Hardware Intel Core i7 CPU and Platform Value

i would love to see something similar done but with graphic cards...

 

name one cpu limited game in the last 3 years please

as i cant

q6600 is still a good cpu.

Until amd release a point were they compete. Prices will go sky high.

as intel can charge what they want and this is what we are seeing. Im hoping to see amd close the gap alot. When there best cpu doesnt come close to intels problems exist

nvidia and ati are finally quiet close. And are at least competing to the point were we are seeing prices drop.

amd and intel are so far apart you could fit 200 buses

 

Supreme Commander in skirmish mode loved the cores

 

Man, glad to see i made a good decision almost 6months ago with buying that q6600, i bought it for the same reasons outlayed, its cheapish and easy to overclock, i have mine running at 3.2 completely stable, havent even tried to get it anyfaster, just dont feel the need to really!

 

Am i the only one to notice your calculations are flawed ? In the first example, you take the $ 200,- to calculate the difference, in the second example you take the $ 100,- piece to calculate the difference. Why is this the wrong approach ?
In the first example you don't take the baseline CPU to calculate the difference, in the second example you do take the baseline CPU to calculate the difference. This way, you don't get the rite numbers.
Always take the same approach to calculate; in this example: the baseline CPU.

That way, you get very different results; i think, the only valid results!
Example one: the difference is not -50%, the $ 200,- is 100% more expensive!
Example two: the $100,- cost is only 25% of the $ 400,- part; so it is 75% cheaper!

the second example shows the same result, basicly. The first one is wrong. This way you get very strange, and invalid resluts.

 

What I miss is the upgrade path possibility. What platform you can upgrade in the future at ease without buying the golden three (motherboard, processor and memory) how long does the am2+ platform will last, how long will the socket775 platform last. Can I still upgrade to a new processor after two years when I buy the golden three now or do i have to start all over again.

A lot of us on the AMD platform where left in the dark with the short time the Socket 939 existed. I'm running a x4800 still. Imho AMD could have produced processors on that platform a lot longer then in has been.

With that in mind you could say that doing a upgrade to the i7 is the most logical choice although a little expensive. But coming from a old platform like I do with the s939 it would be the best option to choose. But if I was running a core2 775 already then I would probably hold on to my sealed wallet for a platform change and look for a good processor upgrade deal Q1 next year.

 

In short, if you play games, it's either a oc'd C2D or C2Q, if you don't play games, it's I7.

but the limitation in gaming performance doesnt really matter since current tft's limit you yo 60fps anyway, so if you get 90 fps with a oc'd Q6600 or 78 with a I7, the result is the same.

 

Thanks, unsurprising that the i7s dominated in the really CPU limited test but were less convincing elsewhere but its nice to have some numbers

Interesting that there are three or four distinct levels in the GPU tests, for example with Crysis you have [Core 2 Duo E8400 OC to Core 2 Duo E8500] then [AMD Phenom X4 9950 BE to Core 2 Duo E8500 ] then [Core i7 940 to Core i7 965] etc.

 

I agree with Obiwan, upgrade paths can definitely add and subtract from overall value. Does anyone know how long 775 is going to be around for?

I think the i7s should get a value bonus simply because you're buying into new technology. Of course quantifying that bonus is near impossible.

 

I think 775 is done in terms of processors releases save for the 8600? everything now will be on the new socket. The if you bought more expensive ddr 3 now you could make a switch over to i7 with just a mobo and cpu. That being said personally I've never upgraded a cpu on the same platform I've always held onto hardware long enough to make a "golden 3" jump

 

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/11/intel-core-i7-cpu-value/7x3.jpg

Am I the only one that has noticed that one day we won't have enough space for these power hungry beasts that require a HUGE heat sink.

 

I've run into that problem long ago, besides, such oversize heatsinks are a pain to mount, so I went with Watercooling.

 

I get what you're saying now - have one variable (performance) rather than two (price and performance) in calculating a baseline. Each test is correct because there is only a single variable within the test, it's just the average-average at the end which is incorrect. Thank you!

 

ROFL!! nice article! i think i'll wait for i7's 45nm (deneb or somethin?) before i upgrade...

yea im sticking with my Q6600.... gaming is where it matters for me and it aint exactly a slouch doing other stuff anyway....

and who said 3.6Ghz is over the top? if u have a G0 chip and a half-decent mobo 3.6 is definitely not over the top. i built at least 5 G0 DDR2 systems for my buddies and at least 4 of them hits 3.6 on stock heatsink. of course it runs a wee too hot for my taste so i put most on 3.2 (drop 1 multi), which is still more than enough anyway. 4 on Asus board, 1 on DFI, another on MSI board, all OCZ ddr800 ram, stock speed.

heh i should show them this article

 

We've changed the last page graphs and first conclusion to correctly ascertain relative performance to absolute $USD ratio.

Here the Q6600 clearly comes up trumps, as does the AMD platforms and Core i7 920 OC in value too.

 

Bindibadgi that was me sorry, I relise that i,m in a small niche being phase cooled 24/7 and at 4.31ghz, Would it be possible that I could run your tests at 4ghz and forward them to yourselves.

Thanks again for the the time and effort that went into the write up, i understand that you cannot please everyone, but we forums members would like to help out when we can.

-Acid-

 

whilst not actually limited by cpu i did notice FarCry2 seemed to use up to 60% cpu on my core2quad @ 3.5ghz
i felt GoW also used an inordinate amount of cpu, must be something to do with xbox ports

edit: nice to see phenoms up the list too

 

We can't use outside results sorry - the whole point of having one platform, one hard drive type, one power supply and a single motherboard/BIOS revision is to keep it as scientifically consistent and accurate as possible. I'd love to see a £35 phase change unit for sale and everyone buying one - I'd sure as hell get one and review it at 4GHz then! I'd review the Phenom at 4GHz too and the Core i7 at 5!