Intel Core i7 listings show up on NewEgg to tease you, then split

Listings for Intel's new Core i7 processors popped up on NewEgg for a couple hours yesterday before getting pulled back into the pre-launch ether -- a cruel tease to desktop PC hardware aficionados counting down the nanoseconds till that red letter day, November 17th. We knew it wouldn't last, but we're glad of the error, 'cause now we've seen pricing info which should reflect what we'll be paying next week. The 2.66GHz 920 was listed at $319.99, the 2.93GHz 940 at $599.99, and the 3.2GHz Extreme 965 at $1,069. Benchmarks have shown even the 920 besting top-of-the-line Core 2 Quads, so the entry point is alluring, but if you're a True Gearhead we expect you'll embezzle a grand to afford the Extreme chip.

[Thanks, Staff]

[Dustin Hess @ Nov 15th 2008 5:46AM]

I want one!

[XGM @ Nov 15th 2008 9:19PM]

I want 3 for my 3D rendering cluster.

[mirakutea @ Nov 15th 2008 5:53AM]

Overpriced i7's here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=701&catid=6&subid=1272

I hope they are half that price within a few months.

[r3loaded @ Nov 15th 2008 6:24AM]

More reasonably priced i7s over here: http://www.scan.co.uk/Index.aspx?NT=1-0-91-593-0

I suppose the pound being worth $1.49 does have its merits - we don't get ripped off as much.

[Dave Chappelle @ Nov 15th 2008 8:39AM]

@r3loaded

ye lol good point 'ripped off, as much'

hopefully AMD will bring out it's new processor with something extra so Intel is forced to drop the price of the i7 just like Nvidia had to drop the price of the GTX200's

[shaden79 @ Nov 15th 2008 10:23PM]

with cash back from Microsoft, mwave or some other online tech retailer's ebay store is definitely the way to go. i just got a 920 and p6t deluxe for a little more than 200$ each (after rebates).

[Reader @ Nov 15th 2008 5:55AM]

The cache confuses me. Does this new architecture rely more heavily on L3 cache then, or is that how it goes with quads?

[aznofazns @ Nov 15th 2008 5:55AM]

Damn... I just built a Q6600 rig 3 months ago and now these things have to ruin the party for me.

[Dy Phan @ Nov 15th 2008 8:49AM]

It's not like your Q6600 becomes obsolete.

[broli @ Nov 15th 2008 12:32PM]

Dude that's the smartest decision you could have made. These cpu's are not worth it at all at this price. Change when their 32nm shrink happens and they hit rock bottom like the q6600. Then buy yourself a Core i7 920.

[maveric101 @ Nov 15th 2008 4:20PM]

i would say the 920 is worth the price. it's beating Core 2's that are priced much higher.

[Homer @ Nov 15th 2008 6:03AM]

Is i7 only available in quad core?

[Patriks7 @ Nov 15th 2008 6:16AM]

Currently yes.
If I'm not mistaken, they should come dual soon..

[Casper42 @ Nov 15th 2008 12:49PM]

There will be 2 kinds of Core i7 though. The higher end model with integrated 3 channel DDR3 controller (like those listed above that mention LGA 1366) and then later in 2009 they will release the lower end parts that don't have an integrated memory controller at all (more similar to the Core2 today letting the Northbridge handle that).

From everything I have read, they wont bother to release a Dual in the high end market, likely only the low end one. The only caveat here may be one of yields. With a true 4 core architecture, we might end up seeing Tri or Dual Core chips after all depending on how bad their manufacturing process is. They could take a failed 920 and release a 3 core 820 or 2 core 720. All speculation there of course as Intel Fabs tend to be some of the most best.

In the high end market, we will supposedly see 8 core models pop up in 2009.
They will be producing them for servers, so its not a far stretch to imaging an enthusiast desktop variant.
And keep in mind they have Hyperthreading on these chips, so with that enabled, poor little task manager would show 16 CPU Graphs if you had a single 8 core with HT enabled.

[Loren Sonnenberg @ Nov 15th 2008 6:17AM]

These things look to make minor speed gains, but in all honesty they're just not worth it. I've got a Q9450 overclocked to 3.6Ghz I picked up for ~$300 over the summer and if I were to build a new system today I'd still buy a core 2 quad (Q9550 this time). Why you ask? First of all decent motherboard for these new i7 chips start out at >$300 compared to $100-150 for a decent core 2 duo / core 2 quad motherboard. Then add an extra few hundred dollars for the price of DDR3 memory. Maybe an i7 and an X58 motherboard gets you an additional 10-20% in some apps, but the $300-500 dollars you save getting a core 2 is money you can dump into more RAM, better graphics cards, faster hard drives, etc. that will give you a much more significant boost. Heck with the money you save not going with an i7 pick up a decent 24" monitor to game on =)

These reek a lot of the willamette core p4's - they were nice and definitely a step up from the pIII in some debatable respects, but when the revised northwood cores hit they really made it worth spending the extra $. If the current 45nm quads top out at around 3.8Ghz and the 920 doesn't give me any extra overclocking headroom (reviews have the 920 topping out at ~3.8 as well) I'll wait for a chip that does. So i7 works and offers a small performance gain for a large chunk of change - I'm underwhelmed - now give me an updated i7 six months from now with a die shrink (less power/heat & more overclocking headroom), a cheaper / wider selection of ddr3, and a compatible $150 overclocking motherboard and I'll think about it.

