i7 930 build or i5 750 build?

Gimpy04

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 5, 2007
Messages
135
I'm trying to decide which build I'm going with. The only differences between the 2 builds will be if it's the LGA1156 or LGA1366.

Here are the parts that won't change between the two:
Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced
Corsair 750TX 750Watt
XFX Radeon HD 5870
Western Digital Black 750GB
LG DVD Burner
AS5 and the Arctic Silver cleaning solutions
Thermal Take Contac 29

LGA1366 parts (Cost: $1,482.89):
Intel Core i7 930
Gigabyte UD5
G.Skill 6GB DDR3 1333

LGA1156 parts (Cost: $1,233.89):
Intel Core i5 750
Gigabyte UD4P
G.Skill 4GB DDR3 1333

I mostly just game (not WoW), but I also do the occasional video encoding. I will be overclocking.

I'd love to say money isn't a factor, but the fact that the i5 build is ~$250 cheaper is very appealing. I've been so indecisive as of late, and this is yet one more choice.
 
I would go for the 930 build. Just got done building mine, have it in a very non-aggressive 3.8 ghz overclock, I mostly use it for Photoshop and Lightroom.

Get a good batch and this chip is amazing. Plus, I've hit 6 gigs of ram with photoshop cs5 (i have 12), so thats another plus for the 1366 system. Your video encoding will benefit IMO.
 
If your spending that much go for the i7 930/X58. You have more upgrade options than an i5 build. You can go with dual channel config on the X58 to save some money. I'm now running 4 dimms in dual channel on my 930. When I buy my next dual channel kit I'll finally have triple channel memory. ;)
 
Agreed with the above. If you're going to spend that much, you might as well go 1366.

If you decide that you'd like to save the extra change and would really like the i7's SMT, you could consider going i7 860 or 875k. Especially if you're close to a Micro Center. The 860/875 are $20 more than the 750 at MC, iirc, so that's a pretty easy upgrade decision.
 
If you decide that you'd like to save the extra change and would really like the i7's SMT, you could consider going i7 860 or 875k. Especially if you're close to a Micro Center. The 860/875 are $20 more than the 750 at MC, iirc, so that's a pretty easy upgrade decision.

Make that $10 more, not $20 more. $190 for the i5-750; $200 for the i7-860 or the i7-875K.
 
Great, thanks for the suggestions guys! I'm in Washington State, so no Microcenter here. Closest thing we have is a Best Buy, so it's all online shopping for me.
 
Great, thanks for the suggestions guys! I'm in Washington State, so no Microcenter here. Closest thing we have is a Best Buy, so it's all online shopping for me.

Oh, that changes things quite a bit. Since you have to use another online reseller, that i7-930 and other lower-end i7 CPUs cost $90 to $100 more than the i5-750. In addition, with the 930 you also have to buy a more expensive LGA1366 motherboard (the other CPUs I mentioned use less-expensive LGA1156 motherboards), and I also recommend buying a triple-channel memory kit for the i7-930/LGA1366 motherboard combo (the LGA1156 platform has only a dual-channel memory controller; thus, only a dual-channel memory kit is needed there). This makes the LGA1366 platform significantly more expensive.
 
If all you do is game mostly 1156 is the better bargain. Lot of people think 1366 socket will save them with upgrade ability but it won't.

Unless you want multiple GPU @ 16x link or hex there's no point going 1366.
 
get 1600mhz ram if you want to oc your chip. and I'd also suggest a 500gb per platter hard drive.
 
Link? There's no i7-875k listed in Microcenter.

It was on the print paper, but was pulled. It is unknown whether they really got any stock. It seems if the stock varies by store.
 
IMHO if you are not planning SLI/CF setup and don't do boinc/folding/video editing i5 750 is good enough.
 
Have you considered a i5 670? They overclock like stink, even on air with little heat. I have gamed at nearly 5GHz on water with these chips and they are amazing. Another plus is great motherboards can be had for under $100.
 
Bought an i3 540 & Biostar TH55B from Fry's for $135. I was skeptical about the mobo, as I usually go with Asus, but it took very little tweaking to hit 4.6GHz @ 1.4v. Worth the money.

 
Agreed with the above. If you're going to spend that much, you might as well go 1366.

If you decide that you'd like to save the extra change and would really like the i7's SMT, you could consider going i7 860 or 875k. Especially if you're close to a Micro Center. The 860/875 are $20 more than the 750 at MC, iirc, so that's a pretty easy upgrade decision.

I really live at a disadvantage out here in the midwest; there isn't a Microcenter for a thousand miles.
 
If all you do is game mostly 1156 is the better bargain. Lot of people think 1366 socket will save them with upgrade ability but it won't.

Unless you want multiple GPU @ 16x link or hex there's no point going 1366.

this man speaks the truth
 
If all you do is game mostly 1156 is the better bargain. Lot of people think 1366 socket will save them with upgrade ability but it won't.

Unless you want multiple GPU @ 16x link or hex there's no point going 1366.

This.
 
Go with the i5 route.

Also: Ditch the WD 750GB Black since it's still outperformed by the following drives:
$55 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$56 - Western Digital WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$80 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$100 - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive

No reason to get the WD 750GB Black unless you really need an extra two year warranty and don't care about performance.
 
I've spent extensive time with both platforms (i7 920 / i5 750) and since I will only ever use a single card for graphics -- and saw the uselessness of hyperthreading (for my needs -- mostly games) I kept the i5 750 and have been absolutely content since late last year.

