The Intel Core i7 chipsets are relatively new CPUs launched last year. They can be bought in pre-made manufactured PCs or separately as an OEM part for a custom system. Unlike the popular Intel Core 2 Duo chipset, which is a dual core, the i7 is a quad-core. While quad-cores are not new technology, i7 marks the onset of quad-cores becoming more usable by the public due to their efficiency and more affordable pricing.
Advantages:
- Affordable prices for being a quad-core
- Built by a well-known, if not top, microprocessor manufacturer
- 45nm node technology allows for efficient cooling and overclocking
- IMC or integrated memory controller lets the chip connect directly to memory
- Four cores allows for handling software that requires lots of computations (some newer games will see increased performance)
Disadvantages:
- Will only work with DDR3 Memory, meaning for people upgrading from DDR2 will have to get a whole new motherboard
- New sockets different from the ever popular LGA775 socket (Core 2 Duo's used this) will again mean getting a new motherboard
- Not a whole lot of software will require multi-threading, meaning for the average person - there won't be much of a performance gain from a dual core.
- In some cases, the cache is lower on tthe i7 compared to some dual cores - meaning programs that benefit from higher caches may actually experience a performance loss
- Overall price is generally higher than dual cores, so upgrading isn't all that practical since one would generally have to get a new motherboard and memory as well for such a small gain.
