Core 2 Quad or Core i7?

[madass]

I'm thinking of buying a core 2 quad Q8400 2.66 GHz. Is the USD 200 or so extra that you pay for an i7 920+X58 worth it? I'm talking about future proofing here-I wont upgradefor the next 5-6 years or so(except the GPU and maybe RAM).

 

[JPunisher]

Get the I7, encoding it owns everthing xD I7 is more "Future Proof" but will still be obselete in 2-3 years... Buy it later on in the year, prices are expected to plummet =D

 

[madass]

How about buying it in July? I can't delay any further-dad says so.

 

[Wisecracker]

Price the build - divide by 2.

Spend half the money on the best rig you may build and spend the other half in 2-3 years.

 

[Helloworld_98]

^ +1, especially since the 12 cores will be out then.

 

[mcnuggetofdeath]

If your only going to be gaming, Id go with a core 2 quad, specifically the Q6600. Assuming you can keep it cool, it will overclock higher b/c it has a 9x multi vs an 8x and a lower initial FSB, has twice the cache of the Q8400 (the main reason a Core 2 will beat an i7 in games, L2 vs L3 cache), etc. Get a good/cheap P45 with at least 1600 fsb letting you hopefully hit 3.6GHz. If your going to be doing editing, or hardcore multi-tasking, then go i7. Depends solely on your needs, and uses. Ive got a Core 2 Duo @ 4GHz that suits my needs perfectly. Wont need to upgrade for awhile as I mostly game and overclock. Like the above said, waiting for the generation after i7. I believe its codenamed "Sandy Bridge" but i could be wrong.

 

[JessieJ]

Get the I7, encoding it owns everthing xD I7 is more "Future Proof" but will still be obselete in 2-3 years... Buy it later on in the year, prices are expected to plummet =D

I don't know that I expect the prices to plummet. The Core i7 has a significant advantage to the 955 in terms of multi-threading - by a notable margin. and that's comparing the lowest end 920 to the highest AMD Phenom II 955 highest end. Until AMD comes up with a direct competitor on par with the 920 / or cuts it's prices / I don't see prices coming down that much on the Intel cpu. The Intel i7 has an advantage to the Phenom II 955 - and it's priced as such. Let's see what AMD can do to make inroads to the i7 processor platform.

 

[madass]

Thanks-going for i7 then

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Hold up. Those are just benchmarks, most don't reflect real world performance, and you won't use half the programs there.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/262084-28-discontinued

 

[madass]

Look at the Crysis benchmark-40 fps higher at USD 100 cheaper. At higher settings it shiuld give 5 fps or so higher....

 

[Helloworld_98]

well actually looking at those benchmarks, if you exclude crysis then the 955 is more efficient, it has half the threads that the i7 has and only has about 30% worse marks, so if you turned off HT on the i7 like some serious OC'ers do then you'd probably see the 955 pull ahead, even more so if you were comparing a C0 i7 920 oc'ed to the max via air and a 955 oc'ed to the max via air.

 

[notguru]

well actually looking at those benchmarks, if you exclude crysis then the 955 is more efficient, it has half the threads that the i7 has and only has about 30% worse marks, so if you turned off HT on the i7 like some serious OC'ers do then you'd probably see the 955 pull ahead, even more so if you were comparing a C0 i7 920 oc'ed to the max via air and a 955 oc'ed to the max via air.

what is HT? how do you turn it off?
i'm also stumbling with the question: quad or i7