[seanchk @ Nov 15th 2008 6:50AM]

Some people don't need to worry about saving a few hundred dollars, so you can't make a blanket statement that they are not worth it.

Personally I miss the days when upgrading the CPU actual made the computer work faster... an upgrade from a 68000 to a 68030 resulted in an appreciably faster experience.... then going to an '040 produced another noticeable boost in speed for all aspects of the user experience (showing my age a bit there)

Nowadays I buy a new whizz bang PC with a much faster CPU etc and yet the overall user experience is no faster.....

I guess if you are a "gamer" then it makes a difference, but what about all us non gamers that want things to happen quicker ???

[Gradoman @ Nov 15th 2008 8:18AM]

If you're gaming, it's definitely not worth the upgrade since there is virtually no improvement in performance, but if you are looking at video encoding 3D rendering, even the cheap 920 crushes the qx9770. And not only that, they are also more efficient.

[Hotrod @ Nov 15th 2008 9:44AM]

@Loren

Very true, and very good post. It would be wise to wait until those ridiculous motherboard prices drop a bit.

@Gradoman

Do you know if they run cooler than Core2 Q series?

[cesium @ Nov 15th 2008 11:30AM]

Run cooler? HAHAHAHHAHA. These mofos run hot as hell

[ProfessorKaos @ Nov 15th 2008 11:46AM]

Check out benchmarks then retract your statement Sir. People are so blinded by Ghz they dont realize the obvious benefit the i7 has by having:

1. The MCH on the CPU, memory operations are lightning face now that the memory controller is on the CPU
2. Hyper Transport makes a comeback, remember how awesome P4 HT was? If you have a 4 core i7, it is seen as 8 threads in the OS, multiple in/out
3. The L3 cache design, obviously notes take from AMD, is a significant gain in performance.
4. Scoff at DDR3 and the motherboards all you want, but the SAME thing happens EVERY time a new processor comes out you dolt. Sweet spot to buy a i7 system will be 1-2 years from now, when the revised i7's are out and DDR3 is at a good price.

There are many more advantages: see http://www.techspot.com/review/124-intel-core-i7-920-940-965/

Take a step back and back down, you shame computer nerds everywhere with you naivete...

[Casper42 @ Nov 15th 2008 12:59PM]

Read the reviews and you will see your pretty much right on the ball.

If you have Q9400 or better currently, and you do NOT do a ton of Video Encoding or 3D rendering, all the reviews I have read say the same thing. Stay with your current machine, there is no reason to spend $700+ to switch to i7

However, if your still running on a Pentium 4 / Pentium D / Athlon62 X2 / Opteron 1xx/2xx, then you will see significant gains with even the most modest i7 machine (920 with the cheapest motherboard (still $250 or more) and 3GB of DDR3 (3 x 1GB)).

Personally I am running a Dual CPU Opteron 252 (2 Chips, each single core 2.6Ghz) with 4GB of DDR1.
While it was spanking P4s when I first got it, now my lowly E6600 Media Center in the other room is even faster when it comes to certain tasks.
Add to that my personal feeling that nVidia Motherboards suck, but nVidia graphics rule, and your in a tight spot for an upgrade. The ICH9R/10R spanks the nVidia MCP all day long.
Now along comes the x58 and you have a motherboard based on an Intel chipset WITH ICH10R -AND- you can run SLI.
For me its a pretty easy answer which direction I want to go.
Now comes the cost decision. $1000 on a basic i7 machine ($600 for the 940 chip, $300 for the Board and at least $100 for the RAM) OR put together a Q9550/780i/4GB DDR2 machine for $700 or less. Thats where I am still struggling to justify the new hotness.

[Loren Sonnenberg @ Nov 15th 2008 4:05PM]

@Kaos

"4. Scoff at DDR3 and the motherboards all you want, but the SAME thing happens EVERY time a new processor comes out you dolt. Sweet spot to buy a i7 system will be 1-2 years from now, when the revised i7's are out and DDR3 is at a good price."

You just listed lots of nice little improvements that don't offer much speed increase (same with willamette or prescott) AND you agree that it'll take a year or two for prices for a complete i7 build to settle down to more appropriate levels. You agree with virtually everything I say and then call me an idiot? Am I missing something here??

