i7 920 or Intel Quad Q9550

kishan666 · 26 May 2009 at 23:20

Hi guys i cant seem to decide if it is justifiable to buy an i7 setup rather than quad eventhough i will be doing no gaming, only hd movies ect...
Also im looking to build the i7 for around 700-800 gbp so if anyone could create a spec i would appreciate it..

Thanks a lot

FaceplantSi · 26 May 2009 at 23:24

If you are buying new then i7 is the way to go - there's really no point getting a skt775 setup if you can afford i7 atm.

Meaker · 26 May 2009 at 23:26

Go with a phenom II setup. It will be cheaper and get a motherboard with onboard 790GX graphics that will give you a nice digital output.

cmndr_andi · 26 May 2009 at 23:29

Is it just playing HD movies or will you be doing more intensive tasks like: video/audio/image editing, video transcoding, photoshop, CAD, folding@home, music making or finite element anaysis?

Also, do you need an operating system?

kishan666 · 26 May 2009 at 23:29

i was looking for intel though... no any perticular reason but just what i decided on

Meaker · 26 May 2009 at 23:29

Why when AMD is going to be cheaper and better onboard solutions?

kishan666 · 26 May 2009 at 23:33

cmndr_andi said:
Is it just playing HD movies or will you be doing more intensive tasks like: video/audio/image editing, video transcoding, photoshop, CAD, folding@home, music making or finite element anaysis?

Also, do you need an operating system?

yes will be doing a lot of video editing and photoshop but that is as far as it goes...

easyrider · 26 May 2009 at 23:34

kishan666 said:
yes will be doing a lot of video editing and photoshop but that is as far as it goes...

IF video editing the get i7

Its simple

kishan666 · 26 May 2009 at 23:36

easyrider said:
IF video editing the get i7

Its simple

ok got any ideas for a graphics card?? also i will be connecting to a 32 inch sony bravia through hdmi...

Meaker · 26 May 2009 at 23:38

Any HD series radeon, if you are using HDMI get one with an HDMI connector for simplicity.

kishan666 · 26 May 2009 at 23:41

Meaker said:
Any HD series radeon, if you are using HDMI get one with an HDMI connector for simplicity.

ok would a cheap one for around 30-50 gbp do the job?

S.A.S · 27 May 2009 at 04:55

a hd 3600 or 4300 would do the job nicely look on ocuk website

GavinWard · 27 May 2009 at 08:30

Hi, I've planned my new PC to have the Q9550 not the I7 as it would inflat the cost by at least £75 and that would be the cheapest I7. What are the benefits of going for the I7 compared with the Q9550?

Btw it will be a gaming computer.

easyrider · 27 May 2009 at 08:38

GavinWard said:
Hi, I've planned my new PC to have the Q9550 not the I7 as it would inflat the cost by at least £75 and that would be the cheapest I7. What are the benefits of going for the I7 compared with the Q9550?

Btw it will be a gaming computer.

Think of it this way.

that extra 75 quid spent now will give you a clear upgrade path.

Stay in a few weeks and save that bit more

Options of both SLI and Xfire is worth the premium alone for i7.

Especially for a gaming rig.

Go s775 and your stuck with Xfire and a dead socket.

Makes sense?

phytal · 27 May 2009 at 08:52

i7 ***!!!!!!!!

JonJ678 · 27 May 2009 at 08:58

I'm not sure the 'i7 because 775 is dead' makes that much sense. No more i7 processors due for release at the moment, and i5 coming up next. i5 going to be slower than i7, and is only expected to have a 6 month lifespan anyway.

Until I see any reason why Intel would stand by the 1366 socket after i5 is released (which does not use it), the socket 775 is dead argument doesn't hold much water.

What makes 775 dead but i7 not?

cmndr_andi · 27 May 2009 at 09:03

Well its more 775 dead - X58 lives. New chips are coming for the X58 next year - 32nm 6 core chips to be exact - very cool indeed.

easyrider · 27 May 2009 at 09:08

JonJ678 said:
I'm not sure the 'i7 because 775 is dead' makes that much sense. No more i7 processors due for release at the moment, and i5 coming up next. i5 going to be slower than i7, and is only expected to have a 6 month lifespan anyway.

Until I see any reason why Intel would stand by the 1366 socket after i5 is released (which does not use it), the socket 775 is dead argument doesn't hold much water.

What makes 775 dead but i7 not?

DDR2 pricing is increasing and DDr3 pricing is falling.

New Chips for 1366

And its no more expensive getting i7 that offers SLI and Xifre along with other chip feature sets than getting a top end s775 rig.

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 so might aswell buy the latest tech

jbloggs · 27 May 2009 at 10:48

At this point in time, I would not be investing £100s on a 775 setup, but on i7, especially if I was going to be doing any kind of video/audio encoding, the few extra £s of going from 775 to i7 is well worth it!

JonJ678 · 27 May 2009 at 12:23

cmndr_andi said:
New chips are coming for the X58 next year - 32nm 6 core chips to be exact

This I didn't know, how likely are the 6 core chips to be socket 1366? I feared intel would release a new set of motherboards with the next generation of chips.

That is indeed a very good reason to go with a x58 chipset, I stand corrected. 6 cores hyperthreaded?