different types of i7's

[gamerdude1989]

ok guys

why are there so many different types of i7 cpu's??

i7 2600k, i7 960 etc etc etc. all for different sockets...

why cant intel be like AMD, keep the family grouped.. AM2, AM3, AM3+ etc....
where AM3+ is backwards compatible with AM3 etc...

and with the i7's, they vary quite a lot in price... you can pay anything upto £700 for an i7 sandy bridge.. when you can pick up the 2600k for a quarter of the price.

is there much difference between them all?

 

[Surveyor]

Intel will do what Intel will do.

And you won't pay up to £700 for an i7 Sandy Bridge (S1155).

The i7-2600K is currently the most expensive Sandy Bridge processor at around £260.

A £700 i7 processor would be a 6 core Gulftown for S1366.

You've proved your own point by confusing the different i7's.

 

[gamerdude1989]

Intel will do what Intel will do.

And you won't pay up to £700 for an i7 Sandy Bridge (S1155).

The i7-2600K is currently the most expensive Sandy Bridge processor at around £260.

A £700 i7 processor would be a 6 core Gulftown for S1366.

You've proved your own point by confusing the different i7's.

nah i didnt mean i7 S1155 is £700 quid.
Sorry, maybe i worded things wrong.

I just generally wondered why there are different i7 cpu's at different prices. arent they all just as good as eachother?

 

[Martini1991]

No they're not as good as each other lol.

 

[Wiry]

surely if you have an i5 sandy bridge you have some knowledge of other socket motherboards? lol

 

[Republic]

I completely understand what the OP is saying.

 

[mickyflinn]

What you should be looking for is the sweet spot when buying any components,

Price/Performance ratio

 

[GoogalyMoogaly]

What you should be looking for is the sweet spot when buying any components,

Price/Performance ratio

Why?

 

[TheVoice]

I completely understand what the OP is saying.

So do I. Without having looked into it properly, I really have no idea there seems to be two distinctly separate lines of Core i7s. Obviously there are differences, I just haven't looked into what they are and what the differences mean for actual performance.

 

[ThePengu1n]

Why?

So you have more money left for beer and curry

 

[cmndr_andi]

To be clear, the way Intel differentiate between their i7 (or i5 and i3) chips from different generations is by the numbers. It may not be too intutitive - but if you want intuitive buy an apple.

Here are the i7s, ordered by core codename

- Lynnfield - i7 800 series (i7 860, 870) - LGA 1156, Quad core Nahalem Microarchitecture, 45nm process
- Bloomfield (i7 920, 930, 940, 950, 960, 965X 975X) - LGA 1366, Quad Core, Nahalem Microarchitecture, 45nm process
- Gulftown (i7 970, 980, 980X, 990X) - LGA 1366, Hex Core, Westmere Microarchitecture, 32nm process
- Sandy Bridge (i7 2600, 2600K, 2700K) - LGA 1155, Quad core, Sandy Bridge Microarchitecture, 32nm process

Gulftown may be a hex core and still costs the most, but it is using an older design so in most tasks a Sandy Bridge i7 (like the i7 2600K) will beat it.

As for determining what is what, the older nahalem/westmere based i7s use three digit model numbers and sandy bridge S1155 chips use four digit model numbers starting with a "2". Sandy Bridge-E the new LGA 2011 chips coming out soon (in quad and hex core configurations) will use four digit model numbers starting with a "3". New "Ivy Bridge" chips (including i7s presumably) will be arriving into next year, i'm not sure what their code numbers will be. but at a guess they will be four digits and start with a "4".

 

[matt100]

its really no better than AMD X2, Intel P4, Core, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad etc etc.. the names are for marketing purposes but having even a passing interest in building PCs should provide you with at least the resources to tell whats what even if you choose not to read it.

In fact 5870, 5890, 9800GTX, 9800GTX+, 8800GTX, 8800GT, 9800 pro, 9800 XT etc etc etc, they're all at it.. in fact Asus P5B, P5B delux.. argh!

Basically mfrs do things to make things sound better, like with cars, stick GTi on it and it must be good right?

No point complaining, just read!