I5 or I7
 

I have been reading information on both the I5 and I7 and have seen recommendations for each in editing video. Is hyperthreading needed for Vegas? I presently use 8.0C on a 6600 quad. The I5 is definitely a cost savings versus the I7. I am moving into editing jobs with both HDV and AVCHD footage.

Would I be making the wrong decision going with the I5 because of price instead of the I7 because of additional features?

I have edited the thread, as I might have mis-directed it - My question might better be is if I should purchase a system using the 1156 socket or the 1366 socket.

Your question is diffucult to answer for several reasons, and you should research this question further on some review sites.

I have done some reading and I would have great difficulty deciding myself. 1366 is not dead, but it's days are numbered, but on the other hand there is a very nice chip on the horizon for 1366 chipset.

Yes hyperthreading is utilized by Vegas, but not necessary. I guess if I had to choose this minute I would go for an i7, but again, I'm not clear as to if it would be the best long-term decision.

...Cannibal Corpse?
 

Hey Chris,

I'm not answering your question, for that I do apologize, but your name is that of a famous (depending on how you look at it) vocalist for a band called Six Feet Under (ex-Cannibal Corpse)...coincidence?

Like Jeff, I've been reading and trying to figure out the same questions about upgrading, but I'm more stuck between deciding between the i7 920 (1366 motherboard) and the newer i7 860 (1156 motherboard).

I wouldn't get the i5 for sure. Okay for mainstream, but for the small difference in price, I would avoid it and get one of the i7s. You'll be happier with rendering.

If you are not interested in overclocking at all, I would suggest the i7 860 as a great choice.

As I understand it that "nice chip" for the 1366 platform may be an 8 core chip. Given that, why do you say the 1366 days are numbered? Will those chips work with current 1366 mobo's? Thanks - PK

Go with the i7 for sure.. If you're using this for production work (particularly with AVCHD) you'll need all the horsepower you can get.. If I were in your shoes I'd...

A) Buy the i7-920 and overclock it to 3.0Ghz
or
B) Buy the i7-860 and leave it alone

Jon

Hi Jon,
What would be the performance difference with stock i7-860 and the i7-920? Have you used both in an editing environment? I believe the new 860 is suppose to be equally easy to overclock. My concern would be if the dual channel memory would slow things down. Thanks - PK

860 v 920
 

Been looking at this too.
The reason the 1366 is being phased out is because triple ram got too much resistance from the market. The other consideration is the 920 sucks more watts than 820. Overall, the whole 920 system runs somewhat hotter, so cooling is more an issue (though managable).

The i7 860 video benchmarks compared to the 920 is largely a difference of a few seconds (920 slightly slower), but not anything you'd notice. I didn't see any point in looking at the i5, so can't comment on it. If I had to buy today, I'd do the 860, even though I currently have a 920.

However, since you have the 6600 quad, can you just drop in another CPU and retain the rest of the components? Off the top of my head, I think that's LGA775 socket and Would be a lot cheaper. Granted not as fast since it still retains the FSB, but may be woth looking into. If you do this, be sure to updatethe motherboard firmware to latest version before swapping the CPU's.

Yeah, you could also just stick with the Q6600 and spend $120 on Neoscene to edit AVCHD which will be FAR better than trying to throw horsepower at AVCHD on the Vegas timeline. :)

Jon

Where did you find benchmarks comparing the 860 to the 920?

I looked on Tom's Hardware, but they were comparing an 870 to the 920. The 870 is a $560 chip, versus the more comparably priced 860.

i7 920 desktops are down to $599 now.

Brian, where are these $599 i7 desktops to which you refer?

Dell refurbs. I've got one, sure looks new to me. It's got an e-sata port, firewire, and of course USB. The scratch and dents are even cheaper. One theory for the crazy pricing is they're clearing out the house for W7. I used a 15% off coupon so mine was actually $510. Not bad for an i7 quad. I really wanted a Mac, but $500 might get you a nice carrying case for a Macbook Pro.

Dell is actually one of two brands recommended by Videoguys. Dunno if they're deserving, I buy them because they're cheap.

As has been said, you can't OC Dells, but their return policy is fair, tech support adequate.

I agree. If you're making any sort of decent money with it, its not worth saving $80 just to find a particular app that utilizes hyper threading works slower because you got the i5. In my experience I find cutting corners on business related equipment isn't worth it. This doesn't mean you need to buy the top end just don't sweat the small stuff.

I purchased a Dell workstation refurb. It was a nice machine, but as in another thread re: the i7s, I had issues with Firewire and more. In the other i7 thread there were several complaints about e-sata ports not working correctly. Dell's tech support was quite good, and I was at one time a huge fan, but not so much anymore. Hopefully they have worked out the esata issues.