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Which of these setups would you choose (860 vs. 920)?

J

Jumpem

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 1, 2000
Messages
1,064
Intel Core i7 920, Microcenter, $199.99
ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme, Newegg, $59.99
ASUS P6T, Newegg, $239.99
G.Skill F3-12800CL6T-6GBTD, Newegg, $169.99
Radeon HD 5870, Newegg, $379.99
TOTAL: $1,083.94

Intel Core i7 860, Microcenter, $229.99
ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme, Newegg, $59.99
ASUS P7P55D Pro, Newegg, $169.99
G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB F3-12800CL7D-4GBRH * 2, Newegg, $189.98
Radeon HD 5870, Newegg, $379.99
TOTAL: $1,063.93

The i7 920 system comes to a mere $20 more.

The i7 920 would be easier to overclock, but use more power and run hotter. The i7 860 would be faster out of the box, and more efficient power wise. Not sure if I would need something better than a Corsair HX520 for the i7 920?
 
SpoonMaN-EQ said:
no contest for me, socket 1366 > 1156. reason? upcoming i9 chips
Click to expand...

I don't think I'd be interested in the i9 unless it was ~$300. It's said to be a $1k extreme edition part. I will most likely be keeping whatver I choose until s1155 in 2011.
 
pshhh nevermind, thought that was just a 4gb kit. Get the 860 then. Anandtech showed there's a small difference in performance using dual videocards but then the power consumption is much better and you get more memory. But you will have a harder time overclocking the 860 though especially with the 4 sticks of memory.
 
i7 920 since I can get 12GB of RAM for it VS 8GB of RAM for the i7 860. Besides, DDR3 RAM prices will drop so picking up another 6GB of RAM will be considerably cheaper. And yes I can make use of that 12GB of RAM :)
 
Id definately take the i7 920 system. For those prices, youd be stupid not to. Not only do the 920's clock a bit better, but the whole platform performs better and gives you a better upgrade path.
 
920 no question. It doesn't make any sense to go with an inferior LGA1156 setup when the difference is only $20.
 
People keep saying that the 1366 is a better upgrade path but for all we know, future 1366 chips could be $400-500 as the low end. Is there any hint from Intel that this won't be the case? Isn't 1156 i5/i7 supposed to be the enthusiast and 1366 i7 to be ultra high end?
 
hungryJonJon said:
People keep saying that the 1366 is a better upgrade path but for all we know, future 1366 chips could be $400-500 as the low end. Is there any hint from Intel that this won't be the case? Isn't 1156 i5/i7 supposed to be the enthusiast and 1366 i7 to be ultra high end?
Click to expand...
LGA1156 is mainstream and LGA1366 is enthusiast. As for pricing, future 6-core Gulftown chips may end up being a bit pricey. However, LGA1156 won't be getting any 6-core chips altogether, so there's really no upgrade path altogether since there won't be any 32nm quad-core chips either.
 
LGA1156 kind of feels like buying into socket 754 back in the day. Sure it's fine now, but it will really only contain this generation of chips, while 1366 not only gives you advantages such as more pcie lanes, triple channel DDR3, but actually has a lifespan extending beyond the current generation.
 
The fact is that it's possible that LGA1366 will carry over to the Sandy Bridge generation, or LGA1156 will carry over, or that neither one will. At the moment, we really don't have any way of knowing exactly how much longevity each socket will have, so it's best to make your purchasing decisions based on what we know for sure and not based on the possibility that there may or may not be an upgrade path for a specific platform once the next CPU architecture rolls around.
 
Zero82z said:
LGA1156 is mainstream and LGA1366 is enthusiast. As for pricing, future 6-core Gulftown chips may end up being a bit pricey. However, LGA1156 won't be getting any 6-core chips altogether, so there's really no upgrade path altogether since there won't be any 32nm quad-core chips either.
Click to expand...

