# i7 920 or i7 930 which would you buy?



## dr emulator (madmax) (Jun 30, 2010)

well guys i've a little dillema as to which of these to get

the Intel Core i7 920 D0 (SLBEJ) 2.66GHz Nehalem 8Mb Cache LGA1366Retail , is £203.77 inc vat or 309.26 US$

whereas Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz Bloomfield 8Mb Cache LGA1366 Retail is £241.26  inc vat or 366.16 US$
yes i know the 930 is faster but i have heard it doesn't overclock well

so what are your thoughts, which would you go for and why ?


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## [Ion] (Jun 30, 2010)

Definitely the 920.  If you plan on OCing it will be just as good, if not better.  And you save a lot by going for it vs the 930.


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## Versalius02 (Jun 30, 2010)

Wow.  Quite a difference in price compared to here in the US (on Newegg, they are the same regular price; the 930 is actually on sale right now for $5 less at $290).  With those prices, I agree with Ion unless you don't plan on OCing and run proc-intensive tasks often.  

Off-topic:  I loled hard at both of you're avatars, though shouldn't the order be reversed?  It's more of a "calm before the storm" this way, which I still find quite amusing.  

Edit:  Most of the people I've read with 930s have theirs OCed to over 3.5 GHz, if not around 4.0 which seems to be the max that the voltage will allow for the quad cores.

Also, have you seen http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=124932
If the prices over here are going down, I'd assume yours across the pond will decrease soon enough.


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## francis511 (Jun 30, 2010)

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials...cessor+-+Retail&utm_campaign=newsletter190510

Cheaper core i7 !


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## Athlon2K15 (Jun 30, 2010)

W3520


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jun 30, 2010)

AthlonX2 said:


> W3520



wouldn't that mean buying ecc memory?
i'm planning on getting this motherboard (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 Socket LGA1366 USB3.0) on friday with this memory ( Corsair Dominator GT 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C8 2000MHz Triple Channel Kit (CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 )shortly after what's everybody think?


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## brandonwh64 (Jun 30, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> wouldn't that mean buying ecc memory?
> i'm planning on getting this motherboard (Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 Socket LGA1366 USB3.0) on friday with this memory ( Corsair Dominator GT 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C8 2000MHz Triple Channel Kit (CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 )shortly after what's everybody think?



No it wouldnt


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## crush3r (Jun 30, 2010)

920! 930 isn't worth the premium.


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## NdMk2o1o (Jun 30, 2010)

+1 on the 920, they can be had for as low as £160 if you shop around and there are offers on, though they wont be avaiable forever as the 930 is the 920's replacement so prices may go back up as stocks dwindle.


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## brandonwh64 (Jun 30, 2010)

I would personally like to have a 32nm westmere myself!


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 30, 2010)

I voted none of the above as the i7 950 is going to be replacing the i7 930, so you shouldn't get either of them and get the i7 950 when it hits the $250-$300 range.


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jun 30, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> I would personally like to have a 32nm westmere myself!



well i can/could afford one but the motherboard i've chosen won't accept one untill a bios update which would mean more money so the 920/930 is the only way i can go atm


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## brandonwh64 (Jun 30, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> well i can/could afford one but the motherboard i've chosen won't accept one untill a bios update which would mean more money so the 920/930 is the only way i can go atm



I think that they will work with alot of the newer X58 boards but you would have to ask fits before you made a decision. on the other hand if you want a I7 920, I would suggest buying one from here in the BST section that someone has already tested and knows what the chip will do. you can get one for a good overclocker that will do 4-4.3 ghz on low volts without going out and buying one retail and dont know what your getting


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## PaulieG (Jun 30, 2010)

After owning over a dozen different batches of i7 920's, I'll tell you this. Find a used, early batch 920. It will clock better than the majority of new 920's or 930's and it will less expensive. Just wander the FS threads (at TPU and otherwise) for a few days, and you'll find one.


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## DaveK (Jun 30, 2010)

Get the 920 and clock it to 930 speeds or higher, why pay extra for the 930 when the 920 can do the same speeds.


