What would you do...

[dust]

I'm fairly new at all this so forgive me if I'm saying stupid things, but I see no reason to go for an I7 yet. I always had the impression that the first gen of anything is not properly tweaked from factory, same as the software if you wish. Like many already said, the I7 runs very very hot right now, I've seen posts here where the idle temps were little above 60c and well above 75-80c under load and that was with mild overclock only.

If you check the PC Gaming section you'll likely find some benchies for FC2 where it's clearly shown the performance gain ?!? of an I7 920 over a qx9770 and a c2d all of them at stock speeds( 3,2 for the first two and only 3,16 for the c2d). At low resolutions the I7 and the extreme outperform the c2d but at high resolutions the difference is not that obvious as the game becomes more gpu tied. Also the extreme clearly outperforms the I7 in this particular app. Consider also that the I7 came with 6gb DDR3, the quad with 4gb DDR3 and the duo with 2gb only.

I myself have an yorkfield and my next cpu will be an qx9770 not an I7 even towards the mid of next year, when the price would be low enough. For the next gen I'll start thinking maybe after another year as I'm sure there will be better options to choose from. Right now, as I can see, the only gain is having more windows open at the same time with an I7 but that's about it.

I think someone said it best here earlier, sell the I7 and build a yorkfield platform, it should be ok for you for a couple of years from now and consider the fact that whatever is latest today will be obsolete in a few months, therefore lesser priced.

 

[faxon]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: JMapleton
However for everyday use there should be no problem.

But the same could be said for a Pentium II today, couldn't it? For web browsing and e-mail, you don't need anything faster. I'd sure hate to be using one, though.

Originally posted by: Jcmdrdredd
Notice where the i7 really stands out, 3D and video. If you don't do that then don't expect a miracle. It's not like the jump from the P4 to Core2, it's like a baby step for everyone but those who work with 3D and video editing all day.

Just a clarification here, cmdrdredd is referring to 3D rendering, like what is needed to do CAD, not 3D gaming and the like.

actually dude, for sites that are loaded with flash (which are more and more these days) something like even a 2600+ Athlon XP and a gig of DDR400 is unbearably slow, since the flash bottlenecks on slower CPUs and brings the web browsing to a sluggish churn. i cant even begin to imagine how much that would suck on a pentium 2 LOL

 

[eternalone]

Why is ECS junk ??? Ecs and stock speeds are very good mother boards. If you can get one for free they are a very good bargain, for non overclockers. Oh and if your going to upgrade its a no brainer i7, or wait for the new Amd chips in January.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: eternalone
Why is ECS junk ??? Ecs and stock speeds are very good mother boards. If you can get one for free they are a very good bargain, for non overclockers. Oh and if your going to upgrade its a no brainer i7, or wait for the new Amd chips in January.

LOL @ AMD...

Wait and see if you're that hardcore about AMD, but if you get a free i7 sell it and build a Quad system around a q9550 or something similar. That's what I'd do at this moment in time.

As I said before, it isn't a no brainer at all. Seriously. You'll spend ~$700 on the motherboard and memory alone...just to get the i7 up and running. Then remember what I said about the i7 only really showing its muscle in certain applications and situations?

Personally, I'm not the guinea pig.

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: eternalone
Why is ECS junk ??? Ecs and stock speeds are very good mother boards. If you can get one for free they are a very good bargain, for non overclockers. Oh and if your going to upgrade its a no brainer i7, or wait for the new Amd chips in January.

It's not junk, it's fine. They even OC some. If Fry's does a black edition phenom with an ECS combo, that could be VERY fun. I'm going to wait for Phenom2 to come to market, see how it fairs, and decide then when/how to upgrade.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: acole1
Current Specs:
X2 4400+ @ stock
4x512 PC3200
DFI LanParty Ultra-D
8800GTS 640

Option 1:
I have been looking at upgrading to the Q6600 and getting the P5Q-E and getting 4 or 8GB of some nice DDR2 ram within the next couple of months -- graduation present for self.
Price: $375 - $400

Option 2:
I also have the *possibility* of getting a free i7 of unknown model, then I would have to get a skt 1366 motherboard and some expensive DDR3 (6GB minimum).
Price: $450 - $550

Option 3:
Another option has dropped in my lap (until tomorrow) with Frys B&M selling the Q9550 + ECS junk for $230, which is $90 lower than NE's price. I would then junk the motherboard and get the P5Q-E and some decent DDR2 ram.
Price: $425 - $450


The question is, which option is best? I would like to OC to somewhere in the 3.0-3.4 range and get some decent performance out of the 775 options. The 1366 option is not so clear.

Thanks for you suggestions!

get the i7... SELL it on ebay for 300$, use that to pay for option 3 or 1.

 

[sgrinavi]

It depends on what you are going to do with it.

For general use and games the 9550 is going to do the trick until the I7 comes off the bleeding edge and gets reasonable. The i7 is cool and really great if you are into rendering or encoding, maybe the next gen of games will take advantage of it.

 

[Sentry2]

If you want the option to go SLI or CF get the i7. If you're planning on running dual video cards...get the i7. The only thing that isn't that great...DDR3 prices...and they're coming down a bit. The only reason ddr3 looks expensive is because how silly cheap(no such thing as too cheap) ddr2 has become.

SLI/CF(especially SLI) benefits quite a bit from i7's extra hp...single gpu's...not so much.

If you can afford it...get an i7.