So, Nehalem is OK?
 

I've been reading a few of the reviews of the Nehalem processors today, and it seems that for only a billion dollars a good system can be had. The processors aren't terribly expensive but the motherboards and the ram seem to cost enough.Some sights are now saying that games will be GPU-bound (here we go again with that). But I'm wondering what you guys think about a Nehalem system to run SoW_BoB? Perhaps by the time it comes out the prices on these new components will drop down a bit. I'll start selling blood now so I can save up enough cash! :)
Flyby out

In the review I read they were talking about a price of $2500AUD for the I7 CPU.

That's fairly expensive in my book. (My e8500 which was fairly new when I got it cost $390AUD)

It's Performace dominates in multi threaded applications though on a single core the rewiew said it was only marginly better than a E8600 at stock speeds (Cinebench bench mark 4250 points v's 4150)

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Review/1...7-extreme.aspx

hey Tiger, (Skoshi means "little", correct?)
I'm not able to pay such a high price for the top line Nehalem. Hell, my budget keeps slipping back anyway! :D But one day when I can afford a system I think I'll want an Intel quad that can at leastbe overclocked to 3.6ghz. That way I can run my favorite combat sims that only run on one core while being able to run Sow_Bob somewhat decently (assuming it will make use of four cores). I'm actually hoping Nehalem will force down the price of Penryn quads. Yet the high cost of Nehalem components may keep prices for Penryns high as people opt for more affordable systems. We'll see.
Flyby out

The core i7 looks to be a solid advancement in CPU performance and technology. I remember paying close to $400USD for a P4 3.4 a few years ago and did it gladly. Cost is relative, but with the fast processors out right now at comparatively low prices many will still wait until mid-late 2009 to upgrade. I know I will. Not because of the cost but because everything I play right now runs butter-smooth on my current rig.

As far as BoB:SoW is concerned, consider that it's supposedly still close to 12 months from prospective release and consider all the tech advancements that will take place in that time. Also consider that it will likely still be too much for most machines at release to run on "high" settings which is nothing new.

I plan on building a new rig in April/May next year simply because that's my cycle, but even so, chances are it'll still be a bit sluggish for titles slated for release Q4 '09.

Good feedback T-bolt,
But it's hard to imagine that Oleg's sim, which has been in development for so long now, might stress systems built in the time frame for your next upgrade. I understand that in times gone by people were burned at the stake for practicing the kind of witchcraft he must be using to write code for Sow!
Flyby out

Maximun PC review
 

Here is the link for Maximum PC's review on what they know about the Nahalem I7 processor. It's seems like Intel is getting out and dusting off some old ideas with Hyper threading and doing away with the FSB memory controller and looking more like an AMD chip. I like what I have read so far, but this chip on an Intel Mobo will not support SLI with nvidia GPU's. Hopefully by the time SOW hits the streets, the nvidia chipset to support SLI will be available on other Mobos.

Enjoy:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fea...cpu?page=0%2C1

You nailed it! I've actually borrowed the handle from the F-5A trial in durring the Vietnam war. (It used to be my favourite ride in the Janes USNF series :) )

The $2500AUD price was for their top of the range Extreme processors I think I saw the base model on a web site for around $600, Which at least is in the sensible price range. My last upgrade about 2 months ago was about $2000AUD for everything.

Over time the prices will come down (world Economic crisis permitting) and the PC's that will be mainstream by the time BoB comes out will leave mine for dust!

Nehalem links
 

Follow this link for more reviews on the Nehalem. Maybe some of your favorite tech sites are listed. One point I'd like to make is that several mobo mfgs already have SLi and/or Crossfire enabled on the X58 platform. I still want to see a complex flight sim run on Nehalem. That processor might be fine for RTS and stuff, but combat flight sims need a bit more ooomph, imho. Oh, yeah, the link: http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquir...views-counting

i7 is 25% faster than Core Duo clock per clock... so yeah its more than ok for this sim... and possibly SOW

As for SOW pushing the i7... probably it will bring it to its knees if all the bells and whistles are turned on... remember they build a sim that can last 5-10 years....

Read here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...alem,2057.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ming,2061.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...e-i7,2063.html

The review below sort of says that we'll only be seeing the benifit of the i7 with high performance SLI or Crossfire graphics setups!

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Feature/...rformance.aspx

Using single card graphics on overclocked systems you got comparable results with a QX9650 CPU. (It isn't an exaustive test)

Is there any reason to go SLI or Crossfire if your monitor can't display really high resolutions?

Playing IL2 1946, my 22" LCD at 1650 *1080 gives me about 61fps most of the time dropping down to about 22 in the Black Death track when one of the airfields gets attacked.

I supose its all depends how the applications are coded and optimised. I've been running dual core and multiprocessor pc's for a while and and I really can't think of many programs that have actually use the technology to it's full advantage. ( It's depressing having a dual processor rig and only play games that use one! :( )

I'm sort of hoping titles like Bob will show us what these puppies can really do! I've been waiting a while!