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 30, 2010)

DaveK said:


> Get the 920 and clock it to 930 speeds or higher, why pay extra for the 930 when the 920 can do the same speeds.



Why buy any of them when you can get the i7 950 in august for the same price as an i7 930 now.


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## NdMk2o1o (Jun 30, 2010)

mdsx1950 said:


> Why buy any of them when you can get the i7 950 in august for the same price as an i7 930 now.



Same price, proof? 

The 930 was meant to replace the 920 though its more expensive hence I think the same will be true for the 950


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## Fourstaff (Jun 30, 2010)

What PaulieG says. Just sit tight and wait for a good deal to pop out, 920, 930 or 950


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## mdsx1950 (Jun 30, 2010)

NdMk2o1o said:


> Same price, proof?
> 
> The 930 was meant to replace the 920 though its more expensive hence I think the same will be true for the 950



Here is the proof


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## mlee49 (Jun 30, 2010)

Which ever is cheaper.  Thats what I would vote for.


By the way, this is gonna be one hell of an upgrade from your system specs.


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## claylomax (Jun 30, 2010)

Check this: http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/Intel+Core+i7+930+2.80Ghz+%28Bloomfield%29+%28Socket+LGA1366%29+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39630


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## claylomax (Jun 30, 2010)

And this: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/05/19/intel-core-i7-920-versus-i7-930/1


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## dr_dream (Jun 30, 2010)

I really don't understand why everyone is recommending the Core i7 920.

The i7 930 was meant to replace the i7 920.
The i7 930 goes further when it comes to overclocking and needs lower voltages.
I can't see a big price difference between the i7 920 and  the i7 930.

Check out the reviews for yourselves

P.S. the Core i7 950 replaced the 940, not 920/930.


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 1, 2010)

mlee49 said:


> Which ever is cheaper.  Thats what I would vote for.
> 
> 
> By the way, this is gonna be one hell of an upgrade from your system specs.



 true so true


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## CDdude55 (Jul 1, 2010)

Since the 920 and 930 are basically the same(besides clock speed), i would just pick up a nice 920 if it's cheaper. 

Also keep in mind the 950 is now being lowered in price by Intel so you may want to keep an eye out for that.(though keep in mind they're all basically the same, just a bump i clock speeds, and some can handle better overclocks)


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 2, 2010)

well hopefully i'll be getting a 920 DO soon either today or monday (hopefully the above shop will hold one back for me as i'm having trouble getting hold of my ride out of town  (it's 2:44pm now and the shop shuts at 4pm 

next on the wishlist is a graphics card 
(XFX 1024MB GDDR5 ATI RADEON 5870 DVI / HDMI - Aliens vs Predator HD-587X-ZNFV)
what's everyone think?


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## mdbrotha03 (Jul 2, 2010)

dr_dream said:


> I really don't understand why everyone is recommending the Core i7 920.
> 
> The i7 930 was meant to replace the i7 920.
> The i7 930 goes further when it comes to overclocking and needs lower voltages.
> ...




True but intel will soon be lowering the price of the 950 to phase out the 930


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## Binge (Jul 2, 2010)

mdbrotha03 said:


> True but intel will soon be lowering the price of the 950 to phase out the 930



:shadedshu regardless these chips are all the same thing... most will OC to 4.0-4.5 easily and others will not.  You'll see the same performance clock for clock between CPUs.


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## Mr McC (Jul 2, 2010)

OP, I don't think it really matters. As Binge points out, the 1366 i7 chips are all very similar, they're just factory clocked to different levels and have different multipliers. I would buy the 920, simply because it is cheaper.


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## twistedspark (Jul 3, 2010)

Upon further review I've changed my opinion.  Check the next post.


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## twistedspark (Jul 7, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> well guys i've a little dillema as to which of these to get
> 
> the Intel Core i7 920 D0 (SLBEJ) 2.66GHz Nehalem 8Mb Cache LGA1366Retail , is £188.09 inc vat or 283.63 US$
> 
> ...



