Intel Core i5 750 or Intel Core i7 860

[mike smith]

Hi, I have just passed my old setup to my son. I am now mulling over my options and cannot decide on Intel Core i5 750(163.68) or Intel Core i7 860(£215.51). To go with Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 iP55.

What would I gain with the i7 over the i5 for £51.83. I web surf, watch hd. video play music and some games ie cod, settlers, medievial and such like. I would like the setup to last for some time. any advice would be well received.

 

[MacMan]

Hi, I have just passed my old setup to my son. I am now mulling over my options and cannot decide on Intel Core i5 750(163.68) or Intel Core i7 860(£215.51). To go with Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 iP55.

What would I gain with the i7 over the i5 for £51.83. I web surf, watch hd. video play music and some games ie cod, settlers, medievial and such like. I would like the setup to last for some time. any advice would be well received.

Nothing you are listing would need the i7. With a good aftermarket cooler you can over-clock the i5 to at least 3.2 GHz with no problems and get close to the i7 in performance.

 

[mike smith]

Thanks for the info. Looked at fans £40+.So i7 with stock fan is not much more in cost for a better cpu?

 

[jimx86]

Thanks for the info. Looked at fans £40+.So i7 with stock fan is not much more in cost for a better cpu?

Ew, the stock fan?
I wouldn't do that with anything above an i3. At least get the Hyper 212 Plus (which is dirt cheap for a good fan - just a bit loud), or the Scythe Mugen 2 (I have it, it's quiet - a bit of a pain installing the first time, though).

 

[mike smith]

Thanks are you saying the i7 fan is not up keeping the cpu cool enough(not over clocking).That is to say ditch the fan supplied and replace it?

 

[carbine]

The fan supplied with the i7-860 is perfectly adequate if you're not overclocking and don't mind a little noise. There are many, many thousands of them out there working just fine. Mine was not loud at all and kept the CPU in the mid to upper 30s (temperature) at idle (normal use). I wanted to play with overclocking and bought a high end cooler, but it is definitely not required if you're just running at stock speeds and not running heavy duty calculations 24/7 on your box.
I used my i7-860 with the stock fan for about 6 months before I switched to the i7-875 and Noctua cooler listed in my sig.

 

[jimx86]

I agree with all that carbine says, and also - even if you don't plan on overclocking - when you're really loading programs and processes to your CPU the fan will get loud, whereas it's not nearly as noticeable with an aftermarket cooler.

 

[tinkerC]

Hi, I have just passed my old setup to my son. I am now mulling over my options and cannot decide on Intel Core i5 750(163.68) or Intel Core i7 860(£215.51). To go with Gigabyte GA-P55M-UD4 iP55.

What would I gain with the i7 over the i5 for £51.83. I web surf, watch hd. video play music and some games ie cod, settlers, medievial and such like. I would like the setup to last for some time. any advice would be well received.

Go with the i5. The i7 is only advantageous with the X58 boards.

Tom

 

[Lnx2Mac]

Go with the i5. The i7 is only advantageous with the X58 boards.

While I agree that for Mike's requirements above, an i5 should be more than enough, I don't agree the i7 is *only advantageous* on an X58.
It all depends on your usage patterns.

An i7-920 on a GA-EX58-UD5 with triple channel RAM does perform very similarly (though a bit slower) than my i7-860 on my GA-P55M-UD4 with dual-channel...

 

[tinkerC]

Go with the i5. The i7 is only advantageous with the X58 boards.

While I agree that for Mike's requirements above, an i5 should be more than enough, I don't agree the i7 is *only advantageous* on an X58.
It all depends on your usage patterns.

An i7-920 on a GA-EX58-UD5 with triple channel RAM does perform very similarly (though a bit slower) than my i7-860 on my GA-P55M-UD4 with dual-channel...

Ok. What kind of usage patterns for which, may I ask?

Tom