i7 860 (2.8) or i7 920 (2.66)

[chr15_UK]

Hello

It has come to that time when I have decided to treat myself to an upgrade

Pretty much decided (I think unless you all disagree) to go with an i7, but the whole 2 socket versions is making me very undecided which.

Either i7 920 (2.66) that uses a socket 1136

or i7 860 that uses a socket 1156

Any comments would be very appreciated

Chris

 

[dangerstat]

920 would be my choice.

 

[rick fowler]

depends on your needs,what you using your pc for would be helpfull to us all,if its multi tasking heavy video editing then a 920 will be the one but on the other hand if its just gaming then the 860 is the chip to have for that.its on par with the 920 and sometime if not all the time outperforms the 920 for gaming and still has HT for video editing ect if needed but just a tad slower.

 

[cmndr_andi]

For i7, I would pick 920 if you want to overclock, 860 if you don't.

Both rigs cost about the same when CPU and Mobo prices are considered. Both happily accept dual channel DDR3 RAM, but the 920 rig can also do triple channel (which is better, but does not yield much extra real-world performance).

The 860 is slightly faster at stock, but when overclocked both chips can run equally fast and the 920's X58 chipset is better to overclock with. Also, the X58 has more PCI-E lanes - so it runs multi-GPU setups better. However, the 920 is a more power hungry chip - so if that is of concern to you then the 860 is the best choice.

As there is no cost difference between them, I would therefore pick the 920 system over the 860.


But if you just want to play games, get the i5. It is almost as fast as an i7 in games and is much cheaper, runs cooler, uses less power and overclocks well.

 

[McstylisT]

Hi mate ,

Whats your main usages for this. ??

The main difference between the two now is the 1366 uses triple channel memory with most boards offer upto 6 ram slots. Also you get dual x16 x16 corssfire or SLI options. So for a gamer it may swing towards the 1366.

However thats not to say the 1156 does not offer. Far from it. The whole build could cost a bit less than a 1366 would. This will run only dual channel , with 4 ram slots. Due to the high bandwidth of DDR3 many claim its all that is needed. The i7 860 @2.8ghz is stock quicker than the 17 920 for around the same price. They clock around the same though.

Either is excellent platforms in my book. You wont go wrong with either , but the more you can say about your usages and aims the more we might be able to help pick the very best option for you.

McT

 

[chr15_UK]

Hello
Thanks for the Quick replies
As for usage, I am not a big gamer maybe have the odd dabble but nothing serious.
Mainly I use it for web design work, a bit of vid editing (again nothing serious).

I do like a lot of widows open at the same time, flicking between things , accounts prog , photoshop, browser, email etc etc

I Normally build a new box every so often , last one was on the release of vista, when I bought ultimate. So basicly want a nice quick machine that will not date too quickly

Hope this helps

Chris

 

[McstylisT]

I honestly think either would be perfect. Since you do stuff like photoshop and lots of multi tasking just make sure you have lots of ram. You can easily grab 6GB or even 12GB on the 1366 ( although pricey ) or you can get 8GB memory on the 1156. Both would be more than enough. Turn off page files too.

I already have my system , but if i were in your shoes then i would go with the cheaper option. Due to the fact they are both quality high end systems and your not loosing out in any way.

Best of luck

McT

 

[Daegan]

You have to overclock the i7-920 to make it worthwhile, otherwise the higher stock speed and turbo mode on the i7-860 will give it the edge. Everything else is irrelevant.

 

[MumboJumbo]

if hes doing nothing heavy wouldn;t a i5 be more appropreate? Hes not going to miss the HT if hes not doing anything heavy and its substantialy cheaper.

 

[fizzle-187]

860 all the way!

 

[DavieJG]

+1 for the i5, it offers best bang for buck for mid-high end systems.

 

[jbloggs]

I chose the 860 (95W TDP) over the 920 (130W TDP) because of the extra heat produced by the 920 with an o/c...didn't need the extra PCI-e lanes of the X58.

 

[mogwai]

I am trying to make the same choice at the moment. Would I gain anything by going for the 920 to get the extra PCI Lanes as I would only every have a single gpu?

 

[Hotwired]

I am trying to make the same choice at the moment. Would I gain anything by going for the 920 to get the extra PCI Lanes as I would only every have a single gpu?

No, single GPU is just as fast on 1156 as 1366.

It's only when two cards are in that you see the difference.