If you plan to overclock, get the 930.  I have two 920's and yes they're great overclockers, but the 930 didn't exist in 2008.  I would buy it now instead.  The thing Intel did to make the 930 worth having was change this i7's maximum CPU ratio from 21 (like in my 920s) to 22.  The CPU ratio multiplier is the BEST way to OC because it is the easiest and safest.  This means that even the best overclocker pros will be able to get more out of a 930 than a 920 (Of course there are always some crap chip examples in every batch.  I know that.  Don't argue that point.  The vast majority of 930's will be able to get more than the vast majority of 920's!).
Once you've upped your CPU ratio as high as it'll go, you can only go higher by raising your Uncore, and that's where it get's sticky.







*Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz $289.99*

*Intel Core i7-920 Bloomfield 2.66GHz $294.99*


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 8, 2010)

twistedspark and everyone else who has voted so far,  
i got the i7 920 today as it was cheaper than the i7 930, and as i will no doubt be upgrading the processor after a year or so, i wanted to keep the price down 
(ye i know the one i've bought is expensive but it was from a local suppy store so it would be easier to rma if anything is faulty  

i've still to decide on the memory, i'm thinking of this TR3X6G1600C7D - 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair Dominator, DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 7-7-7-20, DHX which is recomended by corsair for my motherboard, it's £229.27 or 348.32 US$, which aint cheap but it's from the uk so again if i need to rma it'll be easier to do thanks for the links but i'm in the uk, then it's the graphics card, i mght do a poll on what everyone else would choose for a 5870


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## yogurt_21 (Jul 8, 2010)

if they're both the same chip it won't really matter (ie bloomfield vs bloomfield rather than nehalem vs bloomfield) and the multiplier thign is minor considering how high it is already, most of thus that oc know that increasing the fsb will give a larger performance boost than simply upping the multiplier. so the 920 should suit you just fine (not to mention based on the increase over your old processor I seriously dout you'd notice any difference between the 930 and 920 even if there were any). When you go from a datsun to a corvette you really won't notice if the corvette does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds or 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.


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## twistedspark (Jul 8, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> View attachment 36830 twistedspark and everyone else who has voted so far,
> i got the i7 920 today as it was cheaper than the i7 930, and as i will no doubt be upgrading the processor after a year or so, i wanted to keep the price down
> (ye i know the one i've bought is expensive but it was from a local suppy store so it would be easier to rma if anything is faulty
> 
> i've still to decide on the memory, i'm thinking of this TR3X6G1600C7D - 6GB (3x2GB) Corsair Dominator, DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600) CAS 7-7-7-20, DHX which is recomended by corsair for my motherboard, it's £229.27 or 348.32 US$, which aint cheap but it's from the uk so again if i need to rma it'll be easier to do thanks for the links but i'm in the uk, then it's the graphics card, i mght do a poll on what everyone else would choose for a 5870





yogurt_21 said:


> if they're both the same chip it won't really matter (ie bloomfield vs bloomfield rather than nehalem vs bloomfield) and the multiplier thign is minor considering how high it is already, most of thus that oc know that increasing the fsb will give a larger performance boost than simply upping the multiplier. so the 920 should suit you just fine (not to mention based on the increase over your old processor I seriously dout you'd notice any difference between the 930 and 920 even if there were any). When you go from a datsun to a corvette you really won't notice if the corvette does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds or 0-60 in 4.5 seconds.



Max - since I have no idea how difficult it is to get things in the UK I'll just say congratulations on getting a great chip from a local store.  The 920 and 930 are similar enough that it was probably the best move to just get the least expensive one.  When I first got one in 2008 I also planned on upgrading in a year or so, but then the US economy bottomed out and I'm still using it.  It's still a good chip though so I'm still happy.  My motherboard can still take any i7 they come up with for a long time so my upgrade options are diminishing.
Dominator RAM is great stuff (according to my friends who have it), but it IS expensive.  Just go with whatever you can find that is on your mobo's compatibility list and I'll think you'll do fine.
5870?  I won't recommend any one of those.  I'm going to upgrade my 9800gx2s to gtx 480s. 
GL

Yogurt - What FSB?


