Core i5,i7 impressions

[boiler]

I'm kicking around the idea of building a new multi-purpose rig. Design work, video editing, some gaming (eyeing a radeon 5770 to pair).

 

I've been out of the loop on the processor thing for quite a while. Are the new Core i7's (or i5's for that matter) worth the price premium over the Core 2's? I had a Core 2 E6600 in my last desktop that I sold a few years ago and have installed several more Core 2's in other comps for family and work. What I really care about is real-life performance, not benchmark charts.

 

I'm looking at an i7 920 right now, which is the top-end of what I would consider spending. Would a Core 2 Quad (or Core 2 Duo) make more sense? I don't want to feel like I have to upgrade the processor in a year (and thus change the motherboard).

 

Thanks!

[bushwack]

I would buy a $200 Core i5-750 over a C2Quad. I would get a the i5 over a i7 too, but I'm a cheapskate overclocker.

[Flitterkill]

What he said

 

Core Duo's are now 3 year old tech. The i# series are where it's at now, and worth the premium.

 

Budget builds with core duos are in the 500 range. Between the MB and the CPU expect to add on another 150 to 200 for the i series.

[boiler]

I've spec'd a build with the i7 920, I agree that it would make more sense. I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've had a desktop (w/ "brand new" E6600).

 

Would one of the i5's give better price/performance ratio than the i7 I'm considering?

[Flitterkill]

You gotta balance that line between performance vs depreciation.

 

When I upgrade the main machine, I usual take the middle path. Generally the price diff between the lower tier and the mid tier isn't enough to justify the lower tier. And conversely, the higher tier usually scares me off price wise compared to what it will be worth (vs newer chips) even a year later.

 

With the core duo's three years ago, that's what I did - took the mid level duo offering, skipped the higher end duo and quad. No regrets at all (especially as core aware apps and operating systems were not up to speed then)

 

If I was rolling a new one now - i5 - but that's just me and my philosophy.

[bushwack]

Do a little research, the i5 750 is newer tech and performs ever so slightly better then the i7 920. If you wanna really throw your money away... Take the extra money you save and invest it in a better video card, that makes the biggest difference in games and today's video cards can help process video data given the right application.

[samurai nightling]

Also, 8gb of ram . I would go with the i series over the Core 2's now, since they are the older technology. Though I've only had my Core 2 Q9550 for over a year now, i built this right as the i7's were being released and they were kind of expensive and brand new so i wanted to go with something that had been established a little. I would have liked to gone with an i7 but decided the price for it and then having to get the DDR3 memory was more than i wanted at the time, but the Q9550 has been great performance wise.

[Bush]

I agree with Flitter, that has always been my approach as well. Currently I'm on a very old rig, but I have been an unemployed (a brief stint at Best Buy, in the Geek Squad dept) full time college student for over a year now, but I am looking to become an expat again real soon (contract will be in the mail this week). With that said (sorry for the hijack), I will have a little extra cash, but I need to keep it mobile this time.

 

I worked on some of the Asus lap tops that Mavarick likes so much and they are nice, but when ever I pick up my cousins alienware that thing just rocks so I'm thinking about this only because it has a ten key # pad, which I need for cad, 3d modeling, and for writing formulas in excel. If the I5 had a 10 key # pad I would go with that. I'm open to suggestions, it will be probably two months before I pick one up.

 

edit: I know I could just hook up a kb to it, and a larger monitor, but I'm going to be on the road at times (not a ton) and would like to just carry around one piece of hardware when possible.

 

/end hijack

 

If I were to build a new desk top I would go for an I5 or one of the new amd quad cores that are cheaper. I built a system for a friend of mine a few months ago, however all he does is play wow, and spec'd out this CPU, and a gts 250 vid card 1g ram (ati at the time had issues with wow) and once we got it up and going he was getting 150-200 fps in the new 25 man raids, up from 15-30 (I forget the old comp specs, 3 year mid ranged dell). So like bush said that may be an option also and cheaper. The I series are awesome though.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Bush

[boiler]

Thanks for all the inputs! I looked over the i5-750, and think that will be the way to go. Difference in price will pay for a better/quieter heatsink/fan.

 

I am looking into motherboards now, but am pretty set with an XFX HD5770 XXX. The jump in video card prices for the next step up is asinine for what I will be using this for. Wish I could go with eVGA for the card, but from what I've heard the nvidia offerings aren't up to the level of ATI cards right now.

[boiler]

Ordered mah parts! Looks like I'll have a nice weekend project!!

[Laz.e.rus]

nice let us know!

[boiler]

Got the beast put together tonight, just been installing the essentials thus far and won't have much fun time with it until the weekend.

 

Final specs:

 

Antec P182 case

Intel Core i5 750

Asus P7P55D

4GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 "ripjaws"

XFX HD5770 XXX

2x500GB WD caviar black

Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

 

Planning to install XP on the second hard drive eventually. This is meant to be a xp and 7 client test rig for my Server 2003 learnings, but it obviously has some leg room built in.

[boiler]

Wish I had built this on a Friday, hated leaving for work this morning instead of playing around with the new toy. Hopefully Crysis Maximum Edition (or whatev-tf it's called) will be finished downloading by the time I get home.

 

Strangely enough, the ONLY issue I had during the build/install last night was with the Logitech G500 I bought for it. It was doing some crazy s*** and made the windows install darn near impossible. Had to run back to Best Buy to exchange it. Never had a mouse flip out like that on me fresh out of the box. The replacement though is niiiiiiice!

[samurai nightling]

Nice rig, always room for more RAM in there too if needed. I see you also went with the P182 case, me likey (since i have the same one also ) I like in that case how the PSU is isolated in the bottom section with its own fan, definitely reduces heat up around the rest of the case. Also with that case if you need to, you can install a 120mm fan in the front to draw extra air in, which i chose to do because my 4 sticks of 8gb RAM gets pretty hot in the front there. Nice compy though, pics now!