So, is the Intel 800 series, a better choice than the 900 series..?

[Xoulz]

After reading some 15 hours today, it's hard not to argue, that the Intel i860 is the best all-around CPU to have right now.

The LGA1156 represents real well in all these benches. The P55 seems pretty efficient and in it's natural state, outperforms the i920.


I might be swayed now to grab one instead of a i920.



Thoughts?

[Chumbucket843]

wrong section. if you arent folding work units that take 3 days you dont need 3 memory channels.

[SoulsCollective]

The i7 860 is a very, very nice price/performance processor. You're right, at stock, it'll outperform a 920, but I'd still go with the 1336 platform for a couple of reasons. Firstly, futureproofing - 1336 will get hexacores, 1156 will not. Secondly, tri-channel support - we already see larger and faster amounts of RAM making noticeable differences in games, and from my own experience desktop usage is just a lot snappier with faster. Third, multi-tasking and multi-threaded app performance - while the 860 has the same number of logical cores, most multi-threaded apps also have a large memory footprint, so as above the support for tri-channel also allows you to physically install more RAM. Finally, overclocking - all the 8-series i7s have locked multipliers, meaning you're somewhat limited in what you can get out of them.

Stock for stock, the 860 is a better choice than the 920 for current apps and games that don't have a huge working memory space, but I still find the 1336 platform a more compelling choice - especially considering the very small price difference.