Intel Core i5 vs i7 or Core Duo 2 E8400

[InterfaceMan]

Hello,

My PC is six years old and needs upgrade.This is my home PC and I usually use it for internet, Netflix movie, kid's game and word processing. Is Core i7 is overkill for the above usage ?

I am looking into Core i5 750, i7 870 or Core 2 duo E8400 CPU. Please advice which one I should get ? Also advice on best motherboard under $150.

Can I use my current HDD (500 GB) which has windows XP Pro and want to uograde to Windows 7.

I will appreciate your kind advice.

Regards,

 

[Athadeus]

i5 750

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130291 (under 150 after MIR, and best for features, not value imo)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188064 for best value I think.

yes.

 

[billyb0b]

i7 would be overkill.... a nice i5 would suite your needs easy.

win 7 64-bit is a must upgrade over win xp

 

[adamantinepiggy]

For your rather low powered usage, I'd suggest an i5 duo core on a h55 chipset, 4GB RAM, with the savings from the duo core over a higher end processor and only 4GB RAM put towards a decent SSD. For what you listed, 4GB RAM is plenty, especially when paired with a good SSD.

With the H55 chipset and the proper processor, you wont have to buy a video card, yet the PCIe slot on every H55 MB (which are cheap compared to P55 boards) will still allow you to drop in a vid card later if you decide to play higher powered games.

A good SSD on a lower power system will feel faster than a higher power system with a slow hard drive. Use the SSD for the OS and apps with the old hard drive for storage.

 

[InterfaceMan]

Thank you Gentlemen. Do you guys know what the main diff between H55 and P55 Chipset ? Also shoul dI look into Asus or Intel board. I would not mind to get a video card under $100 so I can watch movies. Any advice on mothboard and video card for Core i5 750 CPU.

Thank You.

 

[adamantinepiggy]

The main difference bewteen the P55 and H55 chipset is that P55 offers Intel's Raid, while the H55 allows you to use Intel's IGP video if the CPU supports it. P55 MB's tend to cost more than H55, but In my experience, performs no better really for same-price motherboards levels.

I personally like the MSI and Gigabyte H55 boards. I'm not a big fan of ASUS stuff anymore and I think Intel MB's are overpriced garbage. My H55 MB's integrated video plays movies and most light games just fine without an add-on video card (I have a seperate computer to play graphic intensive games). If your primary goal is to watch movies, I definately would not but a seperate video card until you have tested the IGP video. It's pretty dang good for a freebie.

BTW: if you opt to get the 750 i5 model, note that it doesn't support the IGP graphics on any chipset. The "quad" core i5's don't have the video circuitry. The "dual" core i5's do. So basically if you do go with the i5 750, get the P55 chipset MB's.

 

[InterfaceMan]

I have narrowed down to MSI P55A-GD65 and Gigabyte P55A-UD7. Do you guys know what RAM module works best with this two motherboard ?

Also how much space is needed to install windows 7 Pro ? The price for SSD are very high. I found one made by Intel X25M (80GB) for $199. Is this enough space for OS and win apps ?

 

[coffeejunkee]

UD7? That one's a little over 150 and completely overkill for what you need. Don't you mean UD3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=ga-p55a-ud3? Get UD3R if you need eSata as well.

80GB is plenty, unless you plan on installing many (new) games. X25V 40GB is enough to hold Win7 64 bit, office, cs + some small apps.

As for memory, just get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-810-_-Product

Works everytime.

 

[Bman123]

Thank you Gentlemen. Do you guys know what the main diff between H55 and P55 Chipset ? Also shoul dI look into Asus or Intel board. I would not mind to get a video card under $100 so I can watch movies. Any advice on mothboard and video card for Core i5 750 CPU.

Thank You.

If your not overclocking just buy the cheapest board from a good MFG

 

[InterfaceMan]

I am now more confused by reading all the threads and everyone like different board or manufacturer. I narrowed down to MSI P55A, Gigabyte or Asus again. My old drive is IDE/ATA and looking for a board that has SATA and IDE. Any last advice to help me select one board would be great.

Thank you.

 

[InterfaceMan]

Need your openion on ASTS D7P55D Pro. This one has 1 IDE header. I need two, one for my old drtive I replaced couple of monthe ago and for Sony DVD Writer. Is this a good stable board. Please let me.

Thanks,

 

[jaydee]

If you're trying to save money, why would you not get an H55 board and use Intels IGP? A discrete card is going to do absolutely nothing more than on-board for the uses you described above. My opinion (if you must go Intel):

H55 mobo (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131623)

i5-6-series CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115220)

SSD, 60 GB OCZ Agility/Vertex 2 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227550)

RAM: 4GB of DDR1333 or 1600 @ 1.5V, whatevers a good deal depending on the day, should be no more than ~$90

 

[InterfaceMan]

Hi,

What do you think of Gigabyte P44A-UD4P mobo ? I already got Core i5 750 processor. Do you recommend and cheap good videp card ? Plese let me know at your earliest convenience.

Thanks,

 

[Rifter]

If you dont game i would go for a passive cooled card so you can have a quiet system. a GTS 210/220/240 or ATI 4350/5450.

 

[jaydeee]

if you're considering price then i3 will do. 4 GB of RAM will give a good boost to the system

 

[InterfaceMan]

Thank you all for your advice. I ordered and parts should be here by 9/6/10.

Core i5 760
Corsair XM3 4GB RAM
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO mobo
ASUS ENGT 240/D1/1GB RAM Video
Intel XM-25 M SSD
WD 1TB SATA 6G HDD
Thermaltake A6 case
Thermaltake 600W PS
Acer 23" LCD Display

Planning to install Win 7 64 bit. Does it support some of the old apps like EZ-DVD copier ? or should I install 32-bit. Please let me know.