QFT. Some upgrade path with possible choices is better than no path at all. And the OP's builds are only $20 apart so that's a no-brainer.
 
If it would have been 100-300$ cheaper, then maybe yea. But since it's the same go with x58/i7
 
I'd go with the 860 build for power efficiency and the extra 2GB. I wouldn't worry about the upgrade path. By the time you want to upgrade, in all likelihood you're also going to want a brand new motherboard with the new SATA and USB standards anyway. I've usually found it's not much harder to sell my old cpu/mb as a combo than to just sell the cpu.
 
jwong said:
I'd go with the 860 build for power efficiency and the extra 2GB. I wouldn't worry about the upgrade path. By the time you want to upgrade, in all likelihood you're also going to want a brand new motherboard with the new SATA and USB standards anyway. I've usually found it's not much harder to sell my old cpu/mb as a combo than to just sell the cpu.
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what you buy right now because as said above, unless you're going hexcore and don't want usb3 , sata 6g, etc then you're going to have to buy a new motherboard at that time as well. There are of course add in cards that will extend the functionality with new standards, but how many enthusiasts actually buy those slot eaters? Not many.

Any system bought today is a dead end path in terms of upgrades because none of them have a realistic working solution for usb3 sata 6g etc. There are a couple work work arounds but that is hardly optimal.


I will say tho, go i7 920 since you're getting it from Microcenter, who is selling them below cost.
 
DarkStryke said:
It doesn't matter what you buy right now because as said above, unless you're going hexcore and don't want usb3 , sata 6g, etc then you're going to have to buy a new motherboard at that time as well. There are of course add in cards that will extend the functionality with new standards, but how many enthusiasts actually buy those slot eaters? Not many.

Any system bought today is a dead end path in terms of upgrades because none of them have a realistic working solution for usb3 sata 6g etc. There are a couple work work arounds but that is hardly optimal.


I will say tho, go i7 920 since you're getting it from Microcenter, who is selling them below cost.
Click to expand...

I agree, the upgrade path thing only really matters for people that upgrade in 6 months. And constantly pay a premium for those new chips. Those people don't ask which they should get, they just go out and buy whatever is newest.

MicroCenter is selling i5 750, i7 860, and i7 920 all under cost. $160 for 750, $230 for 860.
 
Actually I'd be pretty happy with either if someone would pick one up from Microcenter for me! If I had those prices available I'd be on an i7 already...
 
Food for thought: How long do you hold onto hardware? If you aren't going to keep it long enough to use the 'possible upgrade' options then is it worth getting that option? If you keep it long enough to possibly use the 'upgrade options', what are the chances you will actually use it (instead of buying new again)?
 
Linux_Box said:
Food for thought: How long do you hold onto hardware? If you aren't going to keep it long enough to use the 'possible upgrade' options then is it worth getting that option? If you keep it long enough to possibly use the 'upgrade options', what are the chances you will actually use it (instead of buying new again)?
Click to expand...


I don't plan to upgrade the CPU for either socket. I will keep this until Sandy Bridge (s1155) in 2011.
 
Regardless of future upgrade paths, an LGA1366 setup is definitely a better deal than an LGA1156 setup for only $20 less. The extra RAM capacity alone is worth that price.
 
I'd get the 920 since it's only $20. If the difference was $100+...I might change my mind.
 
Zero82z said:
Regardless of future upgrade paths, an LGA1366 setup is definitely a better deal than an LGA1156 setup for only $20 less. The extra RAM capacity alone is worth that price.
Click to expand...

I'd have more RAM with the 860 though. :eek:

I just don't like the thought of buying the slower 920 (for more money even), and then relying on overclocking to get past the 860.
 
Jumpem said:
I'd have more RAM with the 860 though. :eek:

I just don't like the thought of buying the slower 920 (for more money even), and then relying on overclocking to get past the 860.
Click to expand...

You've maxed out your memory with the 860 setup though, and you can always get another 6GB with the 920.

