i7 950 or Sandy Bridge i7 2600k ?

[new2IT]

I'm going to be building a new PC next month and originally I was going to go with an i7 950, but after reading about the new Sandy Bridge chips being released next month I'm thinking the 2600k might be a better option.

Both chips are priced relatively the same, (if the price leaks turn out to be true that is). The 950 looks like it should overclock to 3.8-4Ghz while the 2600k is reporting to overclock nicely anywhere from 4.5Ghz up to 4.9Ghz.

The upside is that Sata 3 will be supported natively, though I probably won't even use this for some time considering the hard drive I'll be swapping in isn't a Sata 3 drive anyway.

The downside is 1155 boards don't support triple channel memory - however I have no clue if this would really matter. Most of what I have read states that triple channel memory hasn't proven to be much of a boost to performance.

So which should I go for? I'm leaning towards the new SB chip because so far the only downside I can see is the lack of triple channel memory, but other than that it looks like it'll perform much better. Thoughts??

 

[patonb]

Question though..... Isn't SB being locked from overclocking, unless you pay extra for the "special" chip?

 

[supertech]

we will just wait and have to see which turns out to be better. the 2600k is obviously gonna be more efficient 9acording to cnet).

 

[supertech]

patonb is right..there will be different versions...allthough i hink that the 2600k is unlocked becasue of the 'k'.

 

[patonb]

I couldn't find which letter was for the unlocked version.

 

[PP Mguire]

The 2600k will be unlocked and it should OC well beyond what a 950 is capable of. I know the i5 2500k can at least.

Triple channel memory is a boost in memory intensive applications or if your cool and use a RAM drive. Its not "real" performance for gaming or benchmarking.

 

[new2IT]

we will just wait and have to see which turns out to be better. the 2600k is obviously gonna be more efficient 9acording to cnet).

Yes the K version is the unlocked version. Of the chips being released next month I believe there are only 2 that will be unlocked "k" models; the i7 2600k and the i5 2600k. I believe the i5 is basically the same as the i7 but without hyper threading and is supposed to be about $100 cheaper.

I know the smart thing to do would be to simply wait a little while after their release to see more reviews of its performance....but that will be hard to do lol