How much greater is i7 compared to quad core? - General

As the topic suggests, how much greater is the i7 compared to quad core? I know the i7 is just a quad core with multithreading (right?), but is it really [B]that[/B] good? I'm talking equally fast CPUs. Compare a 2,66 GHZ quad and 2,66 GHZ i7 for instance. Prices doesn't matter, I want performance. Give me some convincing examples. [B]Bonus question:[/B] I seem to find both DDR3 nVidia and DDR5 ATI GPUs in equivalent rigs. Which ones are better? I think there's some SLi or something which makes nVidia better, but honestly, I have no idea. If you can explain, please do so.

Better architecture, has 8 threads (logical octo-core), new D0 stepping is good for overclocking, support for tripple channel DDR3 RAM.

[QUOTE=Within;16080536]As the topic suggests, how much greater is the i7 compared to quad core? I know the i7 is just a quad core with multithreading (right?), but is it really [B]that[/B] good? I'm talking equally fast CPUs. Compare a 2,66 GHZ quad and 2,66 GHZ i7 for instance. Prices doesn't matter, I want performance. Give me some convincing examples.[/QUOTE] The i7s as of now ARE quad cores. They are faster than previous Core 2 CPUs on a clock per clock basis, but that doesn't mean much in real world performance. In terms of gaming it really doesn't matter as of now whether you have an i7 or not. The only game you'll truly see a solid performance increase in would be GTA IV, but even then my Q9550 can match that. The main plus with buying something from that family right now is you've got the newer socket standard. But otherwise there's really no reason aside from wanting a bigger e-penis than others. I am personally waiting until I can buy a CPU with more than 4 cores, then I shall totally overhaul my system.

Thanks both of you. Was helpful.

Wow, I'm really surprised that the AMD-Fan-People didn't troll this thread.... :eng101:

Well the Phenom IIs are excellent processors for the money. In most cases (with synthetic tests) the higher end X4s either just about match or only fall slightly behind the i7s/C2Q/C2D processors. In gaming there's really not much of a difference at all if you overclock the PII CPUs. Of course for all out performance the i7s do win, but you're honestly getting a better deal right now with the Phenom IIs. The new X3 processors are also pretty nice too.

[QUOTE=MichaelFTW;16081613]Wow, I'm really surprised that the AMD-Fan-People didn't troll this thread.... :eng101:[/QUOTE] Because some of them might eventually have a brain.

I like AMD, and I still approve this thread. Also, when are the actual octo-cores coming out?

is there any benefit over a quad core extreme?