CPU Buyer's Guide 2.0

[smithereen]

Will be upgraded to reflect new releases next weekend!

Edit 1. Added TOC. Removed Core i5 750 from recommended CPUs until the dust clears.
Edit 2. Added appendix recommending LGA-775 and AM2 CPUs.
Edit 3. Recommended Core i3 530, recommended against Clarkdale Core i5s
Edit 4. Recommended 1055T and 1090T, reduced recommendation on i5 750 and i7
Edit 5. Minors changes. Reduced warnings against Socket 1156.
Edit 6. Minor changes, recommended i5 760, clarified i7 recomendations.
May be upgraded again soon to reflect any pricedrops, OCing or reliability results, etc.
Much of this is shamelessly pirated from Turpit's thread.

Credit goes to caamsa, chiadog, endyen, DirtyDrummer, grieve, navvara, Shadow703793, uguv, and Spitfire_x86 for contributing to past versions as well.

This is a very early edition, this will be updated when I have time. No promises for a timeline, though.

Table of Contents
1. Intro

2. Notes
2.0 Getting Help from the Forums and A Note on So-Called Fanboysim
2.1 A Note on Software

3. Multithreading

4. Performance and Value

5. Recommendations
5.0 Intel Sockets
5.1 AMD Sockets.
5.2 CPUs to Avoid
5.3 Recommended CPUs.

Appendix A: Dictionary of CPU Terms
Appendix B: Recommendations for Obsolete Sockets.

Don't forget to run Folding@home on your shiny new CPU! Tom's Hardware Guide is Team 40051.

 

[brutalspoon]

People on here seem to think it's crazy but I'm planning to build a Mini-ITX gaming rig - thread link here. I've done some research though and it should be possible with those specs (although I may have to reverse the GPU fan and splash out to get the gruntier PSU).

 

[qwertinator]

For all benchmarks I've seen in terms of gaming, i5 has performed on an equal level to that of the i7 860. I think it's a bit misleading to claim that i7 860 is 'exceptional' for gaming, while i5 is only 'good'.

Am I wrong?

Edit: Made a mistake, it specifically reads 920 is exceptional for gaming.

 

[EXT64]

It does have a slightly faster stock clock and a little better turbo, but as hyperthreading doesn't help in most games the increase is not large (and not worth the price difference, in my opinion) so I agree with you.

 

[smithereen]

Updated to reflect December prices. Phenom II and Core i5 more strongly recommended

 

[margaret_21]

I am having trouble disentangling the processor information. For four laptops I have under consideration, the options for each are listed as:

1) AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology Processor ZM82/ZM80/RM70;
2) Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9400/P8600/P8400/P7350/T6600/T6400/T5900/T5800 : 2.53 GHz - 2 GHz,

3)Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8700/P8600/T6600/T5900/T5870 : 2.53 GHz - 2.0 GHz,
Intel® Pentium® Dual Core Processor T4300 : 2.1 GHz
Intel® Celeron® Processor T3100/ T3000 : 1.9 GHz - 1.8 GHz,

4)Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9600/P8800/P7550/T6600/T5900 : 2.8 GHz - 2.2 GHz,


None of them have the i7 designation or any of the designations listed in your guide. Can you help?

Thanks,

Margaret

 

[EXT64]

That is because those are Core 2 Duo chips (and others, but the Core 2's are the best of those), which are still excellent, especially for laptops.

 

[panamaniacs]

this is exelent. tanx for this guide it helped me alot!!!

 

[Newb888]

Is there any point in comparing Windows Experience Index Scores between CPUs? Personally, I am having a tough time deciding going with a 1366 chipset or 1155. In particular, the i7 860, 920 and i5 750.
I'm not looking for a gaming rig but one that kicks butt in terms of hyperthreading and video editing.

 

[paulanderson1548]

Nice Post !

Yes this is excellent. I WILL fit in to this guide in a some way ...

 

[phrostbyte]

Is there any point in comparing Windows Experience Index Scores between CPUs? Personally, I am having a tough time deciding going with a 1366 chipset or 1155. In particular, the i7 860, 920 and i5 750.
I'm not looking for a gaming rig but one that kicks butt in terms of hyperthreading and video editing.

Is this for a business or something that is going to be used for that all the time?
if thats the case and the extra investment is not a huge deal go 1366 and get the i7. It's the higher platform and will have higher upgrade options down the road.

If your looking to save some money or not use all the time for video editing. I have an asus P7P55D e-pro Motherboard and an i5 750 overcloked to 3.8ghz 4gbddr3 1333 ram and it works great! I can convert a 2hr 33 min avi to dvd format in 45mins!! Encodes video at 380 - 400+ fps

 

[Newb888]

Is this for a business or something that is going to be used for that all the time?
if thats the case and the extra investment is not a huge deal go 1366 and get the i7. It's the higher platform and will have higher upgrade options down the road.

