i5 vs i7

[shaddrak]

Yup it's me again and have a question to ask you experts out there. If I am only going to play WoW IV Cataclysm and Aion Online would I only need to use the i5-750 and just forget about the hyper-threading found in the i7 I was going to overclock it but don't know whether I should invest more money on getting a better cooler system for doing that I want to use the least amount of money possible to build my PC so i thought hey why not just use the i5 stock settings and not have to spend more money on getting a better cooling system if I do overclock. It is Lynfield so it has 4 cores which is similar to the i7 minus the hyper-threading.

So if wow is supposedly CPU intensive i'd think that the i7 is the more intense CPU and therefore would get more FPS out of it than the i5. Please correct me if I am wrong. I was also wondering if the overclocking on either i5 or i7 would bring up my FPS up a lot or if I should just use the stock settings. Remember I just want to play Wow and probably try Aion Online. If I buy the i5 i save 90bucks and would invest that in buying a G11 Gaming keyboard.

As for graphics cards i'll probably just use the GTX 460 or 5770 depending which is cheaper and more reliable in 4months from now when I start buying my parts. I'm only playing WoW and trying Aion so i don't need to invest in anything more powerful than that. I don't even know if DX11 is even going to be used in cata anyway, eitherway both cards have it so i'd be fine to play on ultra settings with either graphics cards.

Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

[vesseblah]

So if wow is supposedly CPU intensive i'd think that the i7 is the more intense CPU and therefore would get more FPS out of it than the i5. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Because WoW is not very well balanced over multiple threads, it will run fastest in a CPU that can do the processing fastest in just two cores. Amount of cores does not matter one bit after three which is why HT or 6-cores suck for WoW, but the TurboBoost which lowers the speed of some cores and increases speed of others will help a lot unless you're overclocking. Then TB is turned off.

[shaddrak]

Well since both i5 and i7 use 4 cores which one do i get? I believe both have turboboost on them so i'm kinda stuck here.

[Cute Chen]

it sounds like you want i5. you can always overclock later.

[Cilraaz]

Well since both i5 and i7 use 4 cores which one do i get? I believe both have turboboost on them so i'm kinda stuck here.

They both have 4 cores, but the i7's have hyperthreading, giving them 8 logical cores (4 physical cores). The computer will treat the 4-core i7 as an 8-core CPU, effectively. WoW, needing only 3 cores, will not effectively be able to use the extra 4 logical cores created by hyperthreading. This means that an i5 and i7, equally clocked, should give equal performance unless you're heavily multitasking (multiple clients open, video rendering in the background, etc).

[Deleted]

i'm using i5 and 5850. In dal with ultra video settings and a video playing on my second monitor, browser open and a couple of other bits i'm at 50 - 60 fps. CPU load 30-40% (max 70% on 1st core). That's at stock. i5 is plenty for WoW and much better performance/cost ratio than i7 atm, so unless you have other needs which require i7 I would advise going with the i5.

[Deleted]

i'm using i5 and 5850. In dal with ultra video settings and a video playing on my second monitor, browser open and a couple of other bits i'm at 50 - 60 fps. CPU load 30-40% (max 70% on 1st core). That's at stock. i5 is plenty for WoW and much better performance/cost ratio than i7 atm, so unless you have other needs which require i7 I would advise going with the i5.

Do you raid? If so , what kind of performance do you get while raiding?

I'd be interested to find out the difference between the i5 and the i7, for example, if you were doing Ony25 and AOEd 50 whelps with MSBT turned on. Said scenario crushes my current setup (old core2duo e6300 + 4670).

[vesseblah]

for example, if you were doing Ony25 and AOEd 50 whelps with MSBT turned on. Said scenario crushes my current setup (old core2duo e6300 + 4670).

I had AMD 4200+ and 3GB RAM before, upgraded to AMD PhenomII x3 720 and 4GB RAM (both with Radeon 4850 graphics card and lots of addons). Framerate while aoe'ing whelps went from "seconds per frame" and occasional disconnects to ~5fps minimum and no dc's. Old CPU was nominally 2.4GHz and current one 2.8GHz.

[ant1pathy]

Is the only real difference between i5 and i7 the hyperthreading? I had no idea.

[shaddrak]

well it's hyperthreading and also being able to turbo boost to 3.6ghz i think, little less in i5 but ehh lol i think that's it

[Cilraaz]

Is the only real difference between i5 and i7 the hyperthreading? I had no idea.

That and the 900 series of i7's are on a platform (LGA1366) that supports triple channel memory.

[Deleted]

I had AMD 4200+ and 3GB RAM before, upgraded to AMD PhenomII x3 720 and 4GB RAM (both with Radeon 4850 graphics card and lots of addons). Framerate while aoe'ing whelps went from "seconds per frame" and occasional disconnects to ~5fps minimum and no dc's. Old CPU was nominally 2.4GHz and current one 2.8GHz.

You'll understand exactly where i'm coming from then

I've put up with horrible performance for long enough, that when I order my new setup I want everything to work perfectly.

Given that, with simple air cooling, we can easily get the i7 930 to 4gzh, i5 760 to 4ghz, and i3 530 to 4.2 ghz ... are we just as well getting the i3, given that all the computer is for is to raid, watch videos and surf the web? Usually all at the same time

[Bloodmayj]

Honestly, I wouldn't look at the i3's, there's just too much you give up for them. In addition, with the GPU on a processor you're going to be getting additional heat you really don't need.

[Deleted]

Do you raid? If so , what kind of performance do you get while raiding?

I'd be interested to find out the difference between the i5 and the i7, for example, if you were doing Ony25 and AOEd 50 whelps with MSBT turned on. Said scenario crushes my current setup (old core2duo e6300 + 4670).

I haven't raided on this setup yet, it's only a week old. I've just moved to start a new job (hence suddenly having a grand to spend on a pc) so I haven't been online at all for a while. My old machine could reach about 20 fps at 4am in ironforge with settings right down. 10 man raiding was a strain and 25 man impossible. I'm enjoying the difference. If I can find an Ony 25 pug I'll let you know how it goes.

On my old machine I would target whelps start alt tabbing seed of corruption and turn my camera to face the wall. Not ideal, but the only way I could avoid DC.

[evensis]

The i5 also has the pci-e controller on die, so you're limited to 2 cards at 8 lanes each if you choose to go with sli/crossfire as an upgrade solution in the future. If you're just sticking with wow, its clock for clock, if so an i5 would be your best bet and then overclock it (stock intel cooler's are crap so get an aftermarket one).

[shaddrak]

On my old machine I would target whelps start alt tabbing seed of corruption and turn my camera to face the wall. Not ideal, but the only way I could avoid DC.

I needed a good laugh, thank you.