i7 help

[m0cea]

I've not kept up with PC's over the past 2 years or so since I built a machine with a i7 940 in.
Are the newer 1155 i7's better? As I'm looking to build a smaller matx based machine for the office and don't know if I should retain the exiting processor or replace the processor as well.

Thanks

[kalniel]

Yes they are a lot better, but you don't need a new i7 for office work, a new i3 or i5 would be better than the 940 in terms of performance for the power/heat/noise.

[m0cea]

Thanks.
When I say a machine for the office I do like to game on the PC when I find the time so would want to build it with that in mind.
The socket 1366 i7 still seen to have a good amount of interest s/h thats why I was confused.

[kalniel]

Thanks.
When I say a machine for the office I do like to game on the PC when I find the time so would want to build it with that in mind.
The socket 1366 i7 still seen to have a good amount of interest s/h thats why I was confused.

The new chips are better for gaming too.

Skt 1366 chips are great for more workstation/server like workloads, with some great motherboard i/o capability. They became a bargain for that kind of thing when the sandy bridge chips came out, but their replacement is due soon and will be even better for that kind of workload.

[Firdelore]

If you're talking about gaming performance, you might be better off purchasing an i5 2500K CPU, as it is on par, if not higher than the i7 processors for it. It is less expensive for pretty much the same performance (for gaming).

[EvanJackPenn]

The only real benefit an i7 gives is hyperthreading, which isn't particularly useful to games at this current moment in time.

[Firdelore]

The hyperthreading feature is useful if you're a major video editor or if you're someone that's into burning many Blu-rays. But then again, if you are more on the gaming side when you're on the computer, then the i5 2500K will do a good job for you.

[Ulti]

To be fair, if you don't mind buying second hand, you could probably get a mATX board for not too much money meaning less hassle with the upgrade. However, I don't think upgrading to Sandybridge would be too expensive either.