# New PC advise i7 860 or i7 920



## tollickd (Dec 4, 2009)

Hi all I am looking at the following but not sure what to do!

INTEL CORE I7-860 2.80 GHZ LGA1156 -
ARCTIC COOLING FREEZER XTREME REV.2
KINGSTON KHX2000C9D3T1K2/4GX DDR3 4GB (2X2GB) PC16000 2000MHZ CL9 HYPERX DUAL CHANNEL KIT
GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD3R
MSI 4890 CYCLONE 1GB PCI-E RETAIL
WESTERN DIGITAL WD5001AALS 500GB CAVIAR BLACK SATA2
CORSAIR TX850W POWER SUPPLY
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE 64-BIT ENGLISH 1PK DSP

or for also for a few euros cheaper 

INTEL CORE I7-920 2.66 GHZ LGA1366
COOLERMASTER RR-920-N520-GP HYPER N520
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R
CORSAIR TR3X6G1600C9 XMS3 DDR3 6GB (3X2GB) PC3-12800 (1600MHZ) TRIPLE CHANNEL KIT
MSI 4890 CYCLONE 1GB PCI-E RETAIL
WESTERN DIGITAL WD5001AALS 500GB CAVIAR BLACK SATA2
CORSAIR TX850W POWER SUPPLY
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE 64-BIT ENGLISH 1PK DSP

How much will I notice on the 860 compared to the 920?
Which would be better for Games/Crossfire?

Thanks in advance guys


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## DirectorC (Dec 4, 2009)

The 860 outperforms the 920 by a fairly small margin.  Here's what AnandTech finalizes their 860 review with:

"Perhaps this is a bit anticlimactic, but the Core i7 860 performs exactly where you'd expect it to. It's faster than a Core i5 750, faster than a Core i7 920 and slower than a Core i7 870. As I noted in The Lynnfield Follow Up, overclocking is much easier on Bloomfield (LGA-1366) thanks to the absence of an on-die PCIe controller. It's not impossible on Lynnfield, it's just effortless on Bloomfield.

My recommendations from the initial Lynnfield review still stand, you'll want to opt for Bloomfield processor if you care about:

    1) High-end multi-GPU performance (or other uses of high bandwidth PCIe)
    2) Stock Voltage Overclocking
    3) Future support for 6-core Gulftown CPUs

In terms of cost effectiveness however - the Core i7 860 is the way to go. With cheaper motherboards and higher operating frequencies than a Core i7 920, for the majority of users the 860 will be the better pick."

Note that according to Anand, the 860 should be costing you LESS overall.


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## human_error (Dec 4, 2009)

Since it's cheaper the i7 920 system would be better because it costs less, has more RAM (which is slower modules but has an extra channel, meaning that overall the bandwidth available is better with the 920) and has a processor which will be easier to overclock than the 860 system (as has already been said, the on-die pci-e controller is something else to have to watch when overclocking the 860).

And yeah, the prices should be the other way round as the i7 920 machine should be costing more to be honest. In games both systems will perform almost the same with only a couple of % difference between the two at stock speeds (you won't be able to see any difference between the two without benchmarking tools telling you there's a difference).


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## Fourstaff (Dec 8, 2009)

i7 920, it is cheaper and gives better upgrade path.


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## CJCerny (Dec 8, 2009)

I would go with the 860. The mobos are much cheaper and the 860 is a faster CPU.


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## PaulieG (Dec 8, 2009)

human_error said:


> Since it's cheaper the i7 920 system would be better because it costs less, has more RAM (which is slower modules but has an extra channel, meaning that overall the bandwidth available is better with the 920) and has a processor which will be easier to overclock than the 860 system (as has already been said, the on-die pci-e controller is something else to have to watch when overclocking the 860).
> 
> And yeah, the prices should be the other way round as the i7 920 machine should be costing more to be honest. In games both systems will perform almost the same with only a couple of % difference between the two at stock speeds (you won't be able to see any difference between the two without benchmarking tools telling you there's a difference).



I've yet to see any real world differences b/t 4 and 6GB for the average enthusiast. Not to mention that almost no one will use more than 8GB. The extra channel means next to nothing. This comes from extensive use of both platforms. To date I've owned 11 i7 920's, 4 860's and 2 Xeon x3440's over the last year, and I can't tell the difference b/t the platforms. I chose the 860 because of a lower TDP and that it gives slightly better crunching numbers.


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## Binge (Dec 8, 2009)

I'm with paulie to a degree.  After getting some really sh!tty 920s recently I'd rather get what's cheaper.  Still haven't but I know if I was buying new that I would.


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## Fourstaff (Dec 8, 2009)

CJCerny said:


> I would go with the 860. The mobos are much cheaper and the 860 is a faster CPU.



But he said that the 920 system is cheaper, no?


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## Mescalamba (Dec 8, 2009)

Buy i7 920 D0 + DFI JR DK X58 (yea, its small, but unless you need crossfire/sli, its ok, plus its cheap and great mobo) + any ram you want, I can recommand Crucial or CSX value kits (cheap and highly overclockable). Yea and GPU, get HD 5770, if you can.. its pretty much same as HD 4890, only newer process + DX11 and very good OC. Buying HD 4890 today is waste of money..

My 50 cents. 

I have X58 and I´m happy with that since day one.. probably best buy I ever made.

PS: If you want good PSU, get HX series from Corsair (I have HX850 - excelent). Or SeaSonic MD (even better).


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## Binge (Dec 8, 2009)

I agree with your thoughts on the 5770, but your criticism of his PSU will just cost him more money for no reason.  Your experience with the x58 is clouding the subject because even though I can agree the x58 is awesome you've given no actual reason the p55 would be worse for him.

to the OP I would agree that the 5770 is a better buy, but as for the rest of the system I would listen to the folks that have used both platforms.  Even more importantly listen to your wallet.


