Core i7 NDA lifted

[Mehen]

http://hardocp.com/

There's also a list of other sites in the HardOCP news with reviews.

[TransformX]

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_core_i7_nehalem_performance_preview/

[Mehen]

HardOCP:

Overclocking the Core i7
Overclocking CPUs is the only reason HardOCP is around today. We have been overclocking CPUs for over a decade now and we have to say that over the years as OCing has become mainstream, it has gotten hell of a lot easier to successfully accomplish. There was a ton of the usual DOOM and GLOOM about “Nehalem will kill overclocking for good!” and the like. The fact of the matter is that overclocking the Core i7 920 (which is supposed retail for around $284) was one of the easiest overclocks I have ever experienced. It went like this. Set BCLK from 133MHz to 190MHz. Set Vcore to 1.35v. Set RAM speed to 1520MHz. Reboot. And that was it. I was off and running at 3.8GHz; the easiest 1.14GHz I ever got. I remember when 450MHz cost your around a grand!

So what does all of this get you in terms of our FarCry 2 gaming? (Do be aware that our ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard review will be published in a day or two and will contain 4GHz Core i7 application overclocks and synthetic benchmarks.).

Below we are showing you our gaming results comparing a 2.66GHz (20*133) stock clocked Core i7 920 and one overclocked to 3.8GHz (20*190).

That CPU is under $300 in 1000 unit, so should be under $400 CAD retail. That overclock is better than my Q9450 which hits a wall (within reasonable voltages) at 3.6, both from stock speeds of 2.66.

[Nowhere]

Well, you're staying with Core 2 Quad then...you have to change everything anyway. (not so with some faster Socket AM3 AMD in the future)

[Mehen]

The 130W thing has nothing to do with anything really. It is just involved with what is basically speed step.

See here: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1362192

[Helevitia]

I must admit, I got a hard-on today after reading about the Asus P6T and how easy the i7 OC's. And triple channel memory Not to mention that Kyle rna the board with 12GBs of memory overclocked from 2.66 to 3.8GHz for more than 28 hours before stopping. Wow!

[UtwigMU]

The 2,66GHz 920 is in stock already, 250+VAT, the Asus boards are already showing up but not in stock yet.

[Nowhere]

Oh, right.

But wasn't that technically ATI?

[Mehen]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=core+i7&x=0&y=0

Newegg Prices USD $320, 600, 1070 (i7 920, 940, 965)

Mobo's
MSI $220
Intel $280
ASUS/Gigabyte $300
ASUS Rampage II Extreme $400

[Helevitia]

After pondering it for a few days, I think I'm gonna wait until the Q9650 (3GHz stock) drops to the $300 range and buy that instead

[Mehen]

Core i7, X58, and DDR3 6gb kits available on NCIX.com now too.

RAM

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1303&subminorcatid=897

Best IMO (so far), G.Skill 3X2GB DDR3-1600 CL 9-9-9-24 $300

MOBO

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=107&subminorcatid=904

Check out the ASUS P6T ($375 and free shipping on entire order) or the Gigabyte UD5 for $355

CPU

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=106&subminorcatid=899

$385, 755, 1340

[Nowhere]

Isn't it better to wait?

[Fat Tone]

Mobo's are very expensive right now!

[Jammrock]

Not all of them, but the good gamer ones are.

[VJ]

Apparently, there are now some hard rumours that the i7 suffers from a bug similar to one in AMD (Translation Lookaside Buffers).

As it turns out, it is not that big a deal, and has been solved already with appropriate bios updates:

http://www.dvhardware.net/article31640.html

Jörg