyperthreading. The i3/5 will be more along the lines of today's celerons when you stack them up vs the newer dual cores. Basic, cheap processors in the new sockets for budget builds or low-end PCs.

As for the 950 vs the 860... they're essentially the same and it won't be worth upgrading if you have the 950 already. But if you're an overclocker and if you're going to wait, pick up the 860 because it has lower power consumption (82W TDP compared to 130W for the 950) and will allow you to overclock more because it'll generate less heat per clock.

It's like comparing the q6600 to the q9750 or whatever number the next gen quad ended up being, I'm too lazy to look it up. Basically if you already had a q6600, you didn't upgrade because it wasn't worth it. But if you were building a PC, you went for the newer technology.

[Stromgarde]

Hmm... I'll ask this then. Assuming I am going to build a computer in the future, would you say it would be worth it to wait a few extra months for the 860s? If I can get better overall performance out of the 860s, I might wait if would be worth it, but not if it'd only be of marginal benefit.

[mootsfox]

The 860/870 are quads, but on the LGA1156 platform.

Right now, i5 is a rip off (still not quite released, but MSRP is HIGH). An i7 920 and lower end X58 motherboard is the best price/performance if you don't want to overclock. If you want to do that (a lot of 920's do greater than 4.0GHz on air), you'll need a better motherboard.

And no, the i5 will NEVER be better clock for clock then the i7's on the LGA1366 platform. Ever. Time will tell if the i5 becomes better price/performance, but I doubt it will over the 920, which is the Q6600 of the LGA1366 era

Note: I may be slightly bias since I have an i7 920 and ASUS Rampage Gene, but it's still a great fucking system.

[Cephius]

Hmm... I'll ask this then. Assuming I am going to build a computer in the future, would you say it would be worth it to wait a few extra months for the 860s? If I can get better overall performance out of the 860s, I might wait if would be worth it, but not if it'd only be of marginal benefit.

Depends on if you like tinkering with overclocks and such, or if you just run at stock speeds. If you don't mess around with overclocking, there's not much point to waiting. If you do overclock, it'll be worth it cuz you'll get more bang for your buck.

[Bikpik]

Buy the Intel DX58SO Motherboard & Intel Core i7 920 Proce at TigerDirect.ca

Any opinions on this package?

[Olo401]

Pretty sure Intel-brand motherboard don't allow you anywhere near the BIOS functionality or overclocking ability of most other third-party mobos. Though they do allow you to do more than OEM (Dell, Gateway, etc.) for certain.

[Solefald]

i5 is due out in less than 2 weeks, the i5 750 which is dual core, and i5 850 and i5 870 are quad core. the quad cores should be equal or better than the i7 920, which is the slowest/cheapest i7 out now.

the radeon 5800 series is rumored to come out in september too.

[mootsfox]

Buy the Intel DX58SO Motherboard & Intel Core i7 920 Proce at TigerDirect.ca

Any opinions on this package?

The motherboard is shit and overpriced.

i5 is due out in less than 2 weeks, the i5 750 which is dual core, and i5 850 and i5 870 are quad core. the quad cores should be equal or better than the i7 920, which is the slowest/cheapest i7 out now.

the radeon 5800 series is rumored to come out in september too.

Clock for clock the 920 is faster. If you are against overclocking, the 870 will be faster, but it's more than TWICE the fucking cost of the 920. It's not a good deal. The 860 is more than the 920, and close to the same speed.

The 750 is a quad core but doesn't have HT.

The thing about CPUs is, assuming you want the best price/performance ratio, you buy the cheapest of a model line. For example, the 920 and 965 are $800 apart in cost, but have roughly the same ceiling for overclocking. There's no market for the 870, it's priced at the upper end, but on the lower end motherboard/chipset...

[SamanosukeShiva]

yeah im settling for 920 for now, way cheaper

[Solefald]

The motherboard is shit and overpriced.



Clock for clock the 920 is faster. If you are against overclocking, the 870 will be faster, but it's more than TWICE the fucking cost of the 920. It's not a good deal. The 860 is more than the 920, and close to the same speed.

The 750 is a quad core but doesn't have HT.

The thing about CPUs is, assuming you want the best price/performance ratio, you buy the cheapest of a model line. For example, the 920 and 965 are $800 apart in cost, but have roughly the same ceiling for overclocking. There's no market for the 870, it's priced at the upper end, but on the lower end motherboard/chipset...

Thanks for correcting me on the number of cores. The i7 860 (some sites call it 850) is rumored to be priced the same as the i7 920. The 860 will be faster though because of its higher clock speed. Comparing the two clock for clock is silly, even though a lot of hardware sites do it. Any real world analysis will have you comparing performance/dollar, or in some cases performance/kWh.

[mootsfox]

Thanks for correcting me on the number of cores. The i7 860 (some sites call it 850) is rumored to be priced the same as the i7 920. The 860 will be faster though because of its higher clock speed. Comparing the two clock for clock is silly, even though a lot of hardware sites do it. Any real world analysis will have you comparing performance/dollar, or in some cases performance/kWh.

I think comparing clock for clock is fair, since these chips overclock so easily.

I nabbed pics of an upcoming ASUS board if you're interested.

Spoiler: show

http://i29.tinypic.com/102lg8i.jpg

http://i30.tinypic.com/ao2gq9.jpg

[Arkanna]

HardOCP posted a performance preview for the soon-to-be-released Core i5 750. Since the performance of an i5 750 vs an i7 920 is, clock for clock, very similar, it basically comes down to two things: price and future upgradability.

Price: Not all that long ago, the Core i7 920 could be had for just over $200, which was an awesome price. That has changed a bit now, as the i7 920 is priced at $280 on Newegg (Newegg.com - Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops). The Core i5 750 is a quad-core CPU that sits in a smaller (pin-wise) socket than Core i7 and does not have Hyperthreading. Its expected price is around the $200 mark, similar to the Core i7 920 at its launch.

Future upgradability: Here is where the i5 may or may not lose some steam. It will reside in a new socket (LGA1156), whereas the Core i7 resides in socket LGA1366. Intel will, in the future, be developing 6- and 8-core CPU's that will more than likely reside in the LGA1366 socket. Depending on market demand, those new 6- and 8-core CPU's may or may not appear in an LGA1156 variation. Intel has traditionally kept their higher-end CPU's clearly divided from their mid- and lower-end CPU's by isolating them to different slots/sockets. Then again, Intel (as well as AMD) have been known to abandon sockets in favor of new sockets as features required, so all of this may not matter in the slightest by the time those 6- and 8-core CPU's come to market.

Personal opinion: Fuck the future, build for the here and now. If the $80 differential between the Core i7 920 and the Core i5 750 is significant to you, then get the i5 750. You would, however, get more than $80 worth by going with the i7 920, particularly if you are an overclocker. Bottom line, either one of them thumps the shit out of anything AMD can muster for the time being, so you win no matter which CPU you go with.

[Olo401]

I wanted to verify something I heard.. someone mentioned that 1156-based i7 processors would not be able to support DDR3 in tri-channel because of the scaling done to allow i3 and i5 onto the same socket. I don't believe it's true but I haven't found anything to the contrary yet.

Not all that long ago, the Core i7 920 could be had for just over $200,

umm wha? The i7 920 has never gone under $280 unless you bought it in person at a Micro-Center store, and even then it was like $255ish. Where are you getting this $220 figure?