# New Intel i7 vs. duo E8400



## BigRieg

Which would be better and why?

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8400 (2x 3.0GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB)
Intel® Core™2 i7-920 2.66 GHz 8M L3 Cache LGA1366 

The duo is faster, but the i7 is newer with H/T
I'll be using the computer for some gaming, but mainly for my Game and Simulation Programming degree.  So I'll be needing to create high-end graphics and what-not. There isn't too much a price difference, just worried about the slower processing of the i7.   Thanks


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## AUTOBOOT2000

DURRRRRR i7 core 2 duo is terribly inferior technology this is a really stupid question. I had the same debate between 2 cores and 4 and now that I7 is out it's stupid to even argue you can overclock the thing to 3.5 ghz easily on air plus it has 4 cores supports triple channel memory and completely new and future proof.


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## Jet

While they are the same price, the i7 motherboards are much more expensive, as well as using DDR3 instead of DDR2, so the overall cost is going to be much higher with the i7. As well, the i7s have overclocking limiters built in, so you won't be able to overclock as much as you could have otherwise. 

For me personally, the cost doesn't justify the increased price for buying the latest and greatest. I also let any problems be ironed out by the early adopters.


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## AUTOBOOT2000

Jet said:


> While they are the same price, the i7 motherboards are much more expensive, as well as using DDR3 instead of DDR2, so the overall cost is going to be much higher with the i7. As well, the i7s have overclocking limiters built in, so you won't be able to overclock as much as you could have otherwise.
> 
> For me personally, the cost doesn't justify the increased price for buying the latest and greatest. I also let any problems be ironed out by the early adopters.



The i7 overclocks amazing! 3.8ghz on air is enough for me. Maybye the limiters are there for a reason...


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## marux1

get the duo core, best CPU for its price by a mile.


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## Jet

AUTOBOOT2000 said:


> The i7 overclocks amazing! 3.8ghz on air is enough for me. Maybye the limiters are there for a reason...



As Intel has eliminated the FSB with the i7, now overclocking happens differently. They have put a wattage based limiter on the lower end (ie, sub $1000) processors, so you can't overclock above a certain wattage, limiting your overclocks very substantially.


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## Kornowski

Jet said:


> As Intel has eliminated the FSB with the i7, now overclocking happens differently. They have put a wattage based limiter on the lower end (ie, sub $1000) processors, so you can't overclock above a certain wattage, limiting your overclocks very substantially.



Aye, I think it's between 100 - 175 watts.


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## Shane

Kornowski said:


> Aye, I think it's between 100 - 175 watts.


looks like this is the end for massive overclocks on their cheaper line of processors from now then


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## Jet

Details:


> The limits hard-wired into the core are 100 A and 130 watts. Only the Extreme Edition allows the user to increase these values as they like, effectively circumventing the protection mechanism altogether.


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## Kornowski

I was a little off, I knew it wasn't much though.


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## simpletron

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclocking-core-i7,2063.html



> In our launch coverage, Bert Toepelt observed that the 965 Extreme is able to circumvent Intel’s Overspeed Protection mechanism by altering the thresholds for wattage and amperage under which the processor would throttle itself. These settings are apparent in Intel’s own DX58SO BIOS. The Core i7 920 and 940 CPUs, on the other hand, were limited to 100A and 130W on the same motherboard, which was used to conduct our early tests.
> 
> ....blah blah blah...
> 
> So, right at launch, you can expect most motherboard vendors (even Intel) to include an override of that Overspeed Protection function. On the DX58SO, it’s called CPU VR Current Limit Override. In ASUS’ Rampage II Extreme, it’s the CPU TM Function, which engages throttling based on TM2.
> 
> *Let’s get into the effect of this setting turned on or off.*
> 
> ....blah blah blah...
> 
> Intel has added an Overspeed Protection to its Core i7 processors, keeping them from exceeding 130W or 100A. The company says it’s a safeguard in environments where that much power or current could result in a problem. *The workaround is a BIOS switch. Overclockers will want to disable it before trying their hand at faster frequencies.*
> 
> Our Core i7 920 sample is stable at 3.8 GHz and with a bit more tweaking would likely stabilize at 4 GHz as well. We didn’t really have any better luck with the 965 Extreme, which could be tweaked through its multiplier settings versus the Bclk-only, like the 920. But then again, this brief editorial was more a personal effort to address some of the comments brought up in our initial launch story.



this rumour about limiter being hard-wired was caused by tom's hardware because they didn't turn off the switch and report on it. this article is their correction to that first article.

core i7 can overclock just as well as yorkfield if you turn the limiter switch off in the bios.


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