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i7 860 vs. 920 question

3237 Views 39 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  ritchwell
Hey guys,
One of my friends was saying how with the 920, you have to have 3 sticks of memory for triple channel, while with the 860 this is not necessary. Is my friend full of ****?
If so, if I were to put together a 860 rig, what mobo/RAM would you suggest?

Thanks
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920 is tri-channel, 860 is dual-channel. Both are amazing processors but for gaming we prefer the 920 due to the PCI-E lane implementation. 16 with 16 whereas on P55 which is 860 they split in 8 with 8.

What budget do you have for that Lynnfield?
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p55 is dual channel, x58 is tripple channel. You can just run dual on x58 though...

w/ the p55, dual channel is max speed. corsair is a popular brand. 1600mhz is very good speed.
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i7 9-series is capable of triple channel RAM while the i7 8-series can only do dual channel, he is correct.

I wouldn't waste your money on the 8-series, you may as well go with the 920 for the price. The 1156 socket has suffered a knockback from the burning sockets (Not sure if it's fixed now). It can also only use 16 PCIe lanes, while the i7 is not limited in this way.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Daney View Post
i7 9-series is capable of triple channel RAM while the i7 8-series can only do dual channel, he is correct.

I wouldn't waste your money on the 8-series, you may as well go with the 920 for the price. The 1156 socket has suffered a knockback from the burning sockets (Not sure if it's fixed now). It can also only use 16 PCIe lanes, while the i7 is not limited in this way.

I doubt the op, who does not know the difference between x58 and p55 will manage to burn out the foxconn 1156 socket. Your argument is not valid and please read a bit more on how those sockets were burned. Moreover, the foxconn sockets have been replaced as far as the 1156 is concerned.

@Gabkicks,

What does "dual-channel is max speed mean'? Dual-Channel can be 1333, 1600, 2000, should I go on?
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Wishmaker View Post
I doubt the op, who does not know the difference between x58 and p55 will manage to burn out the foxconn 1156 socket. Your argument is not valid and please read a bit more on how those sockets were burned. Moreover, the foxconn sockets have been replaced as far as the 1156 is concerned.

@Gabkicks,

What does "dual-channel is max speed mean'? Dual-Channel can be 1333, 1600, 2000, should I go on?
My argument was not solely based upon the burning socket.

Either way, I wouldn't have full trust in something which burned in the previous version. I also stated that I was unsure of whether it was fixed, not that it wasn't.
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Quote:


Originally Posted by Daney
View Post

My argument was not solely based upon the burning socket.

Either way, I wouldn't have full trust in something which burned in the previous version. I also stated that I was unsure of whether it was fixed, not that it wasn't.


No need to diss Lynnfield because it is a good platform. The difference between x58 and P55 is what you want to do. If I follow your "full thrust logic" then all of us whom are using 2nd revision XFX HD4890 cards should run them stock because the first revision broke down all the time.
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It is pretty much fact that x58 is the superior socket, and for the negligible price difference there is pretty much no reason to go p55.
3
Quote:


Originally Posted by Wishmaker
View Post

No need to diss Lynnfield because it is a good platform. The difference between x58 and P55 is what you want to do. If I follow your "full thrust logic" then all of us whom are using 2nd revision XFX HD4890 cards should run them stock because the first revision broke down all the time.

I am not trying to start an argument so this will be my last post in this thread.
I did not say you shouldn't trust a second version of any product. I'm expressing my view and opinion on it. I would not give 100% of my trust to it, I did not say I wouldn't trust it. If it works, great but I wouldn't do much overclocking outside the 'safe-zone', which imo sounds like the fun bit of overclocking. This is my opinion, not fact. I'm not saying that all second versions are the same as the first. Feel free to do as you like with your hardware.

Edit: What I was trying to say in my first post, thanks Slothfish


Quote:


Originally Posted by slothfish
View Post

It is pretty much fact that x58 is the superior socket, and for the negligible price difference there is pretty much no reason to go p55.

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To OP your friend is incorrect at least the way you state it. 920 does not need 3 DIMM's. So he is wrong on that. Point two, it is stated like 860 does not need 3 but does mention performance difference. So by omission it implies the 860 can do the same as the 920 with less and that simply is factually wrong. He is not correct because 920 can use three channels and 860 only two. He made implications that are wrong. Most already explained well. Those who said your friend is correct need to read beyond words to get concepts and meanings. Then again in your friends defense we do not actually know what he said or meant. There are some who think with RAM speed tri-channel is not needed. Not me but some so it is at least a legitimate opinion.
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The Core i7 will perform as good as the Core i7 920, but the Core i7 920 has more overclocking headroom (Stepping D0 that is) than the Core i7 860.
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Quote:


Originally Posted by Wishmaker
View Post

920 is tri-channel, 860 is dual-channel. Both are amazing processors but for gaming we prefer the 920 due to the PCI-E lane implementation. 16 with 16 whereas on P55 which is 860 they split in 8 with 8.

What budget do you have for that Lynnfield?

Does this mean even with a single GPU it's 8x and not 16x?
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Quote:


Originally Posted by slothfish
View Post

It is pretty much fact that x58 is the superior socket, and for the negligible price difference there is pretty much no reason to go p55.

How exactly is x58 superior? i7 860 is as fast as i7 920 and at the same time it has 1) greater turbo, 2) lower power consumption, 3) cheaper along with mobo and mem. So where you get this that x58 is superior I don't know.
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Quote:


Originally Posted by shashidam
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Does this mean even with a single GPU it's 8x and not 16x?

A single GPU will run at 16x but if you were to go Crossfire or SLI it'll run it at 8x/8x.
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2
Quote:


Originally Posted by shashidam
View Post

Does this mean even with a single GPU it's 8x and not 16x?

Nope with a standard P55 board a single PCI x16 slot (with one card in use) will operate at full x16

It should be noted though that there are newer revisions of P55 boards which support 2x SLI/CF at full x16 each
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I put my Core i7 920 rig together just shy of a year ago, and I don't regret it a bit. It's done everything I need, and I even have an upgrade path to the Core i9 Gulftown in a few months. I don't think I'll upgrade right away, but it's nice to know I can.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabkicks View Post
p55 is dual channel, x58 is tripple channel. You can just run dual on x58 though...

w/ the p55, dual channel is max speed. corsair is a popular brand. 1600mhz is very good speed.
what?

P55 is NOT dual channel, the P55 chipset doesn't even have a memory controller!
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Hahah wow guys, I appreciate all the input here, but I understand the 920 is worth it for a little extra, plus the little extra to fork out for the RAM.
I have <$1000 to spend on the CPU, RAM, Mobo, and GFX. Thats all I need. Give me a little input on this bit, thanks guys!
Quote:


Originally Posted by ender475
View Post

Hahah wow guys, I appreciate all the input here, but I understand the 920 is worth it for a little extra, plus the little extra to fork out for the RAM.
I have <$1000 to spend on the CPU, RAM, Mobo, and GFX. Thats all I need. Give me a little input on this bit, thanks guys!

Core i7 920, X58 mobo of your choice, enjoy.
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Quote:


Originally Posted by error10
View Post

Core i7 920, X58 mobo of your choice, enjoy.

Yeah, thats just CPU and mobo. I'd like to think there's some differentiation between the mobos on the market. I also asked for RAM and GFX suggestions.

ALSO:
Adding rep to those who contributed
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