Anyone else thinking of buying a monster rig after Xmas?

[Insuber]

Originally Posted by SEE

That's interesting! I definiely need to ask for advice before I part with my cash as I;m sure I saw i5 bundles for less. Out of curiosity, (start my education now....) what are the advantages/disadvantages between i7 and i5 Insuber?

The 3 differences are:

- 0.1 GHz more of the fastest i7 on the fastest i5 (3.4 GHz vs 3.3 GHz), not a big deal given the overclock capabilities of the SandyBridge
- Hyperthreading, which simulates 8 cores. Slightly better for video encoding, compiling, graphics creation etc, useless for games
- 8 MB cache vs. 6 MB

So, if your main use is games and sims, my advice is to go for an i5 and spend the extra cash for a bigger video card with more VRAM, the real bottle neck of this game.
if you do other stuff, have a look at benchmarks and decide by yourself. Anandtech has a very clear CPU benchmark section.

Cheers,
Insuber