Ordering today, need decision made for me!

[marcnapier]

Guys I found an i7 860 for $258 $4.99 shipping/no tax through Amazon from one of thier 3rd party storefront sellers. Lowest price I can find for i5 750 is $189, no shipping/tax. Already have the P55-GD65 on order, but will need to order RAM.

I've read tons and tons and knowing myself, I will waffle on this all week unless I get some help deciding. "Do I need the HT on the 860 or not?" "Does the 750 or 860 OC better with less voltage?" "Will the 860 be a better processor in the long run?"

And on and on I will ask myself all those questions and 20 more.

So please chime in with suggestions. BTW, this will be almost exclusively a gaming build.

Help???

tehdude

 

[PC_User]

How much of a financial burden is the additional $60? If it's not much, just go with the 860 and save yourself the headache.

In gaming, both should perform more or less equally well. You might notice about a 5-10% increase in fps with the i7 860, but it also depends on the GPU you will be using.

 

[marcnapier]

How much of a financial burden is the additional $60? If it's not much, just go with the 860 and save yourself the headache.

In gaming, both should perform more or less equally well. You might notice about a 5-10% increase in fps with the i7 860, but it also depends on the GPU you will be using.

Thanks, I'll be using a GTX 295 I already own.

tehdude

 

[gwarren007]

Buy the Xeon X3440 (2.53 with hyperthreading) for $234 and get 17.50 back from Bing cash back (8%)
http://www.buy.com/prod/intel-xeon-...53-ghz-2-50-gt-s-qpi/q/loc/101/212195557.html

For the ram grab Gskill 1600

 

[PC_User]

Thanks, I'll be using a GTX 295 I already own.

tehdude

For gaming the i5 750 will be enough. Not many multi-threaded games that can take advantage of hyperthreading (yet) and you have a high-end video card that will yield high fps in practically all games. This is especially true if you overclock the 750.

 

[marcnapier]

Buy the Xeon X3440 (2.53 with hyperthreading) for $234 and get 17.50 back from Bing cash back (8%)
http://www.buy.com/prod/intel-xeon-...53-ghz-2-50-gt-s-qpi/q/loc/101/212195557.html

For the ram grab Gskill 1600

Negative on the Xeon, but yeah I will probably get GSkill 1600.

For gaming the i5 750 will be enough. Not many multi-threaded games that can take advantage of hyperthreading (yet) and you have a high-end video card that will yield high fps in practically all games. This is especially true if you overclock the 750.

Thanks, question: What if I get the 860 and don't overclock at all, same high frames with 295 card and OC'ed 750? See, these are the million questions I ask and torment myself with.

tehdude

 

[gwarren007]

If you order the 860 and the HT doesn't help your gaming, you can turn it off to save power. If you have the 750 you can't "turn it on" to see if it will be better for gaming.

Why not the Xeon? I have mine at 3.55ghz and it runs folding at home 24/7

 

[marcnapier]

If you order the 860 and the HT doesn't help your gaming, you can turn it off to save power. If you have the 750 you can't "turn it on" to see if it will be better for gaming.

Why not the Xeon? I have mine at 3.55ghz and it runs folding at home 24/7

Interesting point on HT. I haven't read or know anything about the Xeon you link. I'm sure it's a fine processor, but I want to go with either of CPUs I'm already considering. To throw yet another one in the mix will send me into a tailspin, thanks though.

tehdude

 

[gwarren007]

The Xeon is a 860 with a lower multiplier and lower price.

 

[marcnapier]

Even Mr. Kyle Bennet can't make up his mind. Here are excerpts from his his review of the newer Clarksdale and Westmere CPUs. First he says:

"I know HyperThreading was enough of a experience enhancement that it made me move from my beloved K8. HyperThreading is saving these new Clarkdale cores from being a total train wreck. There is a reason HyperThreading is still a feature even on the lowly i3 processors; HT is needed and quite frankly saves the day in a very svelte manner." Then he says: "........ the Intel Core i5-750 for around $200 is the enthusiast powerhouse in my opinion."

But there's no HT on the 750 Kyle.

tehdude

 

[Zero82z]

Even Mr. Kyle Bennet can't make up his mind. Here are excerpts from his his review of the newer Clarksdale and Westmere CPUs. First he says:

"I know HyperThreading was enough of a experience enhancement that it made me move from my beloved K8. HyperThreading is saving these new Clarkdale cores from being a total train wreck. There is a reason HyperThreading is still a feature even on the lowly i3 processors; HT is needed and quite frankly saves the day in a very svelte manner." Then he says: "........ the Intel Core i5-750 for around $200 is the enthusiast powerhouse in my opinion."

