Which is better for a gaming computer the lynnfield i7 870 or the Bloomfield 920. If I am planning on OC does it make a difference? I know the 870 has a built in PCIe Controller. So it seems like the obvious choice but I would like to know your thoughts before I purchase. Am also looking at running 2 5870's so with the split to 8 in the core not sure how much of a performance difference it will make.

Do not buy any 1156 processor for overclocking. They have a socket problem which will cause overheating. So i would either wait until they get the problem resolved, or go with the 920

or get a mobo that doesnt use a foxconn socket. regarding what is better in terms of performance on stock speeds, the 870 rules. i think it beats the 950 as well.

so get the 870, get a board that doesnt use the foxconn socket, and youll be good to go for overclocking.

Thinking I'm gonna go witht he i7-950 and the P6T Deluxe Board from ASUS. What do u think?

ahhh, i dont like the 950. my personal preference is the AMD 965 in this case. the performance difference is small, but the price difference is significant (AMD being cheaper). so my thoughts on this is either get the i7 860 or 870, or get the AMD 965. it might be worth noting that the AMD 965 is a great overclocker.

I am really liking all the ASUS board has to offer for features though so if I go with the AMD chip I can't use that board. What board would you recommend that is gonna have similar features to the ASUS P6T board and is gonna be overclock friendly

firstly, can you link me to the site youre buying from? im assuming youre looking for a similarly priced or cheaper board that has those features?

Here is the link for the Asus mobo from newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365

well there is this from MSI which comes with some overclocking features (check out the pics - theres an overclocking dial on the edge).

I dont really need everything the Asus board has to offer. I dont NEED 24Gb Memory or 3 PCI slots. But it does make upgrading easy. Basically I need to be able to run 2 5870's I want to run 6gigs DDR3. I dont need it to be triple channel. But I do need to be able to overclock because whats the point of having a computer if you cant play with it.

well the MSI board doesnt do triple channel, so you need to decide between 4 or 8 gigs of RAM. unless youre doing some high end stuff (higher than gaming), then 4 gigs will suffice.

you can, however get 6 gigs, but the extra 2 gigs wont perform as well as the other 4.

In your opinion is the AMD 965 as good as the i7 series or should I just stick with the 870 and not bother overclocking.

if you overclock the 965 extensively, you can beat the i7 870, but youd better have a good cooler. also, if you do some research on the available socket 1156 boards to see which ones dont use a foxconn socket, then you can still get yourself the 870 and overclock that.

Thanks for all your help

quote hiigaran

if you overclock the 965 extensively, you can beat the i7 870

Are you out of your mind? I have nothing against AMD, but that is just wrong.

A PII 965 generally maxes out around 4 GHz and about the same for an i7 860/870. However, the fact is that the i7 is much faster clock for clock. Just take a look at our review...

The whole Foxconn socket issue is overrated IMO, but anyway Gigabyte, MSI and EVGA have boards with the Lotes or TYCO socket.