Need a quick explanation of core I7

[Elie]

What would be the differences between Core 2 quad and Core I7? Does Core I7 exist is quad core?
Sorry for being behind the times, it's unlike me actually, I ask because I need to build another system to replace my now aging dual Xeon 3.4Ghz system.

The HP Xw8200 has two old Sata 1 ports with no drivers for 64bit, so I can't see the Sata's in a 64 bit OS like Vista.

aside from the Sata ports, everything is pretty much 64, so I have two options here...

1-I sell it, and with the money I buy a new system (in parts) build everthing from scratch with a dual Core I7 (quad core) if they exist, 16GB ram, ATI 4890 and 4 port SATA 2 or SATA 3 ports.

2-Or just use the same system I have and buy a PCI-X SATA II Raid card for $400-$500 and a new video card to keep me going for another year or two. Of coarse I have to upgrade the memory to 8 GB or more.

decisions decisions....

[High_Jumbllama]

3 Channel memory.

From what I understand Quad-Core + HT so 8 threads at once.
Does no one look at the manufacturer's site any more?

[Nowhere]

Wiki articles are good too... (to the point thst I typed the url "from memory", hope it works ;p )

Though the quickest explanation of Core i7 would be IMHO: wait a bit for Core i5 (dual channel version - tests shown that for Core i7 it doesn't really matter if it's dual or triple; mobos, CPUs will be just as quick and cheaper (plus I have a feeling that Core i7 socket users will be left out by Intel relatively soon...))

[Evildead666]

AFAIK there are NO server parts on Core i7 tech right now.
There are NO dual/quad socket designs.

Triple channel memory is fast if you need it.
Stay with your current board.

What expansion ports do you have on that current mobo ? No PCIe at all ?
PCI-X Raid cards should be going down in price, especially depending on what type of RAID you need. If just RAID 0/1/10 a simple card is easy to find.
If you need RAID 5/6 or more, then it might cost a little more...

What is your current RAM installed ?

Core i7 is just too new atm....prices are high due to the small install base and availability.
If you do have to build a new system, buy one with whats left of the Core2 tech thats readily available, and prices going down....

edit : The two socket types will stay for Intel. One for mainstream, and one for Hardcore users. those of us who used to get mainstream chips and clock them higher that the extreme chips are not going to be able to play in the same ballpark anymore....It means they can keep all the i7 stuff expensive, and make the large profits from it.
If it does stay that way, then Hello AMD, cheapness, and lots of fun OCing....

[Evildead666]

HP wx8200

1. Monitor (sold separately)
2. 2004 Standard Keyboard
3. 2-Button Scroll Mouse
4. Front IO: 2 USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 (standard), headphone and microphone
5. 5.25"" external bay for optional diskette drive, optical drive or other 5.25"/3.5" device
6. 5 internal 3.5" bays, 3 external 5.25" bays
7. 2 PCI, 3 PCI-X, 1 PCI Express slots
8. 1 PCI Express x16 Graphics Bus
9. Dual 64-bit Intel® Xeon® processors
10. 8 DIMM slots for DDR2 memory
11. 6 USB 2.0, 1 standard serial port, 1 parallel port, 2 PS/2, 1 RJ-45, audio in/out, microphone, 1 IEEE-1394
12. 600 watt power supply

I see why PCI-X...how many are occupied now ? The only reason I can think of using the PCI-X slots if for heavy Network card or RAID... And all those cards are being replaced very rapidly by PCIe 1x-8x cards...

DDR2 is pretty cheap now, as long as you don't have to have ECC....

[Elie]

HP wx8200

1. Monitor (sold separately)
2. 2004 Standard Keyboard
3. 2-Button Scroll Mouse
4. Front IO: 2 USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 (standard), headphone and microphone
5. 5.25"" external bay for optional diskette drive, optical drive or other 5.25"/3.5" device
6. 5 internal 3.5" bays, 3 external 5.25" bays
7. 2 PCI, 3 PCI-X, 1 PCI Express slots
8. 1 PCI Express x16 Graphics Bus
9. Dual 64-bit Intel® Xeon® processors
10. 8 DIMM slots for DDR2 memory
11. 6 USB 2.0, 1 standard serial port, 1 parallel port, 2 PS/2, 1 RJ-45, audio in/out, microphone, 1 IEEE-1394
12. 600 watt power supply

I see why PCI-X...how many are occupied now ? The only reason I can think of using the PCI-X slots if for heavy Network card or RAID... And all those cards are being replaced very rapidly by PCIe 1x-8x cards...

DDR2 is pretty cheap now, as long as you don't have to have ECC....

