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i7920 or i7940?
- Thread starter Jonney Napalm
- Start date
Off topic, but just for info purposes.
Dual Channel mode can give upto 5% performance increase compared to using say 4x2gb
OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 "P45 Special" Gold 8GB Edition - Cost around £160, OcUK did used to sell it if I remember right.
Dual Channel mode can give upto 5% performance increase compared to using say 4x2gb
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Jan 2008
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- London/Camberley
Hey Nelly, bit off topic but hows the biostar? Got mine a few days back but still need everything else.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 29 Nov 2008
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How hot does the 920 run when everything is stock compared to when its overclocked to 940 speeds as that's what im planning to do if it stays cool enough.
From what I've seen the majority of people are clocking i920/940 to around 3.8Ghz on stock volts, then they take a considerable increase to get to 4Ghz bur most will do 4Ghz with good Air cooling.
Don't forget some will be better than others batch dependent.
Don't forget some will be better than others batch dependent.
Awaiting for some other bits to arrive on Monday/Tuesday.
Ok cool I forgot about that!
I also read the Intel® Core™ i7 boards use an 8-layer PCB, normally motherboards use a 5-layer PCB so that's a chunk of extra cost as well!
I'm not really sure why the newer boards require three extra layers of PCB, is it loads more room for traces to account for the extra bandwidth? what?
as much as i agree with the people telling you to save your money and buy the kit in 6 months, i personally dont think you will be missing out on much, prices are not going to go dramatically down, the CPUs are clocking to 4Ghz now (the new revision MIGHT hit 4.5 but no one knows for sure).
as far as i can tell with I7 you would only be spending an additional £400 anyway, because the Mobo and triple channel DDR3 is so expensive at the moment.
Oh and there's no such thing as future proof, but if you still want a mobo and memory that will be compatable (as long as they dont change much in the next CPU revision) with everything intel bring ut in the next year and a half go with I7 at least then you would only have to change the CPU and GPU
Very good points. You really don't save that much more by going with Core2. I'm in a similar position as my budget is £2400. I need to buy a full system for that though, excluding case, plus I'm building top end custom water cooling.
I just can't see the point in me building a Core 2 system as the savings won't be significant enough.
RoEy
Soldato
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- 11 Dec 2005
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- 11,364
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- Cheshire
920 all the way man, use the money you save to buy yourself a gtx 280!
Associate
- Joined
- 4 Jan 2009
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- 247
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- Nottingham
920 then overclock!
You could be right there, the new Foxconn BloodRage X58 only has 3 memory slots as opposed to the normal 6 memory slots of X58 boards, apprarently to increase performance. 3 less memory slots & you pay the earth for it lol.I also read the Intel® Core™ i7 boards use an 8-layer PCB, normally motherboards use a 5-layer PCB so that's a chunk of extra cost as well!
I'm not really sure why the newer boards require three extra layers of PCB, is it loads more room for traces to account for the extra bandwidth? what?
Means also that the board won't bend as much when you're fitting the crappy Intel HSF.
RoEy
If you're spec'ing a new gaming rig, start with the resolution of the monitor you'll be using and work your way down... no need for tri-SLI for a 1280x1024 res screen for example. Then pick parts to compliment the graphical needs. There's enough people on here to help you out doing that.
While people are talking up Core 2, which model? With Windows 7 coming later this year and many games now using multiple CPU cores, I think it wise to go with quad over duo... if you lean towards something middle/top range, the Q9550 is very popular, and is also roughly the same price as an i7 920. An Asus P6T is £50 more than a P5Q Deluxe. 6GB of DDR3-1333 is £80 more than 4GB of quality DDR2-1066, but you are getting more memory for you money.
Yes, a Core 2 system can be cheaper by picking cheaper parts, but comparing two similar gaming systems - i7 920 vs Q9550 - there is £130 in it. I too have just upgraded from an old Athlon, I typically upgrade every 5-6 years and had a budget of £800-1000; and I was happy to pay the difference for an i7 920 system with 6GB RAM (saves the 4GB or 8GB debate) that will last me a number of years. You may not get more from games (for now), but PCs are for more than just gaming, and the i7 shines at the other stuff.
As for a 920 vs a 940... 920 every time. They both overclock to the same limits.
Yes, a Core 2 system can be cheaper by picking cheaper parts, but comparing two similar gaming systems - i7 920 vs Q9550 - there is £130 in it. I too have just upgraded from an old Athlon, I typically upgrade every 5-6 years and had a budget of £800-1000; and I was happy to pay the difference for an i7 920 system with 6GB RAM (saves the 4GB or 8GB debate) that will last me a number of years. You may not get more from games (for now), but PCs are for more than just gaming, and the i7 shines at the other stuff.
As for a 920 vs a 940... 920 every time. They both overclock to the same limits.
You say you only upgrade every couple of years, if that's the case, which it must be with that budget to go with, go for i7. Don't mess around with core2, while the people saying it makes for decent gaming now are proposing a valid point, you're not futureproofing your socket as the next time you'll have to upgrade, you'll have to go socket 1366. To counter what I just said, by that time of course there will be a far more diverse range of motherboards , reducing the price of them, however if you have that budget available, frankly go for it now and enjoy splashing your epeen around. Another good point people are bringing up here is your resolution you plan to game at, the higher resolution, the more you will accomplish by moving to an SLI / Xfire rig. Anyway, that's going OT to your original post. In my opinion, though I'm no expert, with your budget and what you say about your upgrade patterns, go for i7, as frankly, it is the fastest, particularly for multithreaded apps. (futureproof) and with a little overclocking, just as fast for single threaded apps. as a core2. With regards to 920 or 940. 920, as again, even on a stock intel cooler, it will clock the same as a 940 leaving no difference, as they're the exact same architecture.
Just to say, someone mentioned the 8 layer PCB on X58. It reduces EMI and reduces heat buildup in certain areas of the PCB, theoretically allowing for greater overclocks and system stability.
Hope this helps.
Just to say, someone mentioned the 8 layer PCB on X58. It reduces EMI and reduces heat buildup in certain areas of the PCB, theoretically allowing for greater overclocks and system stability.
Hope this helps.