What Can the Intel Core i7 processors do for You? Part 1

Hey guys, Icarus here again. I have been talking about the
technicalities of the Core i7 series processors(Nehalem) for the
past four articles. This is, as you know from reading my
articles, one of the new features of the Intel X58 motherboard
that makes it so fantastic. A new piece of technology; this one
is promising.

So, as the title says, I'm going to talk about the value of the
Core i7. What do I mean by "value"? When I say "value", I mean
how the processor will be in your mind when you are thinking
about upgrading. Yes, the processor series has only been out on
the market for a little over 4 months, but I think it's time to
start thinking about this. At least ponder the possibilities.

Now, I talked about some of the awesome features of this
processor, including Hyper-threading, support for tri-channel
memory, and the on-die memory controller. And this is just the
beginning; there are many features of this processor that just
makes this processor fantastic. On the other hand, it does have
some small drawbacks, including lack of Error Correction Code
and its somewhat inconsistent levels of overclocking. But that's
about it on the small cons.

So, you ask, how valuable is this processor at the moment. Well,
it all depends on the budget of your computer or upgrade; I
mean, the lowest processor of the series so far (Core i7 920)
costs a hefty 290 dollars, and the motherboard alone costs a
minimum of 200 dollars, or at least that was the lowest price I
could find. Now, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

There are three Core i7 processors so far in this Nehalem
series: the 920, 940, and the 965 EX. The 920 currently costs
around 290 dollars, the 940 costs around 560, and the 965 EX
costs a bit over 1000 dollars. Now, from benchmarks I have seen
on the Internet sources, the 920 alone does amazingly well for
the price it is at right now; even though it's a hefty 290
dollars, when you compare it to other processors that cost
around the same price, you'll be surprised how much better the
920 does against its predecessors.

Now, you're probably wondering why the 965 EX is so outrageously
overpriced. Well, the EX, as you might have guessed, stands for
Extreme Edition. Now, if you have seen some of the Extreme
Edition processors in the previous Intel series(the Core 2
series), they are similarly priced. Why? Because of its Unlocked
Clock function. Basically, it lets you overclock way more than
any other processor. Is this worth the ridiculous price? Well,
that's up for you to decide. Now, this topic will be elaborated
even more on a later article, so stay tuned for the next part!