A Few Questions (i5 + P55 and AM3 Cooler)

Right, so the i5 series just launched and I'm in the market for a new CPU/MOBO/RAM.I want to know if there are any P55 Motherboards under $200 CDN that run at 16x/16x in SLI and if 8x/8x is a noticeable downgrade.(I'm looking at dual GTX 275s, I already have one).I'd also like to know how the i5 750 compares to the Phenom x4 955 and the i7 920.Lastly, can anyone recommend a good CPU cooler for a Phenom x4 955?(it's for a friend) It's an M4A78T-E with an NZXT Tempest case and I would rather it be under $50, but that's not firm. His CPU is getting up to 72 degrees on Crysis and since I built it, I figured I didn't set the heatsink properly. Make sure you tell me if the cooler has the thermal pad on the bottom of the heatsink or I have to apply it manually. In which case, it'd be great if you could tell me which paste to get...Thanks in advance.A Few Questions (i5 + P55 and AM3 Cooler)
[QUOTE=''urdead18'']Right, so the i5 series just launched and I'm in the market for a new CPU/MOBO/RAM.I want to know if there are any P55 Motherboards under $200 CDN that run at 16x/16x in SLI and if 8x/8x is a noticeable downgrade.(I'm looking at dual GTX 275s, I already have one).I'd also like to know how the i5 750 compares to the Phenom x4 955 and the i7 920.Lastly, can anyone recommend a good CPU cooler for a Phenom x4 955?(it's for a friend) It's an M4A78T-E with an NZXT Tempest case and I would rather it be under $50, but that's not firm.Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]no the p55 mobos cant run x16 x16 only the x58 with the core i7. the new i7 and i5 have the pci-e controller onboard and its only 16 lanes total.so if you want dual x16 SLI you need a x58.the core i5 dominates both by a good margin in most benchmarks.personally i think intel is whacke dout their mind for this naming scheme. liek why the new core i7s if they dont work with the x58 mobos? what was the point of the x58 mobos and core i7s if better incompatable processors are on the way? and core i5? wtf.A Few Questions (i5 + P55 and AM3 Cooler)
[QUOTE=''washd123''][QUOTE=''urdead18'']Right, so the i5 series just launched and I'm in the market for a new CPU/MOBO/RAM.I want to know if there are any P55 Motherboards under $200 CDN that run at 16x/16x in SLI and if 8x/8x is a noticeable downgrade.(I'm looking at dual GTX 275s, I already have one).I'd also like to know how the i5 750 compares to the Phenom x4 955 and the i7 920.Lastly, can anyone recommend a good CPU cooler for a Phenom x4 955?(it's for a friend) It's an M4A78T-E with an NZXT Tempest case and I would rather it be under $50, but that's not firm.Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]no the p55 mobos cant run x16 x16 only the x58 with the core i7. the new i7 and i5 have the pci-e controller onboard and its only 16 lanes total.so if you want dual x16 SLI you need a x58.the core i5 dominates both by a good margin in most benchmarks.personally i think intel is whacke dout their mind for this naming scheme. liek why the new core i7s if they dont work with the x58 mobos? what was the point of the x58 mobos and core i7s if better incompatable processors are on the way? and core i5? wtf.[/QUOTE]



Thanks, is there a noticeable performance difference between 16x/16x and 8x/8x or nothing too bad? I sort of agree with the naming, although most people don't build their own computers and the ones that do probably do the research beforehand so there shouldn't be many confusions...
that maybe true but its still a pain with intel nameing crap. i like how amd did it



am2 ,am3, easy to figure out!
Am I reading it wrong or does the MSI P55-GD65 support 16x/16x.

Also, yes, there will be a noticable difference between x8 and x16. The difference depends on the card and how hungry it is but even the old 8800GT's lost at least 30% of their performance on 8x. Newer cards will probably lose more. All in all, I don't recommend you use two cards on an i5 unless they do in fact support 16x/16x.
I think they could have done better with naming of the new i7's.
Look at this article, it covers exactly what your talking about:



http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-gaming,2403.html



I think if I recall right, it basically says that for the majority of gamers the lack of 2 16x will make very little noticeable difference.
[QUOTE=''Nokanhav'']Am I reading it wrong or does the MSI P55-GD65 support 16x/16x.

Also, yes, there will be a noticable difference between x8 and x16. The difference depends on the card and how hungry it is but even the old 8800GT's lost at least 30% of their performance on 8x. Newer cards will probably lose more. All in all, I don't recommend you use two cards on an i5 unless they do in fact support 16x/16x.[/QUOTE]the board might but the cpus dont. im pretty sure even the new core i7 only support 16 lanes total.
[QUOTE=''firedrakes'']that maybe true but its still a pain with intel nameing crap. i like how amd did it am2 ,am3, easy to figure out![/QUOTE]that and all AM2 procs work on all AM2+ mobos, all AM3 procs work on AM2+ mobos. its a more even transistion