Intel's new i7 Processor

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Intel's i7 processor is another giant leap in terms of streamlining a processor. The fastest (3 current processors are offered) 3.2 GHz is 2.6x faster than the fastest AMD has to offer. While I may sound like an Intel fanboy, I used to buy AMD processors because they were cheaper when I had less money. Also for a time, AMD had better processors than Intel because Intel was milking the market for all it could get without really sinking some money into R&D. Well.. it's still great we have AMD because the embarassment that Intel suffered has really helped the chip market in the last 10 years for sure.

The new i7 has over 731 MILLION transistors on it.

Next years releases will have simple graphic processors built into them as well as memory controllers. If only the software could keep up with the chip cores, we'd be in gaming heaven.

As of this writing prices for the i7 chips boxed (meaning with a standard cooling fan) are as follows.

i7 920: ~$300
i7 940: ~$600
i7 965: ~$1100 (extreme edition)

The only real problem with the chips are that they are hot. I don't know yet if they are as heat intensive as the P4s or not. Mobos for them are also running at $300 right now for the x58 1366 socket. Value boards will be released in the spring on 1066 sockets.

So.. still not sure if I will build a Core2Duo system (as these will be super cheap) then upgrade to a QuadCore when they are even cheaper.. or just buy the cheapest i7.. with a solid mobo. The primary problem I'm reading with the i7 is that memory for the new boards isn't cheap... yet. So.. ugh.. what to do.