I7 930 or i7 860? Help!

[Yukster]

The i7 930 (130w) clearly got the vote over the i7 920. I did some further research and i came across the i7 860 (95w) which is apparently newer and cooler! the 930 and the 860 re both similarly priced. So which one shall I get?

 

[saaiello]

If you plan on running crossfire or SLI go with the 930 if you plan on just running single card the get the 860.

 

[Overmind12812]

^+1

I recently was faced with the same decision. I went with the 860, as dual GPUs weren't going to be in my future. I know a lot of enthusiasts here prefer going x58, but unless you're absolutely in need of triple channel memory or multi-GPU configurations then you'll be just fine with the 860.

 

[Emperus]

May be you don't know that both are from different platforms.. The i7 930 is an LGA 1366 CPU which fits in a X58 chipset motherboard whereas the i7 860 is an LGA 1156 CPU which fits in a P55 chipset motherboard.. The X58 chipset configurations are generally more costlier as compared to a P55 config.. If you plan to employ a single graphic card rig then the P55 solution makes more sense.. But if you plan to do many CPU intensive tasks such as 3D modelling/rendering, video/audio transcoding and conversion etc..etc.., then a X58 platform is the way to go..

P.S. : The 130W and the 95W figures represent the TDP levels of the respective processors.. It doesn't relates to the temperature levels ( since you mentioned the word cooler ) ...

 

[Yukster]

Dogman_1234. Are you referring to the question regarding grahics? if so, I plan to use a single graphics card

 

[Yukster]

The other question to ponder perhaps is which mobo is better and more fture proff: the 1366 x58 mobo or the 1156 P55 mobo?

 

[saaiello]

Well considering Sandy Bridge is gonna be 1155 neither is future proof.

 

[Raidur]

If you plan on using 2 graphics cards in the future the 920/930 may suit you better if you get a 16x16x capable board.

This will be in the distant future however considering a 5970 will likely see less than a 10% decrease from an 8x slot.

Just know you'll pay up the a** for one.

 

[warmon6]

Nothing is future proff...now what Intel is doing. I would say they have too many variation CPU's in the market.

Well said.

About the closest thing really anyone should be saying to future proof is "long term".

 

[Yukster]

1366, of course.

I am refering to CPU's, not GPU's. What are you going to do on your computer?

I plan to do some vdeo editing, music ripping and run a few office apps

 

[saaiello]

Well for your needs go with whatever is cheaper to build which is the I7 860 IMO an I5 750 will suit your needs plenty and cost about $80 cheaper.

 

[saaiello]

+!^ I agree as well. If you are not going to game. ther i5 is PERFECT.

Even for gaming it still performs great.

 

[Yukster]

Does anybody know whether the i7 860 is newer or more advanced than the i7 930?

 

[basket687]

Does anybody know whether the i7 860 is newer or more advanced than the i7 930?

The i7 860 belongs to the Lynnfield series, whereas i7 930 is a Bloomfield. Lynnfield is newer than Bloomfield, but not necessarily more advanced. In fact Lynnfield can be viewed as a more mainstream version of the Nehalem architecture that drops in cheaper motherboards and consumes less power than Bloomfield.

Performance wise, both perform about the same with the 860 being faster in lightly threaded applications and the 930 being faster in memory bandwidth intensive situations.

Advantages of the i7 930:
-Higher memory bandwidth (due to the triple channel memory controller).
-Better performance with ultra high end graphics cards when used in SLI/Crossfire (somewhat theoretical advantage).

Advantages of the i7 860:
-Drops in cheaper motherboards.
-Higher turbo frequencies (higher performance in single and dual threaded applications).
-Lower power consumption.

So, all in all, you cannot go wrong with either but I think that the i7 860 is a better option unless you want to install to or more ultra high end graphics cards (such as 2 HD 5970s in CrossfireX).