This is the best CPU out in the market... I think we all agree... I remember when the 975 was out some people said that a 920 could nearly match the performance of a 965 or 975... I only laugh about it because the voltage you have to set to be above 4Ghz is too high... They were nearly frying the poor CPU, over-stressing the memory, getting BSOD and freezes just to say that they are using it at 4Ghz... With this new 980x overcloking have never been easier. Mine is set to 4.25Ghz using a Vcore of 1.33V (using an Asus P6T7 WS Supercomputer bios 0804) and it's a rocket... In CPU dependant games like Flight Simulator X the FPS will increase a bit (taking in reference a 975 overclocked) but the flying is a LOT smoother... Now I can really enjoy FSX at a 1920 x 1200 resolution using all "must" add-ons like Ground Environment X USA-Canda/Europe, Ultimate Traffic 2, Ultimate Terrain X USA/Canada/Europe, Real Environment Xtreme 2 and SceneryTech Landclass in sceneries like KJFK, KLAX or EGLL... while at the same time using in another monitor (1680 x 1050) FSX programs like Electronic Flight Bag, Plan-G, FS Commander and nDAC 3 with no FPS penalty... In other games like DiRT, ARMA II or Crysis you may not see a remarkable difference in FPS because they are GPU dependant games...
The other thing to consider when you buy this CPU is that to see full potential you have to use Solid State Drives SSD (mainly for the OS) and top of the class graphic cards like HD 5870 in Xfire or a HD 5970... or if you don't care to have a little volcano stabbing your electric bill you can use a GTX 480...
It a 1000 bucks CPU, but believe me, at the end that will be the last thing on your mind when playing... Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Processor 3.33 GHz 12 MB Cache Socket LGA1366
I recently upgraded my pc from an AMD 64 4200x2 since it's > 5yrs old. I do a lot of content creation (games & various CG). This CPU has made my life easier. Render time with Maya has been reduced significantly- same with compiling a game. As an example, I have a fairly simple scene created in Maya, what took > 4hrs. to render a single frame now takes ~20 min. Compiling a game with Radiant used to take > 2hrs. now ~30min.
I highly recommend this CPU if you're doing a lot of content creation. Yes, the CPU's price is high but the time saved on compiling or rendering is tremendous- allowing you to be more productive.
The rest of the machine:
Mobo: Asus P6X58D-E
GPU: Radeon 5870HD
RAM: 12Gb OCZ gold series
HDD: 1.25Tb SATA [multiple HDDs taken from the old PC]
PSU: Seventeam 850W VForce
DVD: 1 LG Lightscribe + 1 NEC DVD DL
Case: Coolermaster ATCS 840s
It's just a monster of a CPU, by no means budget but due to the extra cores the performance per dollar matches that of many far less expensive chips. My Q6600 lasted a bit over 2 years and I'm expecting this one to last longer before a worthwhile upgrade is available.
Overclockability got 4 starts from me because for some reason at load one core is like 10 degrees cooler than the rest which makes me think the soldering in the heat spreader is less than perfect, but despite that I was able to easily hit my 20% OC goal to 4GHz at stock voltages, though I think it would have probably been able to hit 4.2 if the core temperatures were more consistant and closer to those of core #2.
Did this CPU just score 12165.6 in Passmark 7 (64bit) with NO overclocking? Why yes it did.
I use MS FSX and got tired of watching all four cores on my old 775 3GHz Quad Core Extreme get pegged at 100% with med-high settings. Running at MAX settings and my 980x isn't even breaking a sweat.
Amazing CPU! Buy one today!
I have also received my order today from Amazon. And low and behold, the bottom seal was cut on the Intel i7 980x box with no processor included. I have the booklet and heatsink and thermal paste bag. I called Amazon customer service immediately after opening my package today and they are sending me out a new shipment today. On the side window of the box, I only had the booklet with the sticker showing for the i7 Extreme processor. I think Amazon has a thief somewere in there Warehouse to shipping department. I hope my replacement shipment has the processer showing in that side window when I get it. I told the customer service rep to please verify this before shipment to me. But if the problem is in the shipment department, that wont help either. Wish me luck.
Amazon if you are reading this, please check your stock on these. There seems to be an inside job going on in your warehouse and someone is removing the processor from the box before shipment to your customers.
Update 02/11/2011: I have received my replacement shipment from Amazon from their Kansas Warehouse and the CPU is not missing in this Intel i7 980X Extreme box. I have noticed that the replacemnt box was redesigned by Intel and is smaller in size and the CPU location is still on the side of the box but is secured better which will take more time for someone to remove the CPU chip. I am very happy with Amazon's customer support. I am a longtime customer of Amazon and have purchased many products from them. This is the first time I have missed something from a vendor's box. This CPU is very expensive and Amazon needs to catch the people stealing theseIntel Core i7 980X Extreme Edition 3.33GHz 12 MB L3 Cache LGA1366 Desktop Processor BX80613i7980X - Retail from there stock.
NEW SYSTEM:
CPU Intel i7 980X Extreme
MOBO Asus Ramge III Extreme
Water Cooling System - Zalman Reserator XT Hybrid Cooling System (Black)
RAM 12 Gb Corsair Dominator GT @ 2000 Mhz (4gb x 3 sticks Kit)
PSU 1250W Enermax sGalaxy Evo
HDD 600GB 2X WD VelociRaptor WDBACN6000ANC in RAID 0
CASE NZXT Crafted Series ATX Full Tower (Phantom White)
Video ASUS ARES Dual Radeon 5870-4 GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
SOUND 7.1 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series
DISPLAY Dell UltraSharp U2711
OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit - Cpu - Extreme - Intel - Lga 1366'
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