Is The i7 Really Worth It Just Now?

[Ninja Please!]

I was faced with this dilema 6 or 7 months back.

From what i can see hardware manufactures innovate and software companies figure out how to fully utilise these innovations quite a long time after when these innovations become more mainstream (ie affordable for the masses). Indeed why would they develop apps for something that only a relatively small proportion of computer users actually own.

My conclusion was yes the I7 is "better", but there would be relatively few applications out there to exlpoit it. I decided that by the time I7 became viable for me in terms of actual usable increased performance, i'd be about ready to build an new system anyway (hopefully at a much lower cost)

However that was a while ago I'd be interested to see how many apps (particularly games) actually utilise the potential of I7 at the moment. I guess once you know this you'd be able to judge whether or not what you do would be enhance by I7.

It's a difficult call as the only way of knowing for sure is to buy one and use it.

I don't know about that. There are plenty of apps that were not designed with the "whole world has a terrible pc" attitude in mind. What you said may hold true in gaming but we are already seeing an increase in games utilizing multiple cores and certain games are heavily cpu dependant.

 

[OLDPHART]

Originally Posted by Casdawer
Go for the AMD Phenom II 955!

AMD Phenom II 955 nice to see AMD on the ball again, just read a review in Guru3D yes it beat's the i7 940 in game’s but only just nothing really to shout about but still it’s a cracking CPU. i7 940 beats it in most other tests and YES AMD CPU + MOBO’S is cheaper which is a good selling point. I went from AMD too Intel because at the time Intel was better, my PC (SEE SIG) was better value for money and performance and was not disappointed at all with the outcome. I will be building another PC next year and it will have to last me a very long time, due to being retired from work and it will be my only chance of building a very high end machine so whoever is top dog will get my cash. My gut feelings tell me it will still be Intel, but you defiantly can’t knock AMD still a cracking set up!

 

[Big.Wayne]

The problem is people are thinking the posts they read on specialised technical forums are in some way representative of the whole world when in reality we are years and years ahead of the mainstream!

Professional software will nearly always be coded to take advantage of new hardware, were talking about £600 to £3000 grand software here, nice big chunks of money to help the coders sit down and work things out.

Who actually knows what hardware a *mainstream* computer is using, as mentioned above it would be unwise to build up a picture from other users on these forums and instead look elsewhere . . . .

According to a recent survey on Steam . . . A typical Steam Gamer is using an Intel Dual-Core running at 2.3GHz>2.6GHz with 2GB of system memory, a 512MB nVidia 8800GT running games under Windows XP 32 bit at 1280 x 1024 with 4x AA

Interestingly Quad-Core users made up just 14.75% compared to Dual-Core users at 56.15%

 

[Sayso]

when will people realise I7 isn't a gaming platform! ```

 

[thevet]

it was worth it for me as i came from a pentium p4...the reason why i kept my p4 for so long was because all i played was Battlefieid 2 amassing over 2200hrs...however i do not play bf2 anymore and i wanted to play games like farcry 2,bioshock etc so i bought the best there was which was an I7....it all depends on what you want to use your pc for and what pc that you currently have

 

[littlepuppy]

I want one but speaking to a lecturer in work today changed my mind.

What are your views?

What do they know!

 

[easyrider]

Sold my Q6600 for £105 and bought an i7 in MM for £145

Thats 40 quid spent.


Sold my main mobo for £75 and and older 965 mobo I had about for 37.50 and and will be buying a Asus P6T for £ 160

So total outlay for chip and mobo is £87.50

Now I need some ram,but with DDR3 dropping in price I can get a 6GB kit for around £60

So total upgrade to i7 for me £147.50

Now I don't need to even drain my waterloop,get a new block or anything as the P6T supports s775 coolers.

So is i7 worth it for me ?

Yes

Just had to get off my arse and sell some old kit and be without a PC for a few days.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Sold my Q6600 for £105 and bought an i7 in MM for £145

Thats 40 quid spent.

Haha welcome back, your like a scratched record, also your maths is still quite bad as you omitted the postage cost for sending your Q6600 out! (or do you get free delivery with royal mail due to have a playboy home-cinema).

Hehe nice, I saw your glee in members market when you snagged a used OEM CO i7 for £150

Lets see how good your water cooling is!

 

[easyrider]

Haha welcome back, your like a scratched record, also your maths is still quite bad as you omitted the postage cost for sending your Q6600 out! (or do you get free delivery with royal mail due to have a playboy home-cinema).

