Which intel would you recommend?

[perdomot]

I've been going back and forth between choosing an i5-660/H55 or a i5-750/P55 combo and can't see much difference. I want to OC to about 3.8-4.0Ghz and I believe P55 has some sort of limiting issue with the PCI-e bus but I'm not sure. Can anyone advise me which would be better for a multimedia rig? Thanks.

 

[Axon]

No gaming? Get the i3 530, great chip, overclocks well. H55 motherboard get you inboard video and you're set.

 

[perdomot]

I'm really looking for a quad cpu because I do a bit of vid encoding. Just found this:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-650-660-661-review-test/13
The OC'd 660 still didn't surpass the non OC'd 750 on many tests but the video encoding really caught my eye. If I can OC the 750 to 3.6-3.8Ghz, I think it will be the best choice.

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you are encoding, the 750 is a solid choice. Encoding applications SHOULD be able to exploit Hyperthreading as well, so if you can get an 860, you may see a boost in performance. A 750 @ 3.6 ghz should handle encoding tasks quite well, nevertheless.

 

[Axon]

If you are encoding, the 750 is a solid choice. Encoding applications SHOULD be able to exploit Hyperthreading as well, so if you can get an 860, you may see a boost in performance. A 750 @ 3.6 ghz should handle encoding tasks quite well, nevertheless.

Agree. Since it wasn't clear (at least to me ) what you were looking to do, I made the i3 recommendation. No question that i5 750 kills that chip for encoding, however.

750 needs an independent video card, but that's not difficult.

 

[yh125d]

Well if you're looking for a quad (which you should if its in your budget), then the 750 of course. The i5 660 is dual core

 

[n7]

i5 750 + P55 = best higher end bang for buck option out there.

 

[wiedersehen]

i5 750 of course the best choice.

 

[Phil1977]

i5 750. It kills the dual cores in mutli threaded stuff and it's fast in single threaded stuff because of turbo mode.

 

[Nemesis 1]

. I would say 930. Reason being upgradeabilty is better. Buy 4x930 and in 1 year pick up a x6 on the cheap as SB will already be out . You pay a bit more now but your up grade path to best performance gain per dollar is Intel x6 later on.

 

[fzdog2]

Except that SB is on 2011LGA or 1155LGA, so a new motherboard is necessary.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Except that SB is on 2011LGA or 1155LGA, so a new motherboard is necessary.

Sandy bridge has nothing to do with it.

Get the 1366 socket now 930 for a year or 2 than upgrade to intels x6 for 1366 later for cheap. This gets you a really fast system for about 4 years skipping the first and second generation of SB .