So first off, many thanks guys for your input, just wanted to get your input on the I7 not what's out there.

Second, my Xw8200 has the following components installed...

1-ATI Radeon 1900 on one of the PCI-e 16x slots

2-Matrox RT.X2 HD RT editing card in the PCI-e 8x slot

3-2GB ram

4-All PCI-X slots are free, no hardware installed

5-The second PCI-e slot is free

6-using all the built in components like 1394 and onboard audio

So really, all I need is a PCI-X or a PCI-e raid card and I'll be ok as long as I can boot off it, or I can just use the slow IDE as a system drive.

On this system, I have Windows XP installed on one drive, and Windows 7 64 bit on another drive. The difference in speed is astonishing, all components are working except the raid. Even the onboard SCSI is detected and working, just wish prices on SCSI drives were a bit lower, I would rather use SCSI as a system drive and SATA2 as my raid array for audio/video storage.

I agree, maybe I'll just keep it, at 3.4Ghz it is a fast system.

Cheers,
Elie

[Mehen]

i7 isn't really all that expensive.
Canadian Dollars, from shopbot.ca.
You can pricematch at ncix to get the best prices.

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $220
Core i7 920 $358
6GB G. Skill 3x2GB DDR3 $125

[VJ]

What would be the differences between Core 2 quad and Core I7? Does Core I7 exist is quad core?

If I'm not mistaken, the i7 has a turbo mode in which one core is overclocked if the other cores are unused. I haven't verified it on my Core i7 though...

Dunno if it helps you, but the Asus P6T6 WS Professional has PCI-X slots...

[Evildead666]

The Turbo mode also works when all 4 cores are being used....

As far as I understand, the i7 is basically a server chip being brought down to desktop...

My opinion would be to up the RAM, change the graphics if you need to , and pop a RAID card into a PCIe slot....

i have just popped some cash on one of the last PCI or PCI-X SATA RAID cards, and SCSI is even harder to find, and even more expensive...
On PCIe, SATA/SAS cards are growing like mushrooms....and are not that expensive when compared to previous prices...

[Evildead666]

What is the size of the PCIe slot that is free x4 or x8 or x1...?

[VJ]

Though the quickest explanation of Core i7 would be IMHO: wait a bit for Core i5 (dual channel version - tests shown that for Core i7 it doesn't really matter if it's dual or triple; mobos, CPUs will be just as quick and cheaper (plus I have a feeling that Core i7 socket users will be left out by Intel relatively soon...))

I wonder if Core i5 will ever make it... they are planned for Q3 2009, at an initial price of around $200. Given that price point, this would mean they'd have to keep the i7 at its current pricing in order not to compete with it.
I personally wouldn't be surprised if they pulled the i5, gearing the i7 to a more mainstream market...

[Jammrock]

AFAIK there are NO server parts on Core i7 tech right now.

They are starting to hit the market, or will very soon. Cisco's new server product is based of it, as is Sun's and Dell's new XS-23 II server (four dual-core servers in 2U of space).

[J1NG]

As Jammrock said, there are proper workstation models of the Core i7 coming, but not certain when they land that is not oem. Could be 6 months away, could be more. But even if they do, I doubt you will find motherboards that will have the connectivity slots you are seeking anytime soon. Everyone seems to be taking their time with things lately.

What exactly do you want to keep from the old system? Capability that is. I assume the Matrox card to edit videos? What else?

For drivers, most of the Core i7 boards have fully xp and vista 64 drivers fully functioning for most of the hardware, including SATA, SATA-RAID, 1394, USB, etc. So what you're really looking for is what you want to bring over if you are going with Core i7, as I said above - if you want to migrate over to an i7 system.

The Core i5's are much like the typical workstation lot, seemingly with not set time, but awaiting everyone. Also, I doubt there would be a significant price difference from a Core i7 920, which clocks like mad in the first place. So... Probably ignorable.

J1NG

[J1NG]

Oh, and the only real difference I can think of between the Core i7 and Core 2 Quad at the moment is the 8 thread vs 4 thread (Quad Core with HT, and Quad Core) and the amount of heat they produce.

You will need plenty of airflow (quality heatsink fan) or water cooling to keep the i7 cooled to a reasonable temperature when it's fully loaded.

J1NG

[Elie]

Thanks again guys, I have one PCI-e 16x free.

J1NG, I'm only looking to save some money so if the current system runs my HD editing suit just fine then all I need to do is buy new video and raid card, upgrade the memory and I'm set vs spending $$$ on a new system.

A new Core I7 system will probably run me around $1500 if not more, I can sell my Xw8200 for $800 but who's going to buy an old obsolete system?

Thanks again...decisions decisions....