i7 chip whats better

[lee rowe]

hi all

im building a new rig i dont know what chip to buy
Intel Core i7 970 3.20Ghz
Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Sandy Bridge)
Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz
im real stuck

please help
tc thanks all

[zburns]

Hi Lee Rowe, You realize that the i7 970 3.20Ghz is a six core processer, not a quad; in addition it has six 'virtual cores' for a total of 12 threads. I could not begin to discuss this because all or most all other components are affected. I am not saying it is a bad idea, I just do not know where to start and it is not a quick research 'thing' either.

Comparing the i7 950 to the i7-2600K Sandy Bridge is a no brainer -- stick with Sandy Bridge, even tho Intel is having to fix the P65 chipset and shipment may be several weeks to a month still off. Sandy Bridge is a newer architecture and is faster in a lot of ways.

It might help to read some reviews on Sandy Bridge. Here is a link to an excellent reviewer on Sandy Bridge: http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-2500k-and-core-i7-2600k-review/ You can just google 'Sandy Bridge Reviews' and you will see a half dozen reviews listed on the first page. Anandtech, Tom's Hardware, Legit Reviews, bit Tech, PC Mag and more still. Guru 3D is excellent. You could go to all the reviews and just read the conclusions.

[lee rowe]

hi zburns

thanks for info but some people think i should go for an triple channel chip not duel
what you think
thanks for your help

lee

[zburns]

Good morning lee rowe,


thanks for info but some people think i should go for an triple channel chip not duel What do you mean by 'triple channel' and 'duel' ? Triple channel and duel refer respectively to DDR3 and DDR2 memory sticks and/or to the number of memory stick locations on motherboards for cpus that make use of either DDR3 memory or DDR2 memory.

[lee rowe]

yes m8
sorry they say that triple channel memory is better then duel i should go for triple
but im the sort of person that if i wont a 3.4 gig chip thats what i wont i dont wont a 3.0 gig chip and overclock it
if i have to overclock i will but not wont to at the min
im looking for best stock performence and overclock if need to

thanks lee

[RickyTick]

hi all

im building a new rig i dont know what chip to buy
Intel Core i7 970 3.20Ghz
Intel Core i7 2600K 3.40GHz (Sandy Bridge)
Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz
im real stuck

please help
tc thanks all

I'm doing this from memory, so I could be wrong here.
Since the i7-970 is a true Gulftown, it has enough raw power to outperform the 2600k in most tests and benchmarks. The real beast is still the i7-990X which still beats them all, but runs in the neighborhood of $1000. I think the 970 is somewhere around $550. That's still a big chunk of money as far as I'm concerned. The problem with both the Bloomfield and Gulftown cpu's is that they are from the last generation of processors. Sandy Bridge offers a better upgrade path for later down the road. With all that said, the i7-950 is an outstanding cpu for the price, but you still have the issue of using an older generation cpu. Same can be said for the i7-960.
If I were wanting to build a pc today, I would only be looking at Sandy Bridge. Either the 2500k or the 2600k.
JMO