But there's no HT on the 750 Kyle.

tehdude

Because four physical cores are better than two physical cores and two logical cores. The reason the 860 isn't the CPU of choice is due to price. However, if it were priced similarly to the 750, I'm sure Kyle would be recommending it instead.

 

[PC_User]

Thanks, question: What if I get the 860 and don't overclock at all, same high frames with 295 card and OC'ed 750? See, these are the million questions I ask and torment myself with.

tehdude

Depends on the game, but they are so close to one another that I don't think its an issue to worry about. Especially because you have that GTX 295.

 

[weuntouchable]

Have you ever said to yourself I wish I would have went with something less powerful? Go with the 860 if you can afford the extra cost. Its faster at stock speed and the extra logical processors won't hurt. From what I've read the limiting factor for 1156 cpu overclocks is the onboard pcie controller and not the additional logical cores.

 

[marcnapier]

Have you ever said to yourself I wish I would have went with something less powerful? Go with the 860 if you can afford the extra cost. Its faster at stock speed and the extra logical processors won't hurt. From what I've read the limiting factor for 1156 cpu overclocks is the onboard pcie controller and not the additional logical cores.

Thanks, and no I've never said that to myself. I took your advice and also all the things I read factored in, and ordered the 860. The extra cost hurts a little right now, but in a month or maybe less, I wont even miss that extra $60.

One thing that kind of put me over the edge is the Anandtech article:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634&p=18

Look at the CPU-Z screen shots. The 750 he gets 3.9Ghz at 1.4 volts while the 860 gets 4.Ghz 1.128 volts. He says his sample of the 860 wasn't that good of OC'er, so maybe a good OC'er would do better on the same voltage.

But in all actuality, if cost wasn't an issue, this thread wouldn't exist and the 860 would have been ordered a long time ago. The only things that kept me on the fence was money and the fact that while the 750 is a great chip I'm sure, it just seemed like it was neutered for no reason except price point and lead advantage. Which he actuallys says in that article.

On the other hand, if they had included HT in the 750 for the same price, no one would buy an 860, possibly IMHO.

tehdude

 

[PC_User]

Look at the CPU-Z screen shots. The 750 he gets 3.9Ghz at 1.4 volts while the 860 gets 4.Ghz 1.128 volts. He says his sample of the 860 wasn't that good of OC'er, so maybe a good OC'er would do better on the same voltage.

Every chip is different and no overclock is guaranteed. You may or may not get to 4GHz. Your particular CPU may or may not require a higher voltage.

 

[marcnapier]

Every chip is different and no overclock is guaranteed. You may or may not get to 4GHz. Your particular CPU may or may not require a higher voltage.

Agreed. Maybe I'll get lucky.

tehdude

 

[tempo*]

for my 2 cents, get the i5 and a crate of something cold and stop worrying!
- its not the worst problem to have!!

As has already been said in this thread - becasue you have a state of the art GPU, or pretty close to it, I dont think your CPU is going to hold you back in the next year or two

 

[Darksword]

Let us know how well that chip does. Congrats on the new build!

 

[PC_User]

As has already been said in this thread - becasue you have a state of the art GPU, or pretty close to it, I dont think your CPU is going to hold you back in the next year or two

Exactly. Neither an i5 750 nor an i7 860 will be a bottleneck in games.

 

[marcnapier]

for my 2 cents, get the i5 and a crate of something cold and stop worrying!
- its not the worst problem to have!!

As has already been said in this thread - becasue you have a state of the art GPU, or pretty close to it, I dont think your CPU is going to hold you back in the next year or two

Thanks, yes I've had worse problems.

Let us know how well that chip does. Congrats on the new build!

Thanks, I will and will no doubt need help from everyone in these forums to get it dialed in.

Exactly. Neither an i5 750 nor an i7 860 will be a bottleneck in games.

Thanks, well I'm glad to know I'll be safe as far as that goes. And if it's any consilation to anyone, had I not found a great price for the 860, I'm sure the 750 would be on it's way and not the 860.

Now on to the HSF. I would like everyone who contributed here to add to my new thread in cooling. You guys have great suggestions and would like to hear your thoughts there:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1484208

tehdude