Why is everyone buying i7?

almighty15 · 12 May 2009 at 17:55

I just dont see the attraction, a core 2 quad or dual with a nice overclock can more then hold there own with i7.

Ive been tempted to sell my system today but having sat down and thought about it to see any kind of difference i would have to go i7. But when running at 4Ghz already there's just not gonna be a performance difference between my current CPU and i7.

Whats the deal with it?

If you wanna upgrade then get a core 2 quad and nice motherboard that overclocks loverly and you'll be set

95thrifles · 12 May 2009 at 17:57

2 reasons
1) future upgradability, imo if youre buying a new system/tower theres little point saving £150 just to get a "dead" socket, especially when most i7 boards support crossfire and SLI too (the equivalent 775 isnt much cheaper) this is only my opinion tho
2) Everyone likes to have the latest shiniest thing

siumatfung · 12 May 2009 at 17:59

the design of the i7 is so spectacular it has 8threads not 4 like a core2quad therefore the performance overhaul is immense in comparison to a quadcore cpu

mjones1 · 12 May 2009 at 17:59

Because it's the best thing on the market.

reflux · 12 May 2009 at 18:00

Because i7 is faster. Sure, the Core 2s are great, great chips but they can't hold a candle to an i7 @ 4ghz, especially if you're running anything multithreaded.

In addition, as 95thrifles points out, prices are coming down so low now that investing a lot of cash in a s775 system is a waste of money really.

almighty15 · 12 May 2009 at 18:01

reflux said:
Because i7 is faster? Sure, the Core 2s are great, great chips but they can't hold a candle to an i7 @ 4ghz, especially if you're running anything multithreaded.

In addition, as 95thrifles points out, prices are coming down so low now that buying a new s775 system is a waste of money really.

You'll find a core 2 quad at 4.2Ghz+ will match it or wont be far behind it.

And they're even more of a watse of money when the 6 core chips are here in 12months

spitzoid · 12 May 2009 at 18:02

almighty15 said:
You'll find a core 2 quad at 4.2Ghz+ will match it or wont be far behind it.

It will be behind it though. i7>C2Q>C2D

reflux · 12 May 2009 at 18:03

almighty15 said:
You'll find a core 2 quad at 4.2Ghz+ will match it or wont be far behind it.

And they're even more of a watse of money when the 6 core chips are here in 12months

I don't know where you got that from. Benchies? Anyway, six core chips will suffer the same year or so of uselessness like quad cores did when barely any software supported them, so that's a moot point.

almighty15 · 12 May 2009 at 18:07

reflux said:
I don't know where you got that from. Benchies? Anyway, six core chips will suffer the same year or so of uselessness like quad cores did when barely any software supported them, so that's a moot point.

Dude i bet my E6420 at 4Ghz aint far behind your i7 in gaming and it cost me £60

reflux · 12 May 2009 at 18:09

almighty15 said:
Dude i bet my E6420 at 4Ghz aint far behind your i7 in gaming and it cost me £60

Wouldn't be surprised; unless you've been living in a box for the past 5 years you'll be aware that games these days are almost totally dependent on the GPU for any increase in performance. However, gaming is not all I use my PC for.

You just seem a bit bitter that there's nothing spectacular for you to spend your cash on. If you don't want to upgrade, don't. No-one's forcing you.

almighty15 · 12 May 2009 at 18:15

reflux said:
Wouldn't be surprised; unless you've been living in a box for the past 5 years you'll be aware that games these days are almost totally dependent on the GPU for any increase in performance. However, gaming is not all I use my PC for.

You just seem a bit bitter that there's nothing spectacular for you to spend your cash on. If you don't want to upgrade, don't. No-one's forcing you.

I could spend the cash but theres no point..

Analysis--Core i7 16% Faster Than Core

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-Core-i7-Nehalem,2057-11.html

Overclock a core 2 16% above i7 and its case has gone/.

Captain_Slick · 12 May 2009 at 18:17

But overclock an i7 to 4Ghz+...

reflux · 12 May 2009 at 18:20

Captain_Slick said:
But overclock an i7 to 4Ghz+...

Exactly. And then look at anything properly multithreaded in Tom's benchmarks, and you'll see a speed increase of 30%.

The i7 platform is very new and contains bleeding edge technology as well; sure, it's technology that you pay for but this gives you a degree of futureproofing in being able to run both CrossFire and SLi, and using DDR3 memory.

As programmers adapt to the new architecture, speed increases will only go up.

At the end of the day, i7 is kinda like a Ferrari. You don't need one, but if you want the best, that's what you go for.

CK61938 · 12 May 2009 at 18:25

reflux said:
Exactly. And then look at anything properly multithreaded in Tom's benchmarks, and you'll see a speed increase of 30%.

The i7 platform is very new and contains bleeding edge technology as well; sure, it's technology that you pay for but this gives you a degree of futureproofing in being able to run both CrossFire and SLi, and using DDR3 memory.

As programmers adapt to the new architecture, speed increases will only go up.

At the end of the day, i7 is kinda like a Ferrari. You don't need one, but if you want the best, that's what you go for.

have to say almighty, you have lost out on this one...reflux is spot on with what he has said...and as he previously stated, no one is forcing u to upgrade...but i7 is really taking over right now...if you want to stick with your E6420 for the next 3yrs, go for it, just dont come to us when it wont run certain apps that WILL require the likes of i7 as MINIMUM...cos that will happen and you know it...and no even at 4GHz your E6420 couldnt match an i7 at the same speed...

almighty15 · 12 May 2009 at 18:27

CK61938 said:
have to say almighty, you have lost out on this one...reflux is spot on with what he has said...and as he previously stated, no one is forcing u to upgrade...but i7 is really taking over right now...if you want to stick with your E6420 for the next 3yrs, go for it, just dont come to us when it wont run certain apps that WILL require the likes of i7 as MINIMUM...cos that will happen and you know it...and no even at 4GHz your E6420 couldnt match an i7 at the same speed...

Ii7 will be no good in 3yrs

I meen Intel are already talking about 6-8core CPU in the next few years so that gives i7 abit of a crappy lifespan

Glaucus · 12 May 2009 at 18:28

A core2qaud is almost the same price as a i7, significantly faster and much beer upgrade path.

It's only the mobo which costs more and that's because they are better anyway.

i7 cpu = £224.99
c2q = £192.04

i7 mobo = £164.99
c2q mobo = £143.74

DDR3 ram = £42.99 6GB
DDR2 = £34.99 4GB

for that why would you go c2q.
Unless you got a massively inferior mobo and one of the super cheap c2q cpus.

CK61938 · 12 May 2009 at 18:29

almighty15 said:
Ii7 will be no good in 3yrs

I meen Intel are already talking about 6-8core CPU in the next few years so that gives i7 abit of a crappy lifespan

Much like your E6420 has a crappy lifespan now you mean?

Captain_Slick · 12 May 2009 at 18:29

almighty15 said:
Ii7 will be no good in 3yrs

I meen Intel are already talking about 6-8core CPU in the next few years so that gives i7 abit of a crappy lifespan

And how long has Core 2 been around? Exactly. It's just the way things are.

almighty15 · 12 May 2009 at 18:30

AcidHell2 said:
A core2qaud is almost the same price as a i7, significantly faster and much beer upgrade path.

It's only the mobo which costs more and that's because they are better anyway.

could have swore ive seen quads for £160

Captain_Slick · 12 May 2009 at 18:32

Yeah, dunno what AcidHell2 is on about. Core i7 is more expensive... but it's worth the expense. And it's getting cheaper all the time.

Plus, the money you save buying 775 now is lost as soon as you buy it. It's a dead socket.