Hehe nice, I saw your glee in members market when you snagged a used OEM CO i7 for £150

Lets see how good your water cooling is!

I get free postage with work...

And I snagged the i7 for 145inc.

Oh and thanks for the compliments about my Home cinema.

Glad you like it.

 

[Big.Wayne]

I get free postage with work...

Hehe!

Yup the Home cinema was your finest work to date, very nice work!

So back on topic . . . .

Is The i7 Really Worth It Just Now?

 

[user1453]

I would posit that I7 is worthwile to get if you requre an upgrade to upgrade both the motherpoard and processor (eg upgrading from a s939 system) and want a system that can be used for multitasking and is reasonable future proof, aswell as giving you the choice of crossfire or SLi

 

[easyrider]

Hehe!

Yup the Home cinema was your finest work to date, very nice work!

So back on topic . . . .

Is The i7 Really Worth It Just Now?

TBH its only the mobo's that are expensive.

The 920 chip is no more expensive than the Q9550 in reality given the extra performance.

DDR3 is now cheap

So I feel an upgrade to i7 is worth it now.

Price up Wayne What a top end Quad would be on s775 top end mobo and 4GB or 8GB of DD2

It won't come in that much cheaper.

Especially as its becoming dead tech.

OK my Q6600 was doing everything just fine,But thats not the point. I got rid when I felt the time was right and upgraded to i7 for little more than a mid to high end GFX card.

 

[james.miller]

no, i dont think its worth it. but then again, i still cant justify a quad

Being serious for a second, i7's are monster monster encoders but when was the last time i encoded? erm....err..... its been a couple of years at least. im not in the game for willy waving really, just value for money.


i7 isnt it. cheapest i7 on ocuk is £225, i cant see how thats cheap at all.

 

[Richdog]

For a gaming CPU over a C2 Quad with a modern GPU then no it's not worth it in the slightest unless 3fps is REALLY important to you... many official tests have proved this. Upgrading from something older... then hell yes.

 

[easyrider]

S775


Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.83GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor - Retail £199.99

Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard Asus P5E Deluxe Intel X48 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £154.99

Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5) Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 TwinX Dual Channel (TWIN2X4096-8500C5)
£55.99

VAT and Shipping

Total : £421.89


I7


Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail £225.99

Asus P6T SE Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard Asus P6T SE Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard £159.99

OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) OCZ Gold 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Low-Voltage Triple Channel (OCZ3G1333LV6GK) £62.99


Vat and shipping

Total : £459.89


As one can see the difference is minimal

 

[Richdog]

Obviously I meant if you already have a C2 Quad, which he has.

If I were him i'd OC the nuts off of that CPU and get an ATI 4890 or GTX 280/285.

I just upgraded from a q6600 to a i7 2 weeks ago. I havent seen much of a performance increase yet but i still think
its worth it and glad i have done now.

You haven't seen any performance increase et it's worth it... blinding logic.

EDIT - Basically what a gazillion people above said, now i've bothered to read the thread properly.

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

I like new toys and seems stupid to upgrade and get a socket thats pretty much dead so ya i def think its worth it. It costs hardly anymore than a decent quad core 775 set up.

 

[Big.Wayne]

TBH its only the mobo's that are expensive

It's relative mate!

You've never been shy to spend £200 on a motherboard or £350 on a CPU but for myself and a fair whack of others thats silly money, their is no right or wrong and all viewpoints are valid . . . even if they appear a bit funny to others!

my Q6600 was doing everything just fine,But thats not the point.

Easy, we understand your point, it's loud and clear and very very predictable, look forward to some results . . .

"Straight in at 4.2GHz!" or something like that I believe!

i7's are monster monster encoders but when was the last time i encoded? erm....err..... its been a couple of years at least

I used to think that but please correct me if I'm wrong but don't GPU's encode and transcode stuff now loads faster than any processor?

 

[Big.Wayne]

S775
Total : £421.89

I7
Total : £459.89

As one can see the difference is minimal

S775

ASUS P5Q-E used £90

Intel E8400 used £100

DDR2 memory (owned for years) £0.00

Total : £190

Now please explain why I should spend an extra £270

I feel eShrivel setting in when in reality I have an elite system in the top few percent of the worlds best!

Maybe I should spend the money to restore my full girth!

 

[studiothree]

Thanks for all the posts, keep going, I'm enjoying all the comments. It's a great debate haha