[garrett @ Nov 16th 2008 1:55AM]

@Kaos:

"2. Hyper Transport makes a comeback, remember how awesome P4 HT was? If you have a 4 core i7, it is seen as 8 threads in the OS, multiple in/out"

umm... HyperTransport is a type of connection between processor and northbridge, used by AMD as an alternative to the inferior Front-Side Bus (FSB).
What you're talking about is Hyper-*threading*.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HyperTransport
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-threading

[icepop4who @ Nov 17th 2008 11:54AM]

@Gradoman

The Core i7 is not for gaming?! Are you sure? Maybe you should read this article:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i7-multigpu-sli-crossfire-game-performance-review/

[sam @ Nov 15th 2008 6:58AM]

yes, i7 is currently only available in quad core with 3 cpu's. The motherboards start from £205 in uk, cpu's start from £260 and obviously you can choose what ram you want but 1600mhz triple channel 6gb kit will set you back £240. So a total of £705 if you want a nice setup, WAYYYYYYYYYYY overpriced. These wont sell well until the 6gb kits of ram is £150 or less and the boards are £140 or less. People should wait for intel's price drop in 3 months ish as £700 is a crazy price for cpu+mobo+ram. I know people will say you could just get a dual channel 4gb kit but the whole point of this board is that you can use triple channel which actually helps quite a bit in tests.

My q6700 @ 3.7ghz will have to do me until sometime next year when these prices go down, cant believe intel thought this pricing would sell in volume, far too expensive! And there wont even be cheaper boards out as this socket 1366 will only last 1yr, the cheaper boards will use a different socket lol.

[Gradoman @ Nov 15th 2008 8:24AM]

/facepalm

Have you all read the benchmarks at all...?

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3453&p=3

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3453

[mirakutea @ Nov 15th 2008 10:01AM]

Of course most people will wait until they are at a mainstream pricepoint, Intel knows this. I guess they have not ramped up the volume yet, they also probably want to extract all the profit they can out of Core 2 parts.

[mirakutea @ Nov 15th 2008 10:10AM]

Intel stock is at $13-14.. they definitely need to sell lots more Core 2's.

[david @ Nov 15th 2008 7:59AM]

How come its only quad core? Isnt it supposed to be octa core?

Because I remember a blog entry not so far ago, pics from a killer computer that showed a screenie of the hardware manager. There were 8 cores running @ 3,2GHz :O

[Ivand @ Nov 15th 2008 8:12AM]

quadcore with hyperthreading maybe

[Gradoman @ Nov 15th 2008 8:13AM]

4 cores, with hyperthreading, equals 8 logical cores.

[Dy Phan @ Nov 15th 2008 8:49AM]

The Octocores with hyperthreading comes out next year.

[sam @ Nov 15th 2008 9:51AM]

for the best UK prices check this thread: http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/276507/intel-core-i7-x58-motherboards-trip

[nick @ Nov 15th 2008 10:51AM]

And next year you'll be saying "What, only available in Octo-core" ;-) Move with it!!

[jercb123 @ Nov 15th 2008 11:49AM]

So noone got to buy one because it shows u can in the pic

[futurepastnow @ Nov 15th 2008 12:56PM]

So we're looking at at least a $300 processor, a $300 motherboard, and $300 in RAM. Looks like if I need to build a new rig in the near future, I'll be sticking with Core 2.

[poematik14 @ Nov 15th 2008 1:08PM]

Wow..I just built a Q6600 rig 2 months ago. Should I be worried? (4gb ddr2, gtx 260 ssc, nvidia 780i)

[mehrad @ Nov 15th 2008 1:23PM]

wait so...920 or q9550? I was under the assumption that the q9550 was a little better than the 920. I was about to go q9550 with an Asus maximus II, but now should I reconsider with 920 and 9550 at the same price?

[milton359 @ Nov 15th 2008 1:35PM]

did you not read any of the comments? If you are poor and living in your mom's basement go with the Q9550 otherwise 920 FTW unless you're a gamer.

[Redbeaver @ Nov 15th 2008 2:47PM]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/11/11/intel-core-i7-cpu-value/1

it shows an overclocked Q6600 is still the budget king in gaming. 3.6ghz Q6600 > 4.0ghz i7 920.

non-gaming/applications tho, i7 kicks ass. so dont worry if u have a q6600.

[EK @ Nov 15th 2008 2:50PM]

Yesss! Thanks for all the links, I will be ordering here as soon as I can, which is probably today or tomorrow! I do't care what they cost certainly better than anything AMD could put out! Can't wait for my next build with these juicy chips!

[Jonny Snow @ Nov 15th 2008 3:20PM]

Will you be able to run a 920 on a motherboard equipped with DDR2 memory? Or does the it have to be a DDR3 motherboard?

[why not the LS2LS7? @ Nov 15th 2008 5:02PM]

Right now there are no DDR2 Core i7 systems. And it's probably unlikely we'll see one.

[sam @ Nov 15th 2008 6:00PM]

actually there are x58 boards that take both ddr2 AND ddr3 memory

[MioTheGreat @ Nov 16th 2008 11:09AM]

To my knowledge, no such boards currently exist.

If they did, then performance on any DDR2 modules installed would have to be abysmal based on how the new architecture works.

[inode @ Nov 16th 2008 3:05AM]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=n82e16819115202

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=n82e16819115201

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=n82e16819115200

[mirakutea @ Nov 16th 2008 10:22AM]

Hmm $319.99 isn't too bad for a just released chip.