HELP: i7 920 vs i7 860 vs i5 750

[n1ck3rs0n]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001157%2040000343&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16819115215%2CN82E16819115214%2CN82E16819115202

Not sure which to go with yet.

i5 750:
The i5 750 ($190.00) is a bit cheaper than the i7 920 and i7 860 (both $230.00). The i5 has same processing speed as the i7 920 (2.66ghz x4) but doesn't support hyper-threading. It also uses the LGA 1156 socket, which has cheaper motherboards. Can easily save $100.00 between the processor and motherboard.

i7 920:
I've known of this one for a while, and have heard nothing but the very best. Though I hear the i5 750's performance is nearly as good if not the same, and it costs a bit less. A key benefit over the i5 750 is that it supports hyper-threading. It uses the LGA 1366 socket which usually has pricier motherboards.

i7 860:
I just heard of this a short while ago. At the same price as the i7 920, it seem like it may be a better option. It has higher processing speed with 2.8ghz x4 vs the i7 920 and i5 750's 2.66ghz. Like the i5 750 it uses the LGA 1156 socket which should mean cheaper motherboards.

 

[welshmousepk]

what do you plan on doing with it?

for Gaming, the LGA1156 processors are better, for encoding and rendering tasks, the 920 would be a better choice.

the i7 860 is the best gaming processor you can get right now, and its followed closely by the i5 750.

 

[warmon6]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2%2050001157%2040000343&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16819115215%2CN82E16819115214%2CN82E16819115202

Not sure which to go with yet.

i5 750:
The i5 750 ($190.00) is a bit cheaper than the i7 920 and i7 860 (both $230.00). The i5 has same processing speed as the i7 920 (2.66ghz x4) but doesn't support hyper-threading. It also uses the LGA 1156 socket, which has cheaper motherboards. Can easily save $100.00 between the processor and motherboard.

i7 920:
I've known of this one for a while, and have heard nothing but the very best. Though I hear the i5 750's performance is nearly as good if not the same, and it costs a bit less. A key benefit over the i5 750 is that it supports hyper-threading. It uses the LGA 1366 socket which usually has pricier motherboards.

i7 860:
I just heard of this a short while ago. At the same price as the i7 920, it seem like it may be a better option. It has higher processing speed with 2.8ghz x4 vs the i7 920 and i5 750's 2.66ghz. Like the i5 750 it uses the LGA 1156 socket which should mean cheaper motherboards.

Well what are you going to be using the computer for?

If your just web surfing, even the core i5 is more than you need.

Gaming, core i5 will be the best because games wont use the HT the i7's.

For rendering or using C.A.D. Core i7 920 will be better as the X58 platform has triple channel memory.

For video editing, core i7 860 will be better as it has a higher stock speed.

 

[warmon6]

what do you plan on doing with it?

for Gaming, the LGA1156 processors are better, for encoding and rendering tasks, the 920 would be a better choice.

the i7 860 is the best gaming processor you can get right now, and its followed closely by the i5 750.

There hardly a difference between core i5 750 and core i7 860 in gaming 😉

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/default.aspx?p=109&p2=108

 

[welshmousepk]

hence why i said 'closely followed by' 😉

i think its worth the extra cash though for the boost HT gives to non-gaming tasks. and the 860 increased overclocking headroom.

 

[chickenlimbo]

I've actually been struggling with the same question...Do people have any ideas about whether games in the next few years will benefit from HT?

 

[Nowa]

I've actually been struggling with the same question...Do people have any ideas about whether games in the next few years will benefit from HT?

I'd say you can mostly ignore any benefits HT might or might not give you during the next few years.. even now most of the games don't know what to do with multiple cores. So I would be waiting for games to start utilize those 4 cores first. Still if any near-future game would utilize the HT technology the benefits would propably be negligible as the quad cores already pack a lot of computing power... I'd rather spend that extra money for better graphic card to see any tangible increases in game performance.
My recommendation would also be the i5-750.

 

[wyspyr]

I'm about to upgrade myself and chose the i5 750 as well. I've read that hyper threading can in fact decrease performance in some multitasking areas or adds a minimal benefit at best. The i5 750 for me provides the best match between price and performance. That being said, if cost is no issue, go i7 920...its just plain better

 

[welshmousepk]

games will never benefit from HT.

the way it works is totally superfluous when it comes to those sorts of tasks.

calling the i7 920 'better' is also incorrect.

when it comes to gaming, it is behind both the 860 and the i5 750. since their on die PCIe and DDR controllers help them in that area.

the 920 is better at work related tasks, like encoding and compressing, but not at gaming.

but yes, if you only care about gaming performance, dont bother with the 860. the 750 is pretty much the same processor sans the HT. and as i said, HT is useless in gaming.

 

[optojay]

I am researching the same question - the 750 vs 860 vs 920.

The only reason I'm upgrading is because I want a less sluggish computer for dealing with HD video from my camcorder. The AVCHD codec and encoding/rendering raw video with Sony Vegas requires huge processing capability.

I'm leaning towards the 860 because of the higher clock speed with turbo boost as well as the on die PCIe slot (if vegas even utilizes the GFX card for processing, I don't know?).

But if I was doing high end gaming, I would just get the 750 and save a few bucks.

Anyone disagree with this thinking?

 

[lilotimz]

anything dealing with videos and coding falls within the i7-920 imo. Even though the 860 has a higher clock speed, its neglected by fairly easy overclocks while the extra memory bandwith offered by tripple channel memory will also speed things up.

My thinking is a pure gaming built under $1000 is for an i5 while a multitasking type of computer that does coding etc and movies + a good amount of gaming an 860 will do great for.

But for pure out multimedia monstering (think a buff arnold and then average ripped person)
thats just how similar these things are but for plain multitasking + harrdcore gaming, the i7920 has bigger bennefits ever so slight but still there.
I'd only go for that if you got a budget above $1200

 

[welshmousepk]

agree with lolotimz.

the LGA1156 architecture is superior for gaming, but anything else will likely be better handled by a 920. the extra clockspeed is superfluous since OCing to that clockspeed is a cinch. its only the on-die PCIe and DDR controllers that push the 750 and 860 beyond the 920 in gaming, but for pure calculations the 920 wins out.

 

[Nowa]

I don't really agree with lilotimz and welshmousepk. In my opinion the 920 is geared more towards high end gaming while using multiple powerful graphic cards. While it is true that the triple channel memory can boost the performance this really hasn't translated well into many of the review benchmarks. The higher clocks on the 860 and the better turboboost give it an edge against 920 in many programs, albeit a small one. Of course overclocking can change the scales here.


All in all the processors are performance wise quite identical. The 860 with the P55 motherboards can be had for a bit cheaper than it's 920 brother since the X58 MBs are a bit expensive. The thing I like about the LGA 1156 architechture when compared to LGA 1366 is that the 1156 platforms are more power efficient. That's mostly the reason I'd go for the i7-860. Unless you are doing some professional video encoding etc