1156 vs 1366 - comparing dual-channel to triple channel

[chameleon23]

Hey everyone,

Building a new system and am trying to decide whether to go the the 1156 or 1366 route. Processor and RAM costs are pretty much the same for both, so I'm only looking now at saving on the cost of the motherboard. Other than the dual-channel vs triple-channel difference, is there something else.

I'm comparing these two core builds

First
----------------------
ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Second
----------------------
ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)


The second build only has 4GB of RAM compared to 6GB for the first, but the only reason is because of the dual-channel support. Getting 6GB wouldn't make sense, I would consider increasing it straight to 8GB.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

 

[modestninja]

You'll get slightly better performance on the 1366 than the 1156 if you go with a multi-gpu setup. Unless you're doing something memory intensive, the dual channel vs triple channel will make very little difference in terms of performance.

Also, in you're going with stock settings on the procs, the 860 has a better turbo mode so will get you better performance than the 930, if not, when OC'd they'll be pretty close in performance.

 

[Termie]

You should also consider the cost of each setup. How much more is that x58 motherboard? At Newegg it's an $80 difference. And the extra stick of ram adds about $50, right? The 860 and 930 are pretty closely matched, speedwise. The x58 is better for dual graphics cards, the p55 is better for power savings. At equal cost, I think that's a toss-up. At ~$130 more for the 930/x58 setup, I think you've really got to want the benefits of the x58.

Two other pointers:
(1) that p55 motherboard you chose will be pretty bad for crossfire/sli (it has x16/x4 slots). If you want the best compromise on graphics/price, you might go with this motherboard, which is actually cheaper after rebate and has x8/x8 slots for crossfire/sli: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131407. You will lose USB3.0 and SATA6, however. If you will never go with dual cards, I think the p55 you selected is a good choice.
(2) I am a big believer in G.Skill ram. After using Corsair for years, I had a few problems with some sticks and tried G.Skill. It is top-rated in many comparison reviews, and it's often cheaper than Corsair.

 

[modestninja]

You should also consider the cost of each setup. How much more is that x58 motherboard? At Newegg it's an $80 difference. And the extra stick of ram adds about $50, right?

I agree with almost all of your post, but I still don't understand why whenever people bring up the 1156 vs 1366, everyone implies you need the extra stick of ram for the 1366 set up. It will run just fine with 4GB in dual channel mode so if you have a microcenter nearby, then the only additional cost that you need is the motherboard.

 

[chameleon23]

Thanks for the posts guys and you cleared some things up for me. One thing I noticed though is the difference in cache on the 930. We have 4 x 256K L2 cache on the 930 while the 860 has none in L2. I am not planning on OCing, but I've always noticed huge differences in the past with more cache so I was inclined to go the 930 route in that case. What are your thoughts there?

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

They have the same amount of cache.