Xeon W3540 or Core i7 950
 

Needing opinions on this. Leaning towards the Xeon but wonder if I should just wait for the 960. Or should I just go all in and get the Xeon W3570 that I have been drooling over?

I vote W3540, thought are better than 950!You have to be lucky to found a good 950.:D

Voted 3540 too, but really I think it would be a better strategy for boints to go with the 3570 :D Just remember you are competing against all those 3540's that Andre Yang put on the market :(

Voted 950, I've got a very good 3540 and am ready for a new toy. :)

Please enlighten us on this chuchnit. Prob ewith the 3570 is it is $1100. But if I am going to spend $600 on the 3540 what's another $500!!! LOL

Yeah right! ohcrap

Well you just said half of it right there. It's $1100 so not many people will want to buy it over the 975. So that right there gives you a way better chance at cups for that CPU. Plus its $1100 for a reason; it's unlocked just like an EE :D

I voted for the Xeon W3540.. 100% because I disliked the 940 and I do not see the 950 being much different....

What is the default mult of the 3540, 22? The 3550 is due out next month and has a mult of 23 so I might have to wait.

Here you go Nip:
Attachment 575
Attachment 576

Nice. I will have to wait. Some places I see it to launch in Aug others Oct. I hope Aug.

Yes, 22 but with Turbo enabled is actually 23 :D

it all depends on batch really 3845/3846 is best D0 batch so if you can get either w3540 or i7 950 with such batch good chances for gem clocks.. w3540 first batch was 3845 while i7 950 were 3851 so as you can see results skewed in favour of w3540 as a better overclocker but i've also seen i7 950/975 with 3845 do just as well as w3540 :)

I picked the 9-fiddy.

This is a super tricky question, batches are hit and miss.....and I haven't seen more than 100MHz greater headroom on the Xeon....doesn't make for a much better score overall....then you figure bot population and the 950 almost seems better.

I have been trying to decide for a long while myself and see very little harm in waiting. I also don't see the w3550 being any better than the w3540 as the
24x multi is borked.

If you are going for HWBOT points you need both ;)

Street Corner Hardware pusher FTW fight12

had a 950, it was decent 5.3ghz valid, 5ghz 3d benchable. I think it just wanted more cold than I have. Couldnt justify the $$ so I sold it

Do you finally decide?:)
If you have patience, you can wait for i7 960.....they are very tempting!:D

w3540 if you can get that magic batch

What's the magic batch?:)

something like 3845B010 i think its called