And if you're not OCing that setup, you're watching me with my 4Ghz Q9550 perform better at less cost :p.
 
Jumpem said:
I'd have more RAM with the 860 though. :eek:

I just don't like the thought of buying the slower 920 (for more money even), and then relying on overclocking to get past the 860.
Click to expand...

You should strongly consider overclocking (but you will likely need a good aftermarket heatsink). It's quite simple with the i7 and once overclocked, the i7 920 outperforms the i7 860.
 
Jumpem said:
I'd have more RAM with the 860 though. :eek:
Click to expand...
Didn't notice that. Still, you'd have the option to go to 12GB in the future.
Jumpem said:
I just don't like the thought of buying the slower 920 (for more money even), and then relying on overclocking to get past the 860.
Click to expand...
Why not? The only reason the 920 is slower by default is because Intel set it at a lower stock frequency, but the chip can easily reach the same speeds as the 860 and even more.
 
Zero82z said:
Didn't notice that. Still, you'd have the option to go to 12GB in the future.

Why not? The only reason the 920 is slower by default is because Intel set it at a lower stock frequency, but the chip can easily reach the same speeds as the 860 and even more.
Click to expand...

And many chips that I've seen can reach 3.4-3.6GHz without a single change in BIOS and voltages (aside from BCLK).
 
It appears from all that's been said here that Intel had no rational reason for coming out with the 860. Why did they? Should Intel take the 860 off the market? It doesn't seem like anyone here would find fault with that. What is Intel trying to accomplish with the release of the 860?

CB
 
Curious142 said:
It appears from all that's been said here that Intel had no rational reason for coming out with the 860. Why did they? Should Intel take the 860 off the market? It doesn't seem like anyone here would find fault with that. What is Intel trying to accomplish with the release of the 860?

CB
Click to expand...
Well the rumor is they are killing the 920 so the choice will be easier then. At the same time, that reminds me of my worries about 1366 being a $400-500 processor platform because if there's no 920, the cheapest is the 950 I think. $500 some.
 
Curious142 said:
It appears from all that's been said here that Intel had no rational reason for coming out with the 860. Why did they? Should Intel take the 860 off the market? It doesn't seem like anyone here would find fault with that. What is Intel trying to accomplish with the release of the 860?

CB
Click to expand...

Similar performance on a different socket with a different memory configuration (s754 vs. s939 all over again).
 
hungryJonJon said:
Well the rumor is they are killing the 920 so the choice will be easier then. At the same time, that reminds me of my worries about 1366 being a $400-500 processor platform because if there's no 920, the cheapest is the 950 I think. $500 some.
Click to expand...

Why worry about "if there's no 920" when in fact there is a 920 and it is still competitively priced at $200 (MicroCenter) and will still be available for months to come.
 
PC_User said:
Why worry about "if there's no 920" when in fact there is a 920 and it is still competitively priced at $200 (MicroCenter) and will still be available for months to come.
Click to expand...
Even though the X58 is only $20 more now, what if in 6 months or 1 year, the only processors available for 1366 are $100-200 more than 1156? No one knows. Yes, for now 920/X58 is the same price but once the 920 is gone, who can say the disparity won't become much larger for the newer processors?
 
hungryJonJon said:
Even though the X58 is only $20 more now, what if in 6 months or 1 year, the only processors available for 1366 are $100-200 more than 1156? No one knows. Yes, for now 920/X58 is the same price but once the 920 is gone, who can say the disparity won't become much larger for the newer processors?
Click to expand...

So what if CPUs are more expensive in a year? It's not like you're going to purchase a 975 in a year because that's the only SKU left since a 920 will be just as good for most people. You would have already made the purchase using today's prices. If your CPU goes bad, Intel has a 3 year warranty.

Recommendations will always change over time but if the purchase is being made today or this month, then today's prices are what's relevant.
 
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