News - Intel's six-core Core i7 970 sneaks into retail

[HEXUS]

Intel’s ‘budget’ hexacore CPU now available. A snip at £730.

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[kalniel]

Intel have to be careful with this one. If they trumpet the importance of multi-core processors too loudly then AMD flash their cheap 6-core parts. If they trumpet the importance of speed per core then their own quad parts look more attractive.

[danroyle]

i am so glad i got the amd 6 core rather than wait for this BUDGET offering

[borandi]

Intel have to be careful with this one. If they trumpet the importance of multi-core processors too loudly then AMD flash their cheap 6-core parts. If they trumpet the importance of speed per core then their own quad parts look more attractive.

Intel will just flash their hyperthreading. It's a lot better than it used to be; on a dual i7 920 workstation, I easily get 13-14x speed up over 16 threads than just one, and that's on memory intensive simulation software.

i am so glad i got the amd 6 core rather than wait for this BUDGET offering

There's a reason for Intel pricing their hexacore so high - performance. It's that much better than any AMD hexacore offering. Even the 920 beats the 1055T/1090T in the majority of heavy workload benchmarks. Intel won't release a hex-core processor for less than £700 any time soon until AMD can get its work done per clock a lot higher. Which will probably be Bulldozer, if they've pulled anything out of the bag.

[kalniel]

Intel will just flash their hyperthreading.

Which is also present on their cheaper quad core parts.

It's a lot better than it used to be; on a dual i7 920 workstation, I easily get 13-14x speed up over 16 threads than just one, and that's on memory intensive simulation software.

And likewise - memory intensive stuff is quite well catered for with the cheaper i7 parts like yours.

There's a reason for Intel pricing their hexacore so high - performance. It's that much better than any AMD hexacore offering. Even the 920 beats the 1055T/1090T in the majority of heavy workload benchmarks. Intel won't release a hex-core processor for less than £700 any time soon until AMD can get its work done per clock a lot higher. Which will probably be Bulldozer, if they've pulled anything out of the bag.

It's a question of markets though - if you're going for ultimate performance then you get the extreme edition chip. Otherwise people in the desktop market tend to go for 'enough' performance, rather than the most, in which case it becomes performance per buck or watt etc. and that itself tends to be optimised towards either multi-core workloads or instructions per core-clock, neither of which suit this new chip.

[borandi]

And likewise - memory intensive stuff is quite well catered for with the cheaper i7 parts like yours.

Well, it's the Xeon equivalents (E5520), so not exactly cheap, but I didn't pay for it. Perks of the job and all that.

It's a question of markets though - if you're going for ultimate performance then you get the extreme edition chip. Otherwise people in the desktop market tend to go for 'enough' performance, rather than the most, in which case it becomes performance per buck or watt etc. and that itself tends to be optimised towards either multi-core workloads or instructions per core-clock, neither of which suit this new chip.

This is true; any overclocker would plump the extra for the 980X, and the price difference between the quad i7 and hex i7 is so vast, it doesn't make sense for any regular consumer to go beyond a 920/930, if they're going the Intel route. Intel must see a market, but their hex offerings would have to come down to sub 300 to be more impressive. The only way that is going to happen is if AMD pull a halo product out of the blue.

[ehhhhhhh]

There's a reason for Intel pricing their hexacore so high - performance. It's that much better than any AMD hexacore offering.

where did you see benchmarks where the intel chip was more than 3 times faster?

the promo benchmarks on the intel website do not count

[spoon_]

That's one hell of a budget CPU, can I have 10 please?

[borandi]

where did you see benchmarks where the intel chip was more than 3 times faster?

the promo benchmarks on the intel website do not count

VW Lupo: 94mph, £7500.
Bugatti Veyron: £800k+, does not do 9400mph+

It's a highly exponential price for linear gain at the top end. Not directly proportional.

[ehhhhhhh]

It's a highly exponential price for linear gain at the top end. Not directly proportional.

oh,then it's not just a rip-off it seems...how ignorant I was

[danroyle]

Intel will just flash their hyperthreading. It's a lot better than it used to be; on a dual i7 920 workstation, I easily get 13-14x speed up over 16 threads than just one, and that's on memory intensive simulation software.



There's a reason for Intel pricing their hexacore so high - performance. It's that much better than any AMD hexacore offering. Even the 920 beats the 1055T/1090T in the majority of heavy workload benchmarks. Intel won't release a hex-core processor for less than £700 any time soon until AMD can get its work done per clock a lot higher. Which will probably be Bulldozer, if they've pulled anything out of the bag.

it may be better than the amd hexacore chip but i paid £155 for mine and she does pretty well. Bang for buck my amd bends over the intel and spanks it and there is no way in hell the intel 3 1/2 times as fast

[kalniel]

Well, it's the Xeon equivalents (E5520), so not exactly cheap, but I didn't pay for it. Perks of the job and all that.

Actually have you seen the kinds of deals Dell will do on those parts? You get a LOT for your money.

[Golden Dragoon]

They seem nice, but the silly pricing puts me off, I thought intel would release slower clocked 6 cores, at a more competitive price, but I am guessing they don't even consider amd's efforts a challenge to the the high end i7's

[jjgreenwood]

VW Lupo: 94mph, £7500.
Bugatti Veyron: £800k+, does not do 9400mph+

It's a highly exponential price for linear gain at the top end. Not directly proportional.

actually if you were to compare the spec of the lupo to the veyron then things would be a little different. If you put a lupo engine in a veyron it cuts the cost of the veyron by around £50k but slows it down significantly compared to the cost of it. Besides lupo doesn't exist new anymore....its a fox now

[arthurleung]

Actually have you seen the kinds of deals Dell will do on those parts? You get a LOT for your money.

I've never seen a good Dell server deal in UK, would love to see one though.
If the i7 hexacore is any cheaper I might just get one to fill my empty P6T deluxe board. There is never enough processing power.