Legit Reviews

OK, I am the first to admit I'm a little slow....But I'm trying to make up my mind as to which processor, 920 vs 8XX, to buy for my next system (expected build date in October).

From what I can figure out, there is the power diff (130 W vs 95W), different sockets, and the 920 supports three channel ram. Are any of those differences significant enough to not just buy the cheaper of the two???

Thanks for your help.

Chuck

If you know you won't switch to a 6-core Gulftown processor, the 860 is a solid choice. It runs cooler, draws less power and performs roughly the same.

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You can't notice 2 vs. 3 channel RAM configuration in everyday use.
If you want to run SLI or Crossfire go for 920, else 8xx.

So, I guess it's up to the graphics

I believe SLI/Crossfire is enabled on those new chips(i5 7xx and i7 8xx)

It is, but with few PCI express lines (16). Running SLI or Crossfire will split those 16 in 8 for each card.

Well, my plan right now is to only use one card since I'm waiting for one of the new ATI 5000 series cards. With the pricing I'm seeing right now my plan is to save a little money using the i7 800 and use it on the vid card.

Thanks for your replies, I really appreciate (and need!) your thoughts.

Chuck

Upgrading to a Core i7 platform would be more better for future upgrades.

Zertz wrote:If you know you won't switch to a 6-core Gulftown processor, the 860 is a solid choice. It runs cooler, draws less power and performs roughly the same.

+1 but I would opt for the i5 750 instead since I like to save where ever I can.

CaptChuck wrote:OK, I am the first to admit I'm a little slow....But I'm trying to make up my mind as to which processor, 920 vs 8XX, to buy for my next system (expected build date in October).

From what I can figure out, there is the power diff (130 W vs 95W), different sockets, and the 920 supports three channel ram. Are any of those differences significant enough to not just buy the cheaper of the two???

Thanks for your help.

Chuck

absolutely not...get the better one. DDR3 will be more important as you tweak your system.

mvrdock wrote:

CaptChuck wrote:OK, I am the first to admit I'm a little slow....But I'm trying to make up my mind as to which processor, 920 vs 8XX, to buy for my next system (expected build date in October).

From what I can figure out, there is the power diff (130 W vs 95W), different sockets, and the 920 supports three channel ram. Are any of those differences significant enough to not just buy the cheaper of the two???

Thanks for your help.

Chuck

absolutely not...get the better one. DDR3 will be more important as you tweak your system.

Both use DDR3, and that one extra channel only gives -5 to 5% performance differences with the 800 series at the same clockspeed. Unless Mvrdock was planning to buy a 6-core CPU there's no reason to buy X58 anymore unless it can be found cheaper. 920's do tend to overclock better though. Intel's next generation architecture won't be using either socket so that point is moot as well.