Can you help me choose a CPU?

[Turkish]

Hi all,

I am about to build a desktop and having some trouble choosing a CPU. Before I start, I must warn you that these are my only choices, and I cannot choose any other except for much lower GHz or lower cache.

Generally I am leaning towards Intel i7, but there are several versions with different sockets and some differences. So out of the following, which one do you recommend?

These 2 are the same price... I don't know the difference, it seems that one has dual, and the other three channel RAM?

i7 - 860 SLBJJ, 2.80 GHz, 8MB L3, Dual Channel DDR3, LGA 1156
i7 - 930 D0 SLBKP, 2.80 GHz, 8MB L3, Three Channel DDR3, LGA 1366

Then there're this model which is an i5 but have similar specs and is much cheaper. Of course it has lower GHz, but the price difference is 33% cheaper. So other than the higher GHz, are the i7s really worth the difference? I am pretty confused to be honest.

i5 - 750 SLBLC, 2.66 GHz, 8MB L3, Dual Channel DDR3, LGA 1156.

So what do guys recommend? I use my PC mainly for browsing the web, a bit coding (very light), and watching DVDs, listening to music.

Thank you guys for helping.

 

[LoneNinja]

If that is all you do with your computer, I doubt you would even notice the difference between an I3 and an I7. Personally I would grab the I5 from the choices you've mentioned since it is way more than what is needed for those tasks, and it's your cheapest choice. Main advantage of I7 over I5 is that is has hyperthreading, giving you a total of 8 logical cores which improves multitasking and performance in well threaded apps, something that is useless for your given tasks.

 

[MagickMan]

i5 750

 

[Turkish]

If that is all you do with your computer, I doubt you would even notice the difference between an I3 and an I7. Personally I would grab the I5 from the choices you've mentioned since it is way more than what is needed for those tasks, and it's your cheapest choice. Main advantage of I7 over I5 is that is has hyperthreading, giving you a total of 8 logical cores which improves multitasking and performance in well threaded apps, something that is useless for your given tasks.

Thank you for the response

Yeah, that seems logical as it's much cheaper. One more question though, is this socket going to be discontinued from now on? So in the future if I want to upgrade my CPU, would I not have any choices? Is the i7 with the different socket a more upgradeable one for the future?

 

[s44]

The other i7 socket will be discontinued at the same time. If you want upgrades on the socket, go AM3.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

So what do guys recommend? I use my PC mainly for browsing the web, a bit coding (very light), and watching DVDs, listening to music.

Thank you guys for helping.

i3 works for you.
heck, you could get away with an older c2d or AMD PII and save even more money.

i5 = gaming
i7 = encoding

 

[OBLAMA2009]

i would get the 930 or 860. in my opinion the i5 is clocked too low

 

[veri745]

i would get the 930 or 860. in my opinion the i5 is clocked too low

Did you read the entire OP? He's using it for web browsing and media; in what way does that warrant spending so much extra for the i7?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Yeah i5. If you had the money and were impulsive and like me you would get an i7, but as someone who was going to get an i5, get that i5. I do gaming and photoshopping too, but there's no way I could justify spending so much more on an i7. Then that bonus check arrived and changed everything.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Did you read the entire OP? He's using it for web browsing and media; in what way does that warrant spending so much extra for the i7?

its only like $50 more. lets say he keeps it 2 years, you dont think the extra speed is worth with it?

 

[MisterDonut]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say AMD...

For what you're using your computer for, a Conroe will do it. If anything, SSD should be your main concern, not the CPU.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I'd say go with a Core i3 540. Fast, efficient, and cheap.

its only like $50 more. lets say he keeps it 2 years, you dont think the extra speed is worth with it?

No. If web browsing and music/movies were all I did, I still have an Athlon64 3200+ that does the job perfectly fine, and I bet it'll still be fine in 2 years' time. So no, I don't think anyone needs a Core i7, or even i5, for web browsing and media watching.

 

[Markfw]

its only like $50 more. lets say he keeps it 2 years, you dont think the extra speed is worth with it?

The "platform" is a lot more than $50. More like $200 more. Maybe the cpu is only 50 more.

 

[mbevolution]

The "platform" is a lot more than $50. More like $200 more. Maybe the cpu is only 50 more.

I concur. i7 isn't worth it for op's purpose.

I would suggest i5 750, you can build the entire system for a little less than $800 minus monitor and keyboard/mouse. Will last you at least 4 yrs unless you start doing some heavy encoding etc.. As for upgradability, if you gonna use ur computer for say like 4 yrs or more, then when its time to build a new one you prolly will be better off buying everything brand new again to avoid bottlenecking issues.
just my .02

 

[veri745]

its only like $50 more. lets say he keeps it 2 years, you dont think the extra speed is worth with it?

I'm going to guess he'll keep it for a lot longer than 2 yrs if that's really all he needs, and no, I still don't think it's worth it.

If that's all I needed a computer for, I wouldn't even have a desktop; a laptop would be good enough.

 

[RussianSensation]

So what do guys recommend? I use my PC mainly for browsing the web, a bit coding (very light), and watching DVDs, listening to music.

Thank you guys for helping.

Core i5 750 is more than enough. The 860/930 won't really benefit you given the 33% price increase. Save your $ towards a future upgrade or an SSD hard drive.

If you want an upgradable path, your only good option is AM3 socket and AMD. However, don't worry about that because you will want PCI express 3.0, native SATA 3.0 and other new features that may come along down the line. For the tasks you described, even i5 750 is overkill.