So if your needs fall in catagories such as what I described: i5 750 is the clear choice. Cheaper, cooler running, less watts, same single card gaming performance as x58.
 
I have an I5 750, running at 4Ghz. It's plenty fast I'd say that it's not far off the performance of a I7 at the same speed (I recently sold my I7 930). One really nice thing that makes it really good is it also runs really cool. Thanks in part to no HT. A great solid chip.
 
I would use the money saved on the i5 build for other stuff... games, subscriptions, software, headphones, speakers, amplifiers, DAC, etc.
 
Well you are comparing a much more expensive 1366 x58 motherboard with a cheaper 1156 motherboard.

The i7 motherboard gives you at least 2 gpu capability, maybe even 3 gpus. What does the i5 motherboard give you. And if you're going to spend $300 for a motherboard, the Asus P6X58D is probably the way to go.

The main price difference comes down to these components:
CPU - About $80 price dfference, 279 vs 199 or if buying from microcenter $199 vs 179. $20 difference.
Motherboard - About $80 price difference 279 vs 199.
Memory - 6GB triple channel vs 4 GB dual channel About $35 price difference 165 vs 130.

That's about 195 difference (If buying from MC only 135 difference). The price difference can be cut even further by picking a cheaper 1366 motherboard. But if you don't really need 2 or more gpu performance, or triple channel memory, the i5-750 system should be more than sufficient for gaming purposes.
 
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I'd have to agree 100% that if there are any plans (future or otherwise) for SLI / Crossfire, then it might be best to look at a X58 board.

Having said that, what sort've difference would there be in performance between 2 x16/x16 slots vs 2 x8/x8? I wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal, I wonder how that would scale and either help or hamper higher or lower end cards. At the very least tho it would be wise to make sure the P55 board of your choice supports x8/x8, I think some have only an extra x4 slot.
 
The advise given in this thread has been awesome, and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to add their 2 cents.

After looking for combo deals I've settled on the i7 LGA 1366 and swapped out the WD black drive for the 1TB Samsung drive.

Total price for the i5 was ~$1150 while the i7 was ~$1280. I felt it worth the $130 difference to have the option of crossfire later on when just one 5780 won't do. Now, to pay for it all, lol.
 
The advise given in this thread has been awesome, and I really appreciate everyone taking the time to add their 2 cents.

After looking for combo deals I've settled on the i7 LGA 1366 and swapped out the WD black drive for the 1TB Samsung drive.

Total price for the i5 was ~$1150 while the i7 was ~$1280. I felt it worth the $130 difference to have the option of crossfire later on when just one 5780 won't do. Now, to pay for it all, lol.

You'll be happy with your purchase. Good luck and enjoy!
 
the i7 is not worth it even if you're going to sli/crossfire. tons of people bring crossfire/sli as a great reason for going with 1366 but in reality the performance bonus with the i7 will only average in the 2 - 5% range. You're spending quite a bit more money for a small benefit.

and for future upgradability, I wouldn't count on it. I'll bet anything that the only 6 core cpus that will be available on the 1366 socket will cost > $800
 
How can there have been a whole thread about X58 vs P55 without a single person noting that the difference between x8 and x16 PCI-E is negligible and impossible to discern in real usage? Well, except for the guy above me commenting after the fact. [H] userbase is slipping...
 
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How can there have been a whole thread about X58 vs P55 without a single person noting that the difference between x8 and x16 PCI-E is negligible and impossible to discern in real usage? Well, except for the guy above me commenting after the fact. [H] userbase is slipping...

I thought cards like the HD4870x2 and the GTX295 showed noticeable (don't read as significant) performance differences between 8x and 16x.
 
I thought cards like the HD4870x2 and the GTX295 showed noticeable (don't read as significant) performance differences between 8x and 16x.

I'm pretty sure the conclusion from last fall/winter, when a bit of testing on this was done (anandtech, tom's, etc,), was X8/X8 is fine for any dual GPU setup unless you're running two 295's, 4870x2's, or 5970's. Regardless OP plan's to buy a 5870.
 
Quad-GPU scaling is garbage anyway, so even then it's not relevant because no one in their right mind would go for that setup.

Regardless, the tiny advantages X58 offers over P55 surprised the heck out of me at launch. No doubt Intel got wise to the situation, which is why their roadmap shows a much more substantial difference in features between their "high-end" and "budget" lineups for next time around.
 
I recently went through this same decision and ended up going with the i7 930. Granted I live within driving range of a MicroCenter so I got it for $199. Anyways I couldn't be happier and I went from a Q9550 @3.8 to the i7 only up to 3.6 for now and with my sli set up I am running it gave me a huge boost in benchmark scores as well as increased performance in games.
 
What about the advantage(if noticeable?) of triple channel over dual channel? in games like supreme commander?
 
Aww man, now I'm going back to thinking of getting the i5 thanks to MissJ84's post. The only other feature the bigger socket offers is the triple-channel ram.

My current rig is in my sig (hehe that rhymed) and I know the i5 750 is a better performer, especially when OC'd. I want to "go all out" but the cheaper the better. I guess it's a classic case of price/performance lol.

I'm not buying it until my next paycheck (next week) so I still have time to him-haw on this.

Again, thanks for all the feedback!
 
I recently had to make the choice between 1156 and 1366 and went with an I7-930. PC will be used primarily for video editing though... Got the I7-930 for $200 at Micro Center so that helped with the price difference.
 
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