New Intel Processors!!!
As you may have read, Intel released a new set of CPUs this week. We'll be updating our site tomorrow to offer the new chips, but I wanted to take the opportunity to chat about what's new:
The old i7 chips were known as Bloomfield, and fit into socket 1366 motherboards, which ran on the Intel X58 chipset. The new CPUs "Lynnfield" are split into two options - the single "i5" 750, and two "i7" options, the 860 & the 870. The primary differences between the i5 and i7 chips (aside from the fact that the i5 is slightly slower than the slowest i7) is that the i5 does not support hyperthreading. (Hyperthreading makes a quad core CPU act as if it has 8 cores.) These new chips fit into socket 1156 motherboards, which use Intel's new P55 chipset. Bear in mind that P55 motherboards are generally less expensive than X58 boards, so going with Lynnfield chips reduces the cost of the PC a bit. So here is the entire Intel lineup as of today:
i5-750 2.66GHz $210 P55/1156
i7-920 2.66GHz $220 X58/1366
i7-860 2.80GHz $300 P55/1156
i7-950 3.06GHz $570 X58/1366
i7-870 2.93GHz $580 P55/1156
i7-975 3.33GHz $999 X58/1366
The memory controller on the new CPUs is a little bit faster than the old ones. While it's true that the new chips only support dual-channel memory (vs. triple-channel on the 1366 chips) that won't affect gaming performance until we start seeing games that stress three cores or more simultaneously - and that's still years away.
That means the new Lynnfield/P55 CPUs will give you more bang for your gaming dollar right now. It also means that you're opting out of a simple chip swap to go 6-core when those chips come out next year - P55-based machines will be limited to quad core. Personally, I don't see that as an issue, since by the time games can really use more than four cores, you'll be buying a new PC anyway, but if you want to be able upgrade to a 6-core chip next year, go for an X58-based PC.
In addition, if you're going for a high-end SLI or Crossfire rig, you'll want to stick with the X58 chipset, as that's one rare case where the X58's faster PCI bus will make a difference. I'm talking about a pair of GTX 285's, GTX 295's, or ATI 4870's 4890's, or 4870X2's. (Triple-GPUs of any kind would qualify too.)
Here's a reality check since the majority of our customers are gamers - none of the CPU options you pick are going to have anywhere near as great of an effect on your gaming performance as your video card choices. The only way to get CPU-bound on today's games is to throw $400 or more worth of video cards at a 19" or smaller monitor, at which point you should call us so we can point your money in a better direction.
So our advice: Go for the new P55/1156 chips unless:
A. You want to be able to drop in a six-core next year, or
B. You want to do a high-end SLI/Crossfire rig, or
C. You want the fastest PC possible (which is still the i7-975)
Happy hunting!
The old i7 chips were known as Bloomfield, and fit into socket 1366 motherboards, which ran on the Intel X58 chipset. The new CPUs "Lynnfield" are split into two options - the single "i5" 750, and two "i7" options, the 860 & the 870. The primary differences between the i5 and i7 chips (aside from the fact that the i5 is slightly slower than the slowest i7) is that the i5 does not support hyperthreading. (Hyperthreading makes a quad core CPU act as if it has 8 cores.) These new chips fit into socket 1156 motherboards, which use Intel's new P55 chipset. Bear in mind that P55 motherboards are generally less expensive than X58 boards, so going with Lynnfield chips reduces the cost of the PC a bit. So here is the entire Intel lineup as of today:
i5-750 2.66GHz $210 P55/1156
i7-920 2.66GHz $220 X58/1366
i7-860 2.80GHz $300 P55/1156
i7-950 3.06GHz $570 X58/1366
i7-870 2.93GHz $580 P55/1156
i7-975 3.33GHz $999 X58/1366
The memory controller on the new CPUs is a little bit faster than the old ones. While it's true that the new chips only support dual-channel memory (vs. triple-channel on the 1366 chips) that won't affect gaming performance until we start seeing games that stress three cores or more simultaneously - and that's still years away.
That means the new Lynnfield/P55 CPUs will give you more bang for your gaming dollar right now. It also means that you're opting out of a simple chip swap to go 6-core when those chips come out next year - P55-based machines will be limited to quad core. Personally, I don't see that as an issue, since by the time games can really use more than four cores, you'll be buying a new PC anyway, but if you want to be able upgrade to a 6-core chip next year, go for an X58-based PC.
In addition, if you're going for a high-end SLI or Crossfire rig, you'll want to stick with the X58 chipset, as that's one rare case where the X58's faster PCI bus will make a difference. I'm talking about a pair of GTX 285's, GTX 295's, or ATI 4870's 4890's, or 4870X2's. (Triple-GPUs of any kind would qualify too.)
Here's a reality check since the majority of our customers are gamers - none of the CPU options you pick are going to have anywhere near as great of an effect on your gaming performance as your video card choices. The only way to get CPU-bound on today's games is to throw $400 or more worth of video cards at a 19" or smaller monitor, at which point you should call us so we can point your money in a better direction.
So our advice: Go for the new P55/1156 chips unless:
A. You want to be able to drop in a six-core next year, or
B. You want to do a high-end SLI/Crossfire rig, or
C. You want the fastest PC possible (which is still the i7-975)
Happy hunting!
posted by Thomas Glen at
2:17 PM
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