New Intel CPUs

[Bronk]

I3 and the I5 dual cores anyone have an opinion... yet?

[Krusty]

These are the quad-cores that really register as triple cores (I7s), but are move back to dual cores (I3s/I5s), right?


I find Intel's antics lately humorous. The entire triple-core deal was made for Vista, because it's such a crappy resource hog you need that much more power just to run the OS!

How do they compare to typical C2Ds?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I3 and the I5 dual cores anyone have an opinion... yet?

Read reviews. I3 is the new celeron i.e. it sucks. I5 is also severely gimped but can be useful when overclocked hard.

[Chalenge]

We will all be wanting i7 and a lot of us will settle for i5 and Skuzzy will be handing out hints on how to optimize i3.

[Tigger29]

and Skuzzy will be handing out hints on how to optimize i3.

"First, set your textures to NO HIGHER than 256.  Next uncheck all advanced options except for Bump Map and Detailed water.  Then purchase a separate sound card because your onboard sound is too much of a resource hog.. oh wait... AH no longer requires a sound card so just do without!  Or you can upgrade to an I7 processor, but I don't make recommendations..."

[Bronk]

Read reviews. I3 is the new celeron i.e. it sucks. I5 is also severely gimped but can be useful when overclocked hard.

So an i5 650 wouln't be all that good for gaming?

[reeb]

go for i7, i just got mine put together on friday and all i can say is wow it 
i got the 1366 socket i7 920 and couldnt be happier.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

So an i5 650 wouln't be all that good for gaming?

While not being superfast it's usable especially when overclocked but i7 probably gives much better value for your money if the extra 100 bucks is not a problem.

The 650 is also one of the new models with integrated Intel graphics - you probably will not need that so why pay the extra? I'd go either for 'older' i5 generation with no integrated graphics or i7. Preferably i7.

[Bronk]

While not being superfast it's usable especially when overclocked but i7 probably gives much better value for your money if the extra 100 bucks is not a problem.

The 650 is also one of the new models with integrated Intel graphics - you probably will not need that so why pay the extra? I'd go either for 'older' i5 generation with no integrated graphics or i7. Preferably i7.

I was hoping they should have introduces a dual core 1336, as I don't really need quad core.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I was hoping they should have introduces a dual core 1336, as I don't really need quad core.

When you shop for hardware think for future. More and more applications and games start to support multithreading.

I've found out that the best hardware deals I've made have usually been ones where I went the extra mile and paid a little more. Typically going low mid level will reduce you to brink of unplayability within a year or two. Going mid to high end of spectrum can keep you playing for 3-4 years and IMO that's far better deal in the end considering you get top notch performance most of the time opposed to lackluster to bad performance.

[Skuzzy]

Do yourselves a favor and avoid any Intel CPU with a built-in video chip.  These things are being built for OEM's, such as HP/Compaq, Dell, Gateway....

It is just a cheap solution for them.  I feel for people who get stuck with them.  They have no idea what kind of nightmare they are in for if they even think about trying to upgrade the video.

Intel has pretty much screwed the pooch in the channel marketplace with these new CPU's.  It will open the door for AMD to step in an take control of the independent builder market.

If AMD had a decent motherboard chipset, it would not bother me.

Life just got a lot more complicated for me.

[Bronk]

Thank you gentlemen for your input.

[Ruler2]

Honestly bronk, I would go with an AMD Phenom II X4 965, you can get it for $180-$200, depending on if you get the 140W or 125W (125W is better for overclocking and what not), and believe it or not, the 965 is actually better than the i7 920, but hey, I'm just a price monkey and that's one of the main reasons I like AMD, so what can I say? 

[reeb]

your correct ruler2 amd is cheaper.....for a reason if you ask me, ive used many amd cpu's and everyone of them have been dog's will never use an amd processor again myself but thats just my opinion. when i got my new cpu i started with the mobo....evga x58 sli and again imho evga boards are top of the line, great support, awesome documentation they just cost a bit more. you do get what you pay for tho. best thing to do is goto newegg, tigerdirect, ect and read the reviews on the cpu's, i spent a few months reading and researching all the parts i got to make sure it was all compatible. friday was the 1st complete build from scratch i have ever done on my own and everything went together way easy and posted 1st try and it has been flawless performance.

i7 920
6gigs ocz xmp 1600mhz
radeon 5770 (had to skimp here due to funds)
300gig velociraptor
LG super multi-blue blueray drive
X-fi xtreamgamer soundcard
X3 1000w psu
win 7 pro 64bit

[Ruler2]

your correct ruler2 amd is cheaper.....for a reason if you ask me, ive used many amd cpu's and everyone of them have been dog's will never use an amd processor again myself but thats just my opinion. when i got my new cpu i started with the mobo....evga x58 sli and again imho evga boards are top of the line, great support, awesome documentation they just cost a bit more. you do get what you pay for tho. best thing to do is goto newegg, tigerdirect, ect and read the reviews on the cpu's, i spent a few months reading and researching all the parts i got to make sure it was all compatible. friday was the 1st complete build from scratch i have ever done on my own and everything went together way easy and posted 1st try and it has been flawless performance.

i7 920
6gigs ocz xmp 1600mhz
radeon 5770 (had to skimp here due to funds)
300gig velociraptor
LG super multi-blue blueray drive
X-fi xtreamgamer soundcard
X3 1000w psu
win 7 pro 64bit

I went with an

AMD Phenom II X4 940 (965 was not out yet)

4GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 1066 ( Did not want to get ANOTHER new mobo after getting the one I have just 8 mos ago) I still haven't had a chance to use this RAM because this PC died at thanksgiving...

PNY 8800GTS 640MB used, Sapphire HD5870 in the mail as of today

2 WD1600JS 160GB Hard drives

LG Super Multi DVD Burner

Antec 650+550 NeoLink PSU

Win XP Pro 32 bit  (will upgrade to Win 7 64 when I recover from the GPU)