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What's the deal with i5?

jim5000

jim5000

jim5000

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It's probably just my google skills letting me down, but I can't seem to find an overview of the new core i5 chips. What are they compared to i7? I'm guessing they are just a cut down version; slower clock speeds and less cache memory, that sort of thing.

Are they going to be good for gamers, does i5 beat the top end core2duo quad cores?
 
Basically they are non-Hyperthreading enabled versions of the new i7 800 chips and both use Lynnfield cores. They have the same amount of cache as the i7 and the same Dual Channel DDR2 support as the i7 800 series (i7 900 series use triple channel, but either way the memory bandwidth is massive). The i5 750 also has a lower stock clockspeed than the i7 800 series.

They seem to overclock well, have a look at this thread as it shows an i5 750 running happily at clockspeeds over 4GHz.

Compared to the Yorkfield Core 2 Quads, these chips seem to be faster clock-for-clock and overclock just as well (if not better) and are very good value (an OEM i5 750 only costs £145). Considering the P55 motherboards are feature rich and good value themselves, then I conclude that the i5 platform soundly beats the Core 2 Quad, as it rightly should.

Either way, if your gaming the graphics card is much more likely to limit your performance than either of these processor types.
 
how are they for cool and quiet pcs? would there be much difference between i5 and i7 lynnfield cpus in terms of heat?
 
ally said:
how are they for cool and quiet pcs? would there be much difference between i5 and i7 lynnfield cpus in terms of heat?
Click to expand...

I would say there would be quite a difference between these chips in terms of heat due to the i7's having Hyperthreading.

If I disabling HT on my i920 the temp differences are huge..

So I assume the same would apply for these chips to.
 
How are the new i5's in comparison with say an E6600 at 3GHZ? I know numbers are probably huge difference but in real world for startup/gaming/all round windows any differences anyones experienced?

Wanting to upgrade but not sure if its worth the money for performance ratio.
 
Other difference is the number of PCI-E lanes.

i7 900 series (1366) PCI-E comes from the x58 chipset and typically 2 x x16 PCI-E lanes, electrically as well as physically.

i7 800 series / i5 700 (1156) comes with a single x16 PCI-E lane, into the pu itself, typically will split into 2 x x8 electrically but x16 physically.
 
for non overclocking and wanting a silent rig would the i7 or i5 be better? i would rather go for the more powerful i7 860 than the i5. but if the heat and noise of a fan coz of it is bad i may rethink.
 
If you want a silent rig then I assume you are going to be using an aftermarket cooling system. The noise characteristics of that will be more important than the chip type as they are both rated at 95W TDP.
 
If you do want to overclock then I think the best ready-to-go option is this.

However, I believe that you can get a socket 1156 kit for the Corsair H50 if you call up corsair after buying it. Alternatively you could try the prolimatech megahalems then there is a s1156 kit on their website, i don't see it in shops so you will probably have to call them up to get it. These options are obviously not ideal, hopefully they will get these options to retail ASAP.
 
i just want someone to say hands down this is the best cooler for silence and for ur needs. i dont want options its confusing :S
 
People can't say that though, there is no absolute definitive best really, right now there is actually a serious lack of options for the LGA 1156 socket. So people may be able to say, this is the quietest but this one is the best at cooling, however, you need to balance these things off against each other, also cost, size/weight is often a factor and even the way it looks for some people.

Its impossible to really say 'this is the best' because there are so many factors to consider when choosing one, you need to prioritise though.

I take it your priority is how quiet it is ? ...so you will be looking for a large tower type heat-sink that you can change the fan on, so you'll want a relatively slow speed 120mm fan on it, which should, combined with a decent sized heat-sink, be enough to keep your chip cool under load and still be very quiet.

This is quiet at it's lowest speed, 17dba, but I am not sure how well it actually cools, the heat-sink isn't that large but looks plenty big enough for a stock setup or even medium-level overclocks tbh, I should imagine it'll be more than fine, with reasonable airflow in the case. You can change the fan to a better/quieter one too if you wish and or add a 2nd fan.
 
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