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## Stryder75 (Dec 8, 2009)

This seems to be a hot topic as of late. I myself just went through the same decision process. I debated the x58 + 920 vs. the p55 + 860 for over a month. I choose the x58 + 920 for the fact that I plan to do Crossfire/SLI and may opt for i9 "gulftown" as an upgrade. In all of my configurations, the x58 + 920 setup was only about $50 - $100 more each time. So, this helped make the decision less about money and more about the performance difference. And as many have stated, there is a very minimal one. If you plan to Crossfire/SLI, I did see a review that showed a noticeable difference between 16x+16x vs. 8x+8x (think it was on Bit-tech.net).

I too would also recommend the 5770 over the 4970. Better power usage and same performance. That is if you can't find a 5850.


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## PaulieG (Dec 8, 2009)

Stryder75 said:


> This seems to be a hot topic as of late. I myself just went through the same decision process. I debated the x58 + 920 vs. the p55 + 860 for over a month. I choose the x58 + 920 for the fact that I plan to do Crossfire/SLI and may opt for i9 "gulftown" as an upgrade. In all of my configurations, the x58 + 920 setup was only about $50 - $100 more each time. So, this helped make the decision less about money and more about the performance difference. And as many have stated, there is a very minimal one. If you plan to Crossfire/SLI, I did see a review that showed a noticeable difference between 16x+16x vs. 8x+8x (think it was on Bit-tech.net).
> 
> I too would also recommend the 5770 over the 4970. Better power usage and same performance. That is if you can't find a 5850.



This is a good example of buying for wants/needs. I'm never going to shell out $1000 or even $600 for a Gulftown processor, ever. I'm also not into SLI or Crossfire, since I believe that after owning several higher end graphics cards that SLI or crossfire with anything above a 4850 or a 9800gtx is just plain overkill. So for me, those features are damn near worthless.


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## Stryder75 (Dec 8, 2009)

Paulieg said:


> This is a good example of buying for wants needs. I'm never going to shell out $1000 or even $600 for a Gulftown processor, ever. I'm also not into SLI or Crossfire, since I believe that after owning several higher end graphics cards that SLI or crossfire with anything above a 4850 or a 9800gtx is just plain overkill. So for me, those features are damn near worthless.



I couldn't agree more. The fact that there was such a small price difference allowed me to go for more of the want versus the need. As for the future upgrade, that is at least 3 years down the road, and I will probably go for a whole new platform.

But, the biggest performance improvement I saw was going to a SSD for OS/games drive. A noticeable difference in load/launch times.


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## theonedub (Dec 8, 2009)

Paulieg said:


> This is a good example of buying for wants needs. I'm never going to shell out $1000 or even $600 for a Gulftown processor, ever. I'm also not into SLI or Crossfire, since I believe that after owning several higher end graphics cards that SLI or crossfire with anything above a 4850 or a 9800gtx is just plain overkill. So for me, those features are damn near worthless.



QFT  

Price and TDP rules over everything.


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## tollickd (Dec 8, 2009)

If I am wanting a I7 920 it will cost me about 50 euros more

this is what i see if i choose this:

THERMALTAKE VI90001W2Z SPEDO ADVANCE PACKAGE 
INTEL CORE I7-920 2.66 GHZ LGA1366 - BOX 
COOLERMASTER RR-920-N520-GP HYPER N520 
CORSAIR TR3X6G1600C9 XMS3 DDR3 6GB (3X2GB) PC3-12800 (1600MHZ) TRIPLE CHANNEL KIT 
ASROCK X58 EXTREME 
GIGABYTE RADEON HD5770 GV-R577D5-1GD-B 1GB PCI-E RETAIL  x 2 I can't find the 5850 
SEAGATE BARRACUDA LP ST31000520AS 1TB SATA2 
SONY OPTIARC AD-7240S DVD-RW BLACK BULK 
CORSAIR TX850W POWER SUPPLY 
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 PROFESSIONAL 64-BIT ENGLISH 1PK DSP (might choose Home edition)

What do people think of this or stick with a 860?


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## Mescalamba (Dec 8, 2009)

Well, it seems ok, just can´t say how good/bad will that mobo be. You live in EU? Try HPM shop in Germany, they have nice selection of mobos.

HD 5850 in EU is probably no go, or extremaly overpriced. If you can choose something else than GB, I would recommand that.. Sapphire would be probably better choice. But its just my personal opinion.

I´m bit confused why you want 850W PSU.. I mean, that thing isn´t able to eat more than 500W, unless you buy another graphic card. I would go for cheaper or same priced PSU with modular cables, it doesn´t seem that interesting from price point, but its really usefull thing.

CPU cooler choice isn´t bad, but that thing deliveres good performace only with two fans at some decent speed (1600-2000) RPM, which really isn´t silent.. 

Any particular reason to buy Corsair memory? I mean those 1600CL9 you can have in same quality for probably less money..


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## tollickd (Dec 8, 2009)

The shop here in Cyprus where I am getting all this has this as the cheapest triple channel kit with 6 GB!

The 850W is because I want to upgrage the graphics card to many xfires in years to come!


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## Fourstaff (Dec 9, 2009)

tollickd said:


> The shop here in Cyprus where I am getting all this has this as the cheapest triple channel kit with 6 GB!
> 
> The 850W is because I want to upgrage the graphics card to many xfires in years to come!



IMO most people will only upgrade their gfx card to 2 and then buy a new one to replace the 2 as trifire/trisli is very badly optimised. 750 watt is more than enough for your needs.


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