How many cores do you need?

[Chevron]

An interesting read at tom's hardware:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/multi-core-cpu,2280.html

Seems that for gaming a Tri-Core is the sweet spot.

[Frozenfireside]

This is great Chev. I thankyou hugely for it.

[Chevron]

This is great Chev. I thankyou hugely for it.

It's a pleasure. Just remember that most people don't just run one app at once. We all have back round apps. The tris and quads should prove even more worthy in real life.

[Rizzla]

Yeh, those Tri-cores are definitely a good buy. Very smart move from AMD methinks :)

[Ch@pS]

My word, whoever wrote that article needs to look at his tests again.

You cant compare a 3 core Q6600 with a 4 Core Q6600, its retarded. The 3rd Core on the 3Core Q6600 now has double the cache available too it since the other core it shares the cache with is disabled. Thats why in 1 or 2 tests the 3 core beats the 4 core.

Its not like comparing the same CPU with different sized cores. And when testing two cores on the Q6600 2 core, did he use 0 and 1 which means less cache per core, or did he use 0 and 2, which means each core gets double the cache? That can skew the results tremendously.

Really, there are far too many variables in this to test and get conclusive results.

I think you should all disregard that entire article since the noob who tested the cores and wrote the piece didnt know what he was talking about.

If you understand what I said in the first two paragraphs here you'll see the test is total BS, if you don't, you shouldn't be fooled by a noob who thinks he's helping people.

[H2O]

is the the i7 any good

[hawk]

Yep, its pretty awesome.

[pArkEr]

I have a one-core, Intel Celeron, recently overclocked to 2.5GHz, and it actually runs most games pretty well. Granted, I run a nifty little program called GameBooster, which shuts down background programs, cleans up RAM and intensifies CPU performance. Was actually able to get Assassins Creed playable.

[Ch@pS]

Which Celeron? Model?

[pArkEr]

440.

[Wanbalans]

the i7 is overpriced

[Ch@pS]

The i7 is not overpriced. It fills its target market at a decent price point.

[Wanbalans]

im still gonna wait for the price to come down, or check what amd brings out next

[X-Gamer]

The i7 is not overpriced. It fills its target market at a decent price point.

True,
Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz now going for R3122-57 at landmarkpc.co.za (http://www.landmarkpc.co.za/store/intel-266ghz-quad-core-p-2416.html)

Lets not forget that it beats the AMD phenom II 955 BE (AMD's flagship), and it costs less!*



*Actual CPU prices in South Africa at time of going to post, does not take whole platform cost into account.

[Wanbalans]

and then you will need a new mobo, as the i7 uses dif socket.

[Chevron]

It's only with heavily multi threaded apps that the i7 really pulls ahead. The phenom2 is good value for money.

[Ch@pS]

i7 920 > PII 955 at everything, enough said. And for R3100 CPU, R2400 board, R900 RAM, its actually a very good deal for anyone that wants to upgrade. R6400 on those 3 items for a high end system really does appeal.

[Wanbalans]

i7 920 > PII 955 at everything, enough said. And for R3100 CPU, R2400 board, R900 RAM, its actually a very good deal for anyone that wants to upgrade. R6400 on those 3 items for a high end system really does appeal.

Core 2 Quad is high end enough at the moment, you are not gonna need that processing power for a long time to come

[Ch@pS]

You wont, I will. Blanket statements like that show how ignorant you are of i7's target market.

[Wanbalans]

Well, i dont realy care, for the average person an core 2 quad is enough.
I can play all the games and all the apps i want with a duel core notebook

[Wesley]

the i7 is overpriced

The i7 isn't priced to fill the mainstream market - this is Intel's flagship range, the high-performance one. The only people who will buy it are:


Hardcore gamers
Hardware enthusiasts
Professionals who require a huge amount of computing power, eg: Architects, CAD engineers
People with way too much money
People who want to boost their e-peenzor factor



im still gonna wait for the price to come down, or check what amd brings out next

What AMD is bringing out next is already on the shelves. The only vast improvement we can expect is the move to the 32nm process late next year.


Lets not forget that it beats the AMD phenom II 955 BE (AMD's flagship), and it costs less!

Lets not forget you aren't taking the full system into account, but prices have actually dropped dramatically. The i7 920 (full system) is now available to those who have a budget of R12000.


i7 920 > PII 955 at everything, enough said. And for R3100 CPU, R2400 board, R900 RAM, its actually a very good deal for anyone that wants to upgrade. R6400 on those 3 items for a high end system really does appeal.

I agree. If I had R12k, I'd buy an i7 ^_^


Core 2 Quad is high end enough at the moment, you are not gonna need that processing power for a long time to come

Well, its all relative.Casual gamers might not need all that power, but "High Settings Junkies" obviously will. For most, a Dual-Core is still perfect, and a Quad core only being viable in, say, a R10k budget. The i7 platform has actually dropped so low in price, its actually now making choosing a quad-core system a silly idea.

Edit: Really, this kind of pricing puts a strain on quad-cores. (http://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/showpost.php?p=189540&postcount=2)

[X-Gamer]

Lets not forget you aren't taking the full system into account, but prices have actually dropped dramatically. The i7 920 (full system) is now available to those who have a budget of R12000.




LOL .You neglected to read the fine print.



True,
Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz now going for R3122-57 at landmarkpc.co.za

Lets not forget that it beats the AMD phenom II 955 BE (AMD's flagship), and it costs less!*



*Actual CPU prices in South Africa at time of going to post, does not take whole platform cost into account.

[Wesley]

LOL .You neglected to read the fine print.

Lol. You neglected to read my post carefully. When I mean the entire system, I'm talking processor, motherboard, and RAM in total.

For the Core i7, you have to get an X58 motherboard, and you have to get 3GB DDR3 memory. For the AMD rig, one can settle for a 780G chipset (half the price of the X58, depending on what you choose), and you can settle for 4GB DDR2 memory, which again works out cheaper than the i7. Most wont even need the unlocked multiplier, so the majority of us would take the 940, which is again cheaper (depending on your shop of choice).

[X-Gamer]

The reason I added the "fine print"(asterisk) was to highlight that even though the i7 920 CPU might be cheaper than the AMD 955 BE, the entire platform cost was much more, which I mentioned Implicitly in the fine print, maybe i should have stated it explicitly to avoid confusion.



True,
Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz now going for R3122-57 at landmarkpc.co.za

Lets not forget that it beats the AMD phenom II 955 BE (AMD's flagship), and it costs less!*



*Actual CPU prices in South Africa at time of going to post, does not take whole platform cost into account.