mkopel Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 I am thinking of building my first hackintosh. I was wondering what people felt the differences between the Core 2 Quad, Core i5 and Core i7 really are. 2.66 Core 2 Quad - $169.00 2.66 Core i5 - $199.99 2.66 Core i7 - $279.00 is the only difference between the i5 and i7 the speed of the memory? how much better is the performace of the i5 or i7 vs. the Quad? is the more expensive components for the i5 or i7 vs the Quad worth it? This computer will be used mostly for graphics (2d and 3d), very little gaming. thanks in advance. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/193191-core-2-quad-vs-core-i5-vs-core-i7/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicalUser Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 well, all three processors you listed there are from different architectures, and use different motherboard sockets, thus three different generations of incompatible motherboards the Core 2 Quads use the old LGA775 socket, and are a couple years old now. Tons of OSX supported mobos, DDR2 RAM for the most part. the 2.66 core i7-920 is the cheapest Bloomfield high-end Nehalem chip using the LGA1366 socket and triple channel DDR3 RAM, released a little under a year ago now, socket is destined for 6+ core processors in the future the 2.66 core i5-750 is the cheapest brand new (this sept) Lynnfield chip, uses the new LGA1156 socket and dual channel DDR3 RAM the biggest differences between Bloomfield & Lynnfield are the socket & the RAM configuration. the Bloomfield i7s & corresponding LGA1366 motherboards currently run OSX using the vanilla kernel, but support for the new core i5/i7 lynnfield processors using P55 based boards (LGA1156) and OSX is a work in progress, and far from perfect the new iMacs do not ship until Nov, so no sure support for the vanilla kernel on i5s until some time after then Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/193191-core-2-quad-vs-core-i5-vs-core-i7/#findComment-1305317 Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkopel Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 thanks for the quick response to my question. I am aware that the three chips are incompatible when it comes to a single motherboard. But I am starting from scratch so that really does not matter. I guess what I am looking for is links or opinions on what the real world difference is between the three. Does the faster ram on the i7 make a noticible difference? where can I look up benchmark scores for the three? is the quad core yesterday's news and I will regret it a year from now when I can't upgrade anymore? which is the most overclockable? or does that have more to do with the motherboard? I am very new to this hackintosh thing and I haven't built a computer for years, so sorry if some of my questions sound so basic. waiting until November when the i5 and i7 macs come out is a great suggestion. That should make the entire process much easier. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/193191-core-2-quad-vs-core-i5-vs-core-i7/#findComment-1305429 Share on other sites More sharing options...
adriavidal Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 thanks for the quick response to my question. I am aware that the three chips are incompatible when it comes to a single motherboard. But I am starting from scratch so that really does not matter. I guess what I am looking for is links or opinions on what the real world difference is between the three. Does the faster ram on the i7 make a noticible difference? where can I look up benchmark scores for the three? is the quad core yesterday's news and I will regret it a year from now when I can't upgrade anymore? which is the most overclockable? or does that have more to do with the motherboard? I am very new to this hackintosh thing and I haven't built a computer for years, so sorry if some of my questions sound so basic. waiting until November when the i5 and i7 macs come out is a great suggestion. That should make the entire process much easier. you can go for an i7 gygabyte x58 board and run a great & stable vanilla.( 10.5.8 & 10.6) as i do.... can find here at the forums, these one is great: http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=185097 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/193191-core-2-quad-vs-core-i5-vs-core-i7/#findComment-1306153 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZackMacAttack Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 I have to PC's with OS X on them. One of witch is running with a Intel Core 2 Duo under the hood. And the other with the i7. Both have 8gb mem, 1tb sata hard dive and Nvidia Graphics. (My Father also has a laptop with an i5.) So i have used all three prosessers. In my openion the i7 is the best. Running a speed test with photoshop and After Effects open along with an Emulation VM of Windows 7. The i7 BLOWS the Core 2 Duo OUT OF THE Water. But with i5 and i7 you really can't tell the deference untell you start rendering or prerendering video. The Core 2 Duo has 2 Cores and 2 Threads The i5 has 4 Cores and 4 Threads The i7 has 4 Cores and 8 Threads So i hope this helps. BUT: If you really wan't an extra kick in your system, I would go with Dual Xenon's. But hey! Lol Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/193191-core-2-quad-vs-core-i5-vs-core-i7/#findComment-1462576 Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil43 Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 Everthing else being equal; I would go with the i7-8xx and a P55/1156 motherboard. This way you can use i3's and i5's in that MB. The i7-9xx require a X58/1366 mother board. On a very small sample of three machines (2 i7-860 and 1 i7-920) I have found the i7-860 on a GA-P55M-UD2 overclocks easily and out performs the i7-920. All three machines are running rock solid on SL. neil Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/193191-core-2-quad-vs-core-i5-vs-core-i7/#findComment-1462806 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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