Core I7 is here

  • Thread starter opendriver
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I read you're limited to 3GB of 1066 DDR3. What about overclocking? OK, looks like OC is possible.

I've been waiting for this chip, since I'm still waiting to put together a new PC. I'm going to wait even longer for the motherboards that will take full use of the i7 chipset. How much more do I have to wait for other parts to catch up? (CPU Fans)

EDIT: Looks like TigerDirect just raised computer part prices by 25% or more across the board. The power supply I was looking at last week is now suddenly $50 more, the PC case I wanted is $30 more and the CPU fan I wanted is now $20 more. Bastards. Looks like I'm sticking with NewEgg.
 
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Solid Lifters
I read you're limited to 3GB of 1066 DDR3. What about overclocking? OK, looks like OC is possible.

I've been waiting for this chip, since I'm still waiting to put together a new PC. I'm going to wait even longer for the motherboards that will take full use of the i7 chipset. How much more do I have to wait for other parts to catch up? (CPU Fans)

EDIT: Looks like TigerDirect just raised computer part prices by 25% or more across the board. The power supply I was looking at last week is now suddenly $50 more, the PC case I wanted is $30 more and the CPU fan I wanted is now $20 more. Bastards. Looks like I'm sticking with NewEgg.
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As far as I know, the maximum amount of memory is 12 or 24GB, depending on what board you get, most memory manufactures are selling 3 and 6GB kits, but they are scarce at the moment. As for waiting for other parts to catch up, it could take a while.

Most of the overclocking done has been with engineering samples, and id like to see if the retail chips are going to do any better.
 
You know, the pricing really isn't that bad. $360 is what I paid for my E6600 before they started dropping Core 2 Duo prices any.

Edit: Motherboards, on the other hand.... :doh:
 
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QPI (Quick Path Interconnect) replaced FSB (Front Side Bus). Im not sure on the module limit, but all of the production boards out right now have 3,4 or 6 slots. As for all of them being used, I dont know.

Im curious on what kind of heatsink brackets are are going to be used for LGA 775 to LGA 1366 conversions, or if it will even work.
 
I just read up on the QPI stuff at Wiki. Cool stuff. See, I'm getting there! Never learned this stuff before, so if I plan to build my own PC, I gotta start learning.

I'm just starting to understand the three modules limit, but still not sure what it means. I wonder if Dual or Triple channel comes in to play here. I'm not sure what 'multi channel' memory means, but I have this question: Does multi memory modules get read as a single module when in a dual or triple channel support? In other words, two memory modules in a dual channel support setup count as one memory module, as far as the CPU reads it? Is that part of the 'Three memory module limit' the article states?
 
These things are coming out too fast, I can't keep up anymore!

Not bad, not bad at all. I guess my only concern is what kind of real performance benefits were going to see, or for that matter, how long it will take before we will be able to take full advantages of it. It seems like only yesterday that my mind was blown by the idea of 766MHz processor. To think we've come this far in less than a decade...
 
Omnis
I'm not sure, but I thought you could use 6 sticks.
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From the looks of it, you can:

83-227-120-14.jpg


And that's on an Asus P6T board with 12GB of ram.

EDIT: this is a good graphic representation of i7

indexX_02.jpg
 
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Solid Lifters
It says motherboard, not CPU. No i7 chip on sale; just the motherboard for it.
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From the site.

Core i7-920 2.66GHz 8MB LGA1366 Motherboard - MSRP $300.00 - Pink Friday Price $150.00

That looks like a typo to me. MB's don't list clock speed or cache since processors are different.
 
The i7 chipset is a viable options. DDR3 sounds good, and looks good on paper but the higher cost ram is a deodorant. Other considerations is lower ram speeds = higher processor overclocks. The question then becomes, do you get your system boost from faster ram or a faster processor? I my experience, I found a decrease of ram speed from 1200mhz to 900mhz provided a CPU overclock of almost 600mhz stable. The CPU over clock also provider a better overall system performance boost than what I was getting with a slower CPU clock and faster ram. We'll see how it comes out in the wash, but as it sits now, you can get comparable performance from a 775 quad chipset as you can with a i7 chipset with the proper hardware and setup at a reasonable savings to the pocket book. This trend gap will of course decrease as time progresses, but for now it is what it is.
 
How will you guys expect to see the Dual Cores prices (Dual Core, and Dual Core 2) go down, if they will?

I just thought this moment might be a good moment to buy a new laptop now that the I7 is coming out, which would make current laptops cheaper?
 
Bram Turismo
How will you guys expect to see the Dual Cores prices (Dual Core, and Dual Core 2) go down, if they will?

