Another thing that may be of interest for upgraders is the choice of motherboard. I went with an MSI motherboard that has this turbo processing technology which safely runs my 3.09 ghz i7 chip at 3.21 ghz. You don't even have to overlock it, it runs like it out of the box. Runningbear
I don't even think that you need to go as high as i7 for a trading machine. You can get the Intel i5 - 760 that is an LGA 1156 socket CPU with 8mb of L3 cache and a Passmark rating of 4,561. And it costs only $200.00
Doubt the mobo is responsible... Turbo Boost is a function of certain Intel CPUs. In general, the faster the stated clock speed the less "boost". http://ark.intel.com/MySearch.aspx?TBT=true
What is beyond i7-950? Are they coming up with something faster but priced for retails? (like no more than $300)? Same socket?
As for now, the i7-950 is the sweet spot. The 960s are twice as much. ____________________________________________________ I know a guy who wants me to buy his computer. The case is cheap and it has Win7-64 Home Premium. However, it also has i7-950, 8G RAM, Gigabyte X58 mobo, and a Radeon HD 5850 video card. He wants $400. Should I buy it?
Looks like the new Sandy Bridge CPUs have arrived... i7-2600 to have 4 cores and about 50% more horsepower than i7-950.. and sell initially for about $400. New chipsets to go with it... *65 and *67, so may not work in Socket 1366, X58 mobos.... Figures... less than a week after I buy an i7-950, it becomes legacy... :>)
sandy beaches are here!!! http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833.html
If anybody is wondering.... Turns out the case is not "cheap", but rather a funky, high-end Vigor gaming case (large, extra fans and ports, lots of space for drives, air filters, BOTH sides open for easy access to changing CPU cooler support bracket.. that is, you don't have to remove the mobo to install/change CPU cooler, digital readouts for temps, fan speeds, etc.) If I bought the parts from Newegg, estimating the case @ $150, this rig would cost about $1,600.