Which Intel CPU to go for?

[DenSweeP]

I might hopefully be upgrading soonish(if the buyer takes my last lung and my other kidney).

As the title suggests, I'm looking at Intel. Now I'm fairly 98% certain I'm going to go with a Core i7 870, but was just wondering about the Core i7 930/940. Anybody have some topical and valid arguments for either?

And please, let's not turn this into a AMD/Intel topic. If anyone has some good references to AMD, fine, but please let us refrain from making this into a fanboi thread.

What would be interesting is if some of you with similar Intel rigs could post some of your own benchmarks here? Hell, AMD benches also welcome for comparison purposes.

[Voicy]

Apparently the 970 I7's are going for cheap cheap... R2700 each.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthre...he-Time-To-buy!

[DenSweeP]

Well I've discovered this: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/d...High,2418.html

That price drop is on the i7 950 which still comes in below the i7 870 on that comp chart. Yes, I know it's a tad more expensive, but I'm upgrading now for the next 2 years hopefully. Well, my mobo, cpu and ram at least. Gfx card will probably need to upgraded a week after I buy my new one.

[to0kenZA]

Ok dude, excuse me, not trying to derail of start a fanboi discussion but- maybe wait for the AMD Bulldozer 8 core that's coming soon. Maybe it will perform really well against some of the high end Intel CPUs. Don't make a decision that you will regret now though. Intel CPU cost a lot of money and it might be worth waiting just a little while. If it's not good enough for you then you can always go Intel with peace of mind.

[Tank]

dunno much about intel but the 950 looks like a good buy

[Neo]

What's your budget dude? I'm also slowly upgrading, but I'd rather not think about the costs.

[DenSweeP]

What's your budget dude? I'm also slowly upgrading, but I'd rather not think about the costs.

Depends how much I get for my kidney. I budgeting abt R15k, but that includes chassis, psu, mem, mobo, cpu, HDD, dvd, screen. But I have one small advantage in that I work in distribution, so I get cost price on most items...

As for the AMD CPUs coming out, is there a release date?

[Neo]

I cannot take you seriously if you're considering an AMD CPU.

My upgrade is consisting of an Asus Rampage 3 Extreme motherboard (best mobo Ive seen lately)
Intel 980X CPU (6 cores, costs a fortune, but will last longer than 3 years I think).
12GB of DDR3 Ram - that should be enough until Windows 7 SP2.

what do you do with your old parts? I have no idea what I'm going to do with the stuff that I'm replacing and it's flippen annoying.

[DenSweeP]

Keeping them. Hence the new PC. Not really considering AMD. I'm not partial to any brand other than those that perform the best.

[Neo]

Keeping them. Hence the new PC. Not really considering AMD. I'm not partial to any brand other than those that perform the best.

The best advice I can give you is probably some that you already know: Try and get a CPU and Mobo that allows you to do some aggressive overclocking. That way you'll score a lot more for your bucks.