I just thought this moment might be a good moment to buy a new laptop now that the I7 is coming out, which would make current laptops cheaper?
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Core i7's mobile variant isn't going to be out until mid-late 2009, last I heard. I also don't expect to see any Core 2 Duo price drops just yet considering that the cheapest i7 is $299 while you can get a 3Ghz Core 2 Duo for $160.
 
Pako
The i7 chipset is a viable options. DDR3 sounds good, and looks good on paper but the higher cost ram is a deodorant. Other considerations is lower ram speeds = higher processor overclocks. The question then becomes, do you get your system boost from faster ram or a faster processor? I my experience, I found a decrease of ram speed from 1200mhz to 900mhz provided a CPU overclock of almost 600mhz stable. The CPU over clock also provider a better overall system performance boost than what I was getting with a slower CPU clock and faster ram. We'll see how it comes out in the wash, but as it sits now, you can get comparable performance from a 775 quad chipset as you can with a i7 chipset with the proper hardware and setup at a reasonable savings to the pocket book. This trend gap will of course decrease as time progresses, but for now it is what it is.
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But I've been reading the i7 920 (2.66mhz) can OC to 3.8 with a stock fan and up to 4.2-4.6mhz with water cooling and is very stable with DDR3 1666 RAM. Wouldn't that be a lot better than a 4.6-4.8 Duo Quad with DDR2 900?

There have been a lot of people with Intel Duo Quad cores preaching the same as you, and so many those with i7 chips state how wrong this is, and provide details why. So, I'm a little confused by what you are saying. :confused:

I understand the issue with the i7 nay-sayers is for the application of gaming. But, the i7 users say it's not that big of a difference, even though the OC Duo Quad cores do run games better. The i7 chips are not exactly slow for gaming, and kicks butt everywhere else, so how can the Duo Quad be better? I understand cheaper, though, but I'm not too concerned about that.
 
Solid Lifters
But I've been reading the i7 920 (2.66mhz) can OC to 3.8 with a stock fan and up to 4.2-4.6mhz with water cooling and is very stable with DDR3 1666 RAM. Wouldn't that be a lot better than a 4.6-4.8 Duo Quad with DDR2 900?

There have been a lot of people with Intel Duo Quad cores preaching the same as you, and so many those with i7 chips state how wrong this is, and provide details why. So, I'm a little confused by what you are saying. :confused:

I understand the issue with the i7 nay-sayers is for the application of gaming. But, the i7 users say it's not that big of a difference, even though the OC Duo Quad cores do run games better. The i7 chips are not exactly slow for gaming, and kicks butt everywhere else, so how can the Duo Quad be better? I understand cheaper, though, but I'm not too concerned about that.
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Yes, that would be better.

I've been on the bleeding edge of consumer PC technology, and although it has it's rewards, it can also be very frustrating and expensive. I'm to the point now where I just want it to work knowing that everyone else has already been through all the "public testing". I'm sure in a year or so I'll be building a new machine and there is no doubt it will be built around the i7 architecture.

Until then, I'll squeeze every last ounce of Ghz out of my Q9550 (currently stable at 3.6ghz at 60c on air).
 
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I bet you had one of these 'ultimate gaming machines' 10 years ago...

👍

Too bad the video is ruined by the stupid comments of the guy who posted it, so don't bother reading them.
 
Yay for i7, I just bought a i7 system, current computer I am using was state of the art.... 4 years ago :indiff:
 
Toronado
Voodoo!
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:D The 3DFX card was awesome. It was the first dual GPU card on the market (to my knowledge). Later a quad GPU was introduced as the NAMM show the following year. Cost was prohibitive to mass produce the quad GPU's but the fact they did it amazes me. ;) I remember the 5500 costing around $479 if memory serves me correctly.
 
VIPERGTSR01
Yay for i7, I just bought a i7 system, current computer I am using was state of the art.... 4 years ago :indiff:
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Please share what system it is. Was it a custom system or a pre-configured one?

Id also like to point out that the bloodrage is still hiding, but not released yet. If and when I ever upgrade, this is the board im going to get, simply because of this:

2.jpg


Mounting for LGA775 heatsinks, seeing as there are no aftermarket cooler for i7 yet

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1077035#post1077035
 
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opendriver
Please share what system it is. Was it a custom system or a pre-configured one?

Id also like to point out that the bloodrage is still hiding, but not released yet. If and when I ever upgrade, this is the board im going to get, simply because of this:

2.jpg


Mounting for LGA775 heatsinks, seeing as there are no aftermarket cooler for i7 yet

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1077035#post1077035
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Not true. There are adapters for some. Check out the website for Cooler Master. They have one, the last time I checked.
 

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