Final Words
Perhaps this is a bit anticlimactic, but the Core i7 860 performs exactly where you'd expect it to. It's faster than a Core i5 750, faster than a Core i7 920 and slower than a Core i7 870. As I noted in The Lynnfield Follow Up, overclocking is much easier on Bloomfield (LGA-1366) thanks to the absence of an on-die PCIe controller. It's not impossible on Lynnfield, it's just effortless on Bloomfield.
My recommendations from the initial Lynnfield review still stand, you'll want to opt for Bloomfield processor if you care about:
1) High-end multi-GPU performance (or other uses of high bandwidth PCIe)
2) Stock Voltage Overclocking
3) Future support for 6-core Gulftown CPUs
In terms of cost effectiveness however - the Core i7 860 is the way to go. With cheaper motherboards and higher operating frequencies than a Core i7 920, for the majority of users the 860 will be the better pick. Here's where the discussion gets interesting however.
A year ago, $284 for a Core i7 920 didn't seem like a lot for what you were getting. But with AMD shipping $99 quad core CPUs, and the Phenom II line being very competitive in the $130 - $200 space - is Lynnfield too expensive?
Our sources are telling us that Lynnfield isn't selling as well as expected, it's not a flop, but definitely selling under expectations. The reason? Price. Apparently the vendors (and their customers) were hoping for a sub-$200 Core i5 750. Remember that the majority of quad-core sales happen under the $200 mark. Fortunately for AMD, there aren't any cheaper quad-core Lynnfields on the roadmaps for Intel through Q3 of next year; the Core i5 750 will be the cheapest quad-core Nehalem for the foreseeable future.
Instead, Intel will compete with 32nm Clarkdale CPUs in the sub-$200 space. These are dual core parts with Hyper Threading; it remains to be seen how well they'll stack up to AMD's quad-core CPUs in that space, since it doesn't look like we'll see Lynnfield down there anytime soon.
Assuming that Clarkdale isn't overly competitive, Phenom II could dominate the ~$150 quad-core price point throughout much of 2010. The biggest threat to Phenom II appears to be the Core i5 650. We'll see how that plays out early next year.
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blyndy - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
Intel Core i7 920214 / $284 = 0.75 SYSmarks per $
Intel Core i7 870
233 / $562 = 0.41 SYSmarks per $
Intel Core i7 860
223 / $284 = 0.79 SYSmarks per $
Intel Core i5 750
217 / 196 = 1.11 SYSmarks per $
AMD Athlon II X4 620
147 / 99 = 1.48 SYSmarks per $
yacoub - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
Your prices are wrong. The 860 is $230, which makes it 0.97 SYSmarks per $.The 750 is $160, which means 1.36 SYSmarks per $ by your measurement.
johnsonx - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
I just love it when someone quotes some below cost, loss-leader sale price they heard about somewhere once to prove a value arguement.yacoub - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
You mean "on-going, still valid sale prices that you can get today".stanljl - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link
Most of the US doesn't live reasonable close to the 21 cities that have microcenters. In cause you haven't looked there really aren't that many locations so "on-going, still valid sale prices you can get today", really doesn't apply to the vast majority of the people in the country.strikeback03 - Monday, September 21, 2009 - link
It is a valid price, but please add the disclaimer "If you have a microcenter nearby" instead of just pretending those are widely available prices. I plan on buying a processor when I help my parents move down near Philly next month, otherwise I (like most) don't have a Microcenter anywhere nearby.formulav8 - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
Yeah with only 2% of the people able to get one at near that price. Quoting an obvious loss leader as valid pricing for those looking it nutty. Newegg or ZZF is a much better gauge of price.NA1NSXR - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
Who cares, let him pay up. Nothing on P55 has made me regret getting that $200 D0 920. Nothing. Not even close. The OC, heat, and platform pricing advantages all failed to materialize.The 920 is not a 2.66Mhz bloomfield. It is a 3.8GHz chip supporting the fullest featured consumer platform at the moment.
kilkennycat - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
Where? Where? Where? From a reputable supplier and with in-stock delivery, of course.Newegg and ZipZoomFly: 860 $299
850 $199
mgivler - Monday, September 21, 2009 - link
Microcenter, for in-store purchase. I purchased an i7 860 last week for $229. The i5 750 is cheaper, $159 seems right.