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## Deleted member 74752 (Jul 8, 2010)

twistedspark said:


> If you plan to overclock, get the 930.  I have two 920's and yes they're great overclockers, but the 930 didn't exist in 2008.  I would buy it now instead.  The thing Intel did to make the 930 worth having was change this i7's maximum CPU ratio from 21 (like in my 920s) to 22.  The CPU ratio multiplier is the BEST way to OC because it is the easiest and safest.  This means that even the best overclocker pros will be able to get more out of a 930 than a 920 (Of course there are always some crap chip examples in every batch.  I know that.  Don't argue that point.  The vast majority of 930's will be able to get more than the vast majority of 920's!).
> Once you've upped your CPU ratio as high as it'll go, you can only go higher by raising your Uncore, and that's where it get's sticky.
> 
> http://i45.tinypic.com/2mpeu69.jpg
> ...



Hwbot submissions don't reflect that...the 930 does not even come close to the 920 in any benchmark.


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 9, 2010)

well i would and could have a gtx 480 or 2, but the temps on them cards are just scary, and i like a cool pc (it's summer over here and temps are going up ) (yes i know there is liquid cooling) but that's something extra i'm just not that keen on, 
besides a 5870 should be ok with anything i can throw at it


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## brandonwh64 (Jul 9, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> well i would and could have a gtx 480 or 2, but the temps on them cards are just scary, and i like a cool pc (it's summer over here and temps are going up ) (yes i know there is liquid cooling) but that's something extra i'm just not that keen on,
> besides a 5870 should be ok with anything i can throw at it



Get a 5850 or 5870 reference card. my visiontek runs COOL! also have you picked a I7 yet?


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 9, 2010)

yes got it yesterday (920 that is) i was thinking of getting the avp xfx 5870, but it's got a cooler in the middle so it's not a refference cooler, and it's alot cheaper, so i might do a polll to see what other members think are a worthy purchase in that range


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## Timonthy (Jul 9, 2010)

875K FTW!Who needs tri-channel RAM or Dual X16 CFX/SLI! XD

On the GPU, whats your budget?
Id say a 5850OCed would be fine.


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## brandonwh64 (Jul 9, 2010)

This 5850 is a good one and also has unlocked voltage control even tho its no REF card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121370&cm_re=5850-_-14-121-370-_-Product


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## Timonthy (Jul 9, 2010)

Or this ASUS Reference..
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-...Hz-GDDR5-GPU-725MHz-1440-Cores-DP-2x-DVI-HDMI


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 9, 2010)

budget   
i haven't really got a budget i just don't like spending to much money


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## Timonthy (Jul 9, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> budget View attachment 36861
> i haven't really got a budget i just don't like spending to much money





Monitor Resolution then?


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## yogurt_21 (Jul 9, 2010)

twistedspark said:


> Yogurt - What FSB?



aka real time clock, base clock speed, etc defaults to 133 on the i7's so say you've got the 920 (like you do) and at a stock 20 mult you're at 2.66GHZ and decide you want to go to 2.8HZ, if you simply up the multiplier to 21, you'll see less of a performance gain then if you upped the base clock to 140.


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Jul 9, 2010)

Timonthy said:


> Monitor Resolution then?



i've a 21" sun microsystems crt (i'm not sure what the max res is) i'd have to ask sir_real as he's got the same monitor


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## Timonthy (Jul 9, 2010)

dr emulator (madmax) said:


> i've a 21" sun microsystems crt (i'm not sure what the max res is) i'd have to ask sir_real as he's got the same monitor



Looks like its 1600*1200, for that a HD5850 would be great, though if youre an nVidia person or has an use for CUDA, an GTX460 will probably do it, albeit being a bit weaker performance wise than the 5850.


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## CDdude55 (Jul 9, 2010)

Timonthy said:


> Looks like its 1600*1200,



Ya, his monitor should be around there. I'm at work using a CRT that's around 20''-21'', and the max res on it is in fact 1600x1200.


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