i7 or wait for i5?

A

asyork

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I've been out of the hardware loop for a while now, and have started getting back into lately because I need to upgrade.

I mostly use my computer for gaming, and by gaming I mean older games. Mostly WoW, Portal, Half Life 2, and even things like FFVII and Baldur's Gate on occasion. I'd like to be able to play new games, but I don't need to build a computer that will play them maxed out.

I also use my computer for Photoshop, which will hopefully increase in frequency soon, or I need to find a new job... The files range anywhere from <50 MB to well over 1 GB, so ram is important.

Other than that, it's just web browsing, music, sometimes a movie, and occasional use of other parts of the CS4 suite, but none as intensive as the Photoshop use.

I plan to buy everything on Black Friday, so what is on sale might dictate what I get, but I hope to have at least $600 available to spend, and hopefully around $1000.

If needed, I can recycle my case, all my peripherals, DVD burner, and HDs, and I've already paid for Win7.

Now, would I see a worthwhile performance gain from an i7 over an i5, or would the i5 be even better for the integrated PCIE controller? I don't upgrade often, so I'm not worried about the socket. The i5 would leave me with more room to get a better GPU, and if I have enough leftover cash, I'll be getting an SSD.

I guess what I am getting at is, am I right in thinking I'd be better off with an i5 system for my purposes? Assuming of course that a quad core i5 exists by Black Friday. Would I be better off getting a $200 i7 920 while they exist, and just holding onto it until I can afford the rest of the computer?
 
A lot will change between now and the end of November. There is no way anyone can answer your question now. Ask your question again mid November.
 
From the write up on anandtech it sounded like if you don't plan using on SLI or Crossfire you might be better off saving $150 and sticking with an i7 Lynnfield.
i5 lynnfield = no hyperthreading.
 
weuntouchable said:
A lot will change between now and the end of November. There is no way anyone can answer your question now. Ask your question again mid November.
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The i7 920 will likely be gone by then, answering my question for me. :(
 
JustLong said:
From the write up on anandtech it sounded like if you don't plan using on SLI or Crossfire you might be better off saving $150 and sticking with an i7 Lynnfield.
i5 lynnfield = no hyperthreading.
Click to expand...

i7 Lynnfield is the same socket as an i5, right? Which would probably save me cash on the motherboard as well. Also, I believe those aren't due out until Q1 2010. I might just have to wait though.
 
asyork said:
i7 Lynnfield is the same socket as an i5, right? Which would probably save me cash on the motherboard as well. Also, I believe those aren't due out until Q1 2010. I might just have to wait though.
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correct, it is the same socket. I didn't check the road map for when the i7 lynnfield, but that jives with the eta I got from Dell for the Optiplex 980 with an i7 lynnfield CPU.
 
so will the 920 be gone?! what about the 1366 socket, the i7, will it also be gone or only the 920 cpu be gone?
 
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ar09 said:
so will the 920 be gone?! what about the 1366 socket, the i7, will it also be gone or only the 920 cpu be gone?
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only the 920 will be gone, 1366 is the server socket as well so odds are it will be around awhile
 
kush said:
Umm, no? Everything I've read points to i5 being 1156.
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Correct. From what I can tell 1366 isn't going anywhere soon, it will just be for the "high-end" and server market. I think i5 is suppose to have a better price/performance ratio, with i7 still being a bit more powerful. I could be wrong, but that's what it is looking like right now.
 
kush said:
Umm, no? Everything I've read points to i5 being 1156.
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There will be i7 branded CPUs for Both the 1366 and 1156 sockets.
i5 will only be on 1156. i7 1156 CPUs will have hyper threading, 15 CPUs will not.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3585
Only the Core i7 is allowed to run in a LGA-1366 socket, however there will be LGA-1156 i7, i5 and i3CPUs . The number of memory channels and the presence of a QPI link does not determine branding. In other words, Lynnfield will be both a Core i7 and a Core i5 depending on the SKU.
Click to expand...
 
Hiyruu said:
Will there be a 930?
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Probably not; otherwise, they most likely would have released it along with the 950 and 975 when they replaced the 940 and 965. However, the current crop of quad-core LGA1366 chips will probably be replaced with the six-core 32nm chips once they come out next year.
 
As a gamer, I would rather look for a faster quad core than six cores with equivalent speed.
A 6.67GHZ i7 quad core on air would be nice... no?
 
go for an i7, all the cool kids are doing it! Sides, killer deal if you can get to a microcenter, 920s are going for 200$ flat.
 
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