If your looking to save some money or not use all the time for video editing. I have an asus P7P55D e-pro Motherboard and an i5 750 overcloked to 3.8ghz 4gbddr3 1333 ram and it works great! I can convert a 2hr 33 min avi to dvd format in 45mins!! Encodes video at 380 - 400+ fps

It's for home use. But I do want to do video editing. I like the hyperthreading feature in the i7 860 or i7 920.

I'm done with overclocking. Whatever CPU i get, i'll be running at stock speeds. I dont need the hassle to find decent ram and dealing with voltage issues or getting frustrated when my system starts corrupting files or locking up. All those annoyances that OCing can bring.

 

[smithereen]

If you can afford it, I'd go with the 920.

 

[qace11]

920 for sure, it's only 10 extra dollars right now.

 

[cleondann]

Hello , i m new user. I have actually not a forum addicted but really this a good place to watch and acquire knowledge. I have a more than a 3 year older PC. It's AMD semphron. 1.8 ghz. I m facing some problems during playing games. what should i have to do? Change the processor or there is any other cheaper solution.

 

[qace11]

cleondann::

probably going to need new ram too, plus new games need direct x11, so upgrade would be nice but i would save some money and build a new pc.

 

[duppster]

Well, this is just great! First off, very nice thread. Second, too bad I didn't find it before pulling the trigger on my new DAW build.

I spent a over month researching during the holidays. Trying to decide between 1156/860 or 1366/920 for a new build. I received several responses here on Tom's that LGA 1156 would be more likely to stick around than 1366... and, saw numerous reports that the P55/1156 platform was actually benching higher in many cases than it's predecessor x58/1366. My biggest desire was to build a top notch system that would be as... "future proofed"... as possible!!

Sooooo anyway, yesterday I put together my new P55/1156 build. I just installed Win 7 this morning... haven't even loaded any programs yet... and, suddenly I find this thread saying LGA 1366 is more likely to stick around... that 1156's future is questionable!!!

Great!! It's such a nice feeling to have over a months research and decision making... get crashed in one swoop... the very moment I put it together!

I'm sure I'll love my new system, but I was hoping not to have to purchase a new MB for the next several years!

I guess this is just proof that you can't always win em all!

Any comments to ease the rub?

Thanks.

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W [stock cooler]
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
(2) WD Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
BFG Tech BFGR79512GTOCE GeForce 7900GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Video Card - Retail (too loud - going to replace)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
LIAN LI K60B Black CECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
LITE-ON Black 24X DVD Writer Black SATA Model iHAS-324-98 - Retail
CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

[smithereen]

Nice build. Certainly puts the audio editing side of my machine to shame. What sound card do you use?

Remember, we don't know that Socket 1156 will be retired soon, we just know Socket 1366 won't be. Basically, don't sweat it - you're machine is powerful, and if you need more juice, just overclock a little.

What do you do with your machine? Just edit, or record, or synthesize?

 

[duppster]

Hi. Does the 860 lend itself to OC as well as the 920?

I currently have a little Mackie board [Onyx 820i] w/ 1394 as an AI.
http://www.mackie.com/products/onyx820i/

[Also have a CL Audigy Platinum eX in another [older] system]

I mostly record, edit, transcode and do media burns.

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD4P; Core i7-860; G.SKILL Ripjaws 4GB; WD Caviar Blacks 640GB; GeForce 7900GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3; Win7 Home Premium 64-bit; LIAN LI K60B;
LITE-ON iHAS-324-98 [NEC]; LITE-ON iHAS-324-09 [MEDIATEK]; CORSAIR CMPSU-450VX 450W

 

[smithereen]

I believe it does, yes.

 

[Proximon]

I hate it when it gets to the end of a page and then won't disappear from my thread box.

 

[ronyy]

Hey everyone, i want a powerful pc mostly used for rendering and 3D graphics i use many softwares like "Maya, 3ds MAX, After Effects, Photoshop..." can anyone help me choose the right graphics card, CPU, RAM.... I was thinking about the NVIDIA 9800 GTX and an i7 920 but i was told that the core 2 quad 9550 is better and its cache is 12m which is better than the i7's 8m..

Thank you in advance

 

[smithereen]

I would not buy the Q9550. The i7 920 has the most powerful CPU architecture on the planet, and OCs about as high as any other quad core. For your needs, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[bhagat666]

is there much difference between the i7 920 nd 850

 

[smithereen]

None, except the 920 uses more expensive motherboards, triple-channel memory, supports 16X-16X SLi and Crossfire, and will definitely get hexacores.

 

[bhagat666]

k thnx fr the info