I7 v i5

After reading various posts and websites I am a bit confused.

1) Is the i5 a crap version of the i7?

2) Is Intel going to phase out the i7 once the i5 is released?

3) Is the i7 better at overclocking than the i5? I have seen posts where people have been able to overclock the i7 extreme to between 4.5 and 5.5 Ghz with water cooling. From what I have read the i5 will be coming out in 2.66GHz, 2.80GHz, and 2.93GHz versions and Intel say you should be able to overclock the 2.93 version to 3.4 which isn’t much really.

4) Can you get Sata 3 motherboards for the i7?

5) Should I get an i7 extreme before they get phased out?


Here are some of the comments I have seen

“A Core7 IS the Ferrari of CPUs, A Core5 is a BMW”


“Dam, I was going to get a i7 920 in like 2 weeks, does this mean I
have to wait until September to get a worse CPU for more money?
Or should I just buy a 920, and hope it doesn't break?”

“I bet that the i5 will not overclock as well as the i7, due to its rumored higher BCLK of 250 MHz, hope I'm wrong”

“The added knowledge that the cheap i5 boards get Sata3. I guess early adapters must feel very angry now with their expensive i7 motherboards. And why do we need another socket for the i5”

“Spec wise the i5 look virtually identical to i7. They have a tad lower QPI I believe though, and perhaps less instruction sets? Is the motherboard going to be the main distinguishing factor b/t the two?”

“I'm guessing they are going to put clock controls on these chips to limit how high they can go? Also they seem to be more or less the same price as the i'7's! same price for a lesser chip?”

“You'll find it MUCH MORE DIFFICULT to clock-double an integrated northbridge and CPU. Either the Northbridge won’t handle it, or it will send your PCI/PCIe slots out of whack.”

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,687805/Intel-confirms-Lynnfield-CPU-specs/News/

1) No, they're different architectures

2) No

3)That remains to be seen, but that'll probably be the case

4) Are you referring to Serial ATA Rev. 3 (SATA 6 Gbit/s)? Then yes, around the same time it begins to penetrate the market for other chipsets.

5) If you want...

Sources: [1] [2]

Thanks

I bought i5 and I am delighted.

The i5 is a different architecture than the i7. i7 uses hyperthreading, thus 8 cores present 4 real, 4 virtual. The i5 uses similar properties as the quad core 775, but has a higher FSB and is designed a tad different.

For the performance side of i5 and i7, it depends on what your doing? gaming, eh...90% of games only use 1-2 cores, 1 core is assigned to focus on time display, background properties, internet connectivity. So really, 4 cores from the i5 is pretty good and dont need to go nuts for an i7.