 

[electroju]

Thank you all for your advice. I ordered and parts should be here by 9/6/10.

Core i5 760
Corsair XM3 4GB RAM
ASUS P7P55D-E PRO mobo
ASUS ENGT 240/D1/1GB RAM Video
Intel XM-25 M SSD
WD 1TB SATA 6G HDD
Thermaltake A6 case
Thermaltake 600W PS
Acer 23" LCD Display

Planning to install Win 7 64 bit. Does it support some of the old apps like EZ-DVD copier ? or should I install 32-bit. Please let me know.

I understand that you already got the parts, but that is over kill for what you are using it for. AMD will be a better choice because AMD is cheaper. Who cares that Intel has performance right now because you just need a computer that is two times faster. An AMD Phenom II X4 965 could have been bought for the money that you spent on the Intel i5-760. You could also go crazy by getting an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T.

Thermaltake power supplies are not good. Enermax is a lot better.

For games, I suggest go with at least GeForce GTS250. For high quality settings a GeForce GT280 or GeForce GT480.

A better LCD for the same monitor size is NEC EA231WMi. It has low lag time and its response times is fast for being an IPS panel which makes it good for playing games. It has wide viewing angles compared to the Acer monitor that you bought.

I do not recommend memory rated any faster than DDR3-1333. The processors are not bandwidth limited. Faster memory is not always better. Low CAS is better than buying the fastest memory, but it seems people here always argue that faster is better. Sure faster is better, but heat and maximum specs becomes a factor. Higher speed requires more voltage and this will damage the chips and produce excessive heat.


When using 4 GB of RAM, you have to use 64-bit operating systems.to take advantage of all that RAM. For Windows 7, you may have to upgrade to 8 GB of RAM because Windows 7 has poor memory efficiency. Your SSD will be damaged before you know it from the swapping, but it too late to change that.

You are buying a system that is completely over kill for what you do.

 

[piasabird]

If you buy a quad core you cant use Intel Graphics unless it is integrated on the motherboard. That kind of defeats the purpose in some ways of an Intel motherboard with the Video ports on it.

This a compatability list for Intel motherboard DH55TC which is a $99.00 Motherboard with HDMI (Assumes processor has Intel Graphics). Quads do not have integrated graphics. If you look at the compatible processor list it says quads with the 8 meg cache do not have integrated video.

Motherboard:
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DH55TC/DH55TC-overview.htm

Processors:
http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?BoardName=DH55TC

 

[InterfaceMan]

If you buy a quad core you cant use Intel Graphics unless it is integrated on the motherboard. That kind of defeats the purpose in some ways of an Intel motherboard with the Video ports on it.

This a compatability list for Intel motherboard DH55TC which is a $99.00 Motherboard with HDMI (Assumes processor has Intel Graphics). Quads do not have integrated graphics. If you look at the compatible processor list it says quads with the 8 meg cache do not have integrated video.

Motherboard:
http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/motherboards/DH55TC/DH55TC-overview.htm

Processors:
http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?BoardName=DH55TC

I have already purchased ASUS video card. This should work with the ASUS mobo and Core i760 processor ? Please don't tell me that I made a mistake. I will appreciate your answer.

 

[InterfaceMan]

Finally I got all the parts and put it together last night. I was surprised to see that it is working and has minor glitches. I would appreciate if you can advice. Following are my problems:

1. When I connected SSD to SATA 1 in mobo and WD 6GB/s drive to SATA 6gb/s port. Systems does not recognize SSD, it only sees one drive. I then move WD 6GB/s drive to SATA 2 (3gb/s) port and now it sees both of them. Is there any issue with the ASUS board or controller ? Do I have to use SATA 6gb/s cable ? Any advice.

2. Aftter finding both drive on SATA1 and 2 by BIOS. I installed Windows 7. Now in Windows 7 I only see SSD drive, not my WD drive. Do I need to format the WD drive in order for me to see.

Besides that, this is my first windows 7 installtion and I really like the OS. Please let me know if you can help

 

[adamantinepiggy]

Finally I got all the parts and put it together last night. I was surprised to see that it is working and has minor glitches. I would appreciate if you can advice. Following are my problems:

1. When I connected SSD to SATA 1 in mobo and WD 6GB/s drive to SATA 6gb/s port. Systems does not recognize SSD, it only sees one drive. I then move WD 6GB/s drive to SATA 2 (3gb/s) port and now it sees both of them. Is there any issue with the ASUS board or controller ? Do I have to use SATA 6gb/s cable ? Any advice.

2. Aftter finding both drive on SATA1 and 2 by BIOS. I installed Windows 7. Now in Windows 7 I only see SSD drive, not my WD drive. Do I need to format the WD drive in order for me to see.

Besides that, this is my first windows 7 installtion and I really like the OS. Please let me know if you can help

My suggestion:

Since it works properly with both plugged into the Intel SATA2 ports, just keep them both hooked to it. You lose basically nothing by doing so as all the current SATA3 controllers (especially the drivers) suck ass. You might lose a tiny bit of max read speeds in "benchmarks", but in every other usage test (and real work/world use), the Intel controller just works better than the secondary cheap controllers (regardless of the claimed SATA speeds).

As for the WD drive not seen after Win7 install on SSD. You probably need to go into the "Disk Management" app to initialize the drive and then format it.

FYI, SATA cables are SATA cables in use. There is no special SATA3 "cable".