Upgrading to I7 960 or 970

[soldano]

I am a gamer and principally run Flight Simulator X, which is highly CPU clock dependant.- Actually I am using a E8600 OC at 4,2 Ghz, and intend to upgrade to an I7 rig and OC it at its limits.- My doubt is about chosing the 960 or the 970 which almost doubles the price.- Is it worth the money diference ?.-
What can I expect with both processors in terms of OC ?
Thanks

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Why not just save some money and buy an i7 930 and overclock, same number of cores as the i7 960 just cheaper. OC's should be similar as far as I know.

If you want 6 cores you can look at the i7 970 or Xeons, both are expensive...

 

[khon]

The 970 has 6x32nm cores while the 960 only has 4x45nm cores, so while the names make them sound similar they are really quite different, hence the price difference.

Honestly though I don't think either one is worth it, but that's really an individual choice.

 

[Anubis]

unless itll actually peg all 6 (12) cores just go with a 930 and OC it, better value then the 960 and yull get very similar results

 

[mutz]

why not trying the X6 1090t?
it's 6 cores 3.2Ghz...

 

[soldano]

why not trying the X6 1090t?
it's 6 cores 3.2Ghz...

Which is its OC speed limit on air ?
Thanks

 

[mutz]

Which is its OC speed limit on air ?
Thanks

you can check out HWbot CPU-Z benches,
the 1090t reaches 6.9Ghz (LN2) while the I7 960 only 5.8..
though this is not such a fair compare as AMD's CPU's are said not to be affected by any cold bug which enables them with much lower temperatures and higher more stable OC.

you can have a look at this review, saying 4.2 on stock cooling is easily get, same as for 4.4 with water cooling.

take it as an option though, relatively cheap and nice option, if the game is multithreaded no surprise if the 970 would slap it with FPS.

 

[sgrinavi]

Just wondering why you wouldn't consider the 980x for $100 more?

If I were gaming on a system I would be HARD pressed to look away from that $300 6 core processor at 3.2 before you OC it.... that's a damn good bang/buck

Hell, you can do the AMD 2.8 - 6 core for under 200 & oc it

 

[soldano]

Just wondering why you wouldn't consider the 980x for $100 more?

If I were gaming on a system I would be HARD pressed to look away from that $300 6 core processor at 3.2 before you OC it.... that's a damn good bang/buck

Hell, you can do the AMD 2.8 - 6 core for under 200 & oc it

The 980x is a better option that the 970 at almost the same price, but comparing with the 960 is $ 430 more expensive, I wonder if it is worth the diference.-

 

[sgrinavi]

The 980x is a better option that the 970 at almost the same price, but comparing with the 960 is $ 430 more expensive, I wonder if it is worth the diference.-

You are really the only one that can answer that. For me there is no way in hell I would go with a 960, 970 or 980x for gaming.

I would be looking at the 930 (which will, pretty much equal a 960 when they are BOTH OC'd) or the AMD option. IMO that's a hot lick

 

[mutz]

hh,
at the same price of the 980, you can get the 1090t and build an SS running it at 5Ghz..😛.

anyhow, why people are so occupied with Intel when AMD has such nice options, and especially this year?
it almost a habit going "what is better? the 9xx or the 8xx for X?
people might not like hearing it and sum it as good marketing though intel is really pushing it with prices, doubling it for another few hundred Mhz or even tripling it for a 3.3 version (not even talking about the 6 core and Xeons).

did anybody hear about the 6 core opteron 2.8Ghz 4184 at 300$?
you get 12 actual cores including the motherboard for the price of a single 6 core Xeon (as low clocked as possible)..

AMD deserve some kudos.


E:
hey, don't be so heavy, just lose it :\..
OP, you got some nice options, take your time, and decide 🙂.