Intel's new Core i7-980X (6 cores!)

[Quixoticism]

Well it looks like the beginning of 6 core processors for mainstream users have made their triumphant entry into the market.

This new chip takes the place of Intel's previous champion, the i7-975, at the incredible $1000 price mark.

Tom's Hardware review
Anandtech's review

After briefly looking over the review I pose the question, is it worth it?
I say it depends.
It performs extremely well when it comes to coding and heavy multimedia tasks and so for a user who does these things and needs more this is the way to go.
If you are mainly a gamer I have to say no. Sure it's amazingly fast but at five times the price of the i5 it doesn't deliver the performance it needs to to be a compelling buy.

Good news is that in a few months we'll be seeing more 6 core processors at a price that will be stomacheable for more average consumers.

 

[sixteenth]

I saw this come up yesterday on google news. 1 grand is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy past my budget.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

I would be curious if they would have done BFBC2 benchmarks, as that game is highly CPU dependant, and also very well managed to multiple cores / threads.

 

[unozero]

I'm waiting for AMD'd 6 core which will cost 25% of that, and only perform 15% less


Do you know what I am saying?

 

[VirusType2]

It performs extremely well when it comes to coding and heavy multimedia tasks and so for a user who does these things and needs more this is the way to go.
If you are mainly a gamer I have to say no. Sure it's amazingly fast but at five times the price of the i5 it doesn't deliver the performance it needs to to be a compelling buy.

Yep. The $1000 processor gained an average advantage of 1 frame per second over my $190 processor.

Good news is that in a few months we'll be seeing more 6 core processors at a price that will be stomacheable for more average consumers.

I don't think so. From what I've read, it will remain expensive for the foreseeable future. AMD will need to show their hand.

for mainstream users

This is not mainstream, bro. This is the only 6 core desktop processor available.

 

[Dinnesch]

I'm waiting for AMD'd 6 core which will cost 25% of that, and only perform 15% less


Do you know what I am saying?

No way, according to various sites the Phenom II 965 has only about 50% the performance of the 980X(in applications that use all cores, so not talking about current games).

 

[Escaep]

No way, according to various sites the Phenom II 965 has only about 50% the performance of the 980X(in applications that use all cores, so not talking about current games).

He's talking about the coming AMD 6 core processors.