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Writing a conclusion for a 6 core, 12 thread processor that costs almost £700 in the UK is a tough thing to do. There is absolutely no point focusing on the price, because if you need something this powerful you already know you do. You will not need a reviewer to try and measure the ‘performance to price' ratio for you.
This review has proved that for most people an AMD 1055T is more than enough, but if you need to utilise more than 4 cores or 8 threads then the 970 is actually great value for money. For video editing and 3D rendering, the 980x and 970 are the best commercial processors money can buy.
Both i7 970 and i7 980x are products which deliver no compromise levels of performance and if you are planning at running at reference clock levels then we urge you to save the £90, spend it on a high end cooler and get the Core i7 970. The performance differences at reference clock speeds between these processors are so minimal that we doubt you would notice it at all. If you plan on overclocking however then the 980x makes much more sense because the unlocked multiplier means you can normally get 200-300mhz+ extra performance.
At the end of the day the fiercest competition for the 970 is actually the 980x … at £90 more it is going to overclock better and get there with the minimum of fuss. If the 970 was selling for £600 then we could offer more reasons to purchase, but we feel the current pricing is a little unbalanced. Whether you need either is entirely down to your bank balance and computing demands, but if ultimate performance is your primary goal then either 970 or 980x is going to future proof your system for a long time to come.
KitGuru says: The 970 is a very powerful processor which faces little competition from AMD right now. Its biggest challenger is actually the 980x which we feel offers more to the extreme high end enthusiast audience. That said, if you don't plan on overclocking, get the 970.
superb review Zardon, I think while the 970 is a stunning product that the 980x at £90 more makes a valid competition product. I think a drop to around 600 in price also is a wise move, but I cant see it happening.
Intels high end solutions are so powerful its not even funny. the 1055T did well i think, considering its 160 quid, not 680 🙂
Surprised how low profile this launch was a few weeks ago, its a great product, but we would expect no less from Intel, especially in the high end sector.
Well let us hope that AMD can challenge these cpus at some stage down the line. its a tall order I know.
The Core i7 range is extremely powerful, no doubt about it. This just proves how far ahead Intel still are. 1055T to be fair mind you, did better than I thought,. at 4.4ghz its rather powerful indeed.
A lot of money for a processor, but in the right hands, a formidable weapon. Wouldnt buy one of these for gaming however. seems overkill 🙂
The cache really helps with these processors especially rendering.
I was contemplating one of these a while ago, but they really do need to drop the price on the 970 a little, its too close to the 980x imo.
Very good review Zardon – its a little out of my price point to say the least, but always good to see how powerful the ultra high end solutions are.
Well its hard not to be impressed, but at £680 it seems to be too closely priced against the 980x to be a solid purchase. I would assume a high percentage of the enthusiast audience who purchase these will be overclocking so the 980x makes more sense.
970 dropped by £50 it might be better for everyone, even might get intel more sales.
Nice review – bit over my head in parts, but it seems a fast CPu.
Wow, that is smoe serious power, never read any reviews on the 980x so this is all new to me. my CPU is looking more ancient by the minute
These chips are so powerful and apple charge a MASSIVE premium for them. they are dominating the market so much lately its hard to see them dropping prices right now.
I bought one of these, and upped the fsb a little and its running at 3.7ghz for me. its more than enough. great processors, they make our clan video editing so much easier.
Intel rock my world !
The performance is insane, I do video editing myself on a little AMD chip which cost me 150 last year, it can be painful. I need to start saving.
a lot of readies, but you get a lot of performance. I still think the lower end chips overclocked make so much more sense for 99% of people. even those tempted to buy one of these. the 980x seems a better deal overall considering its unlocked. either that or they need to drop the price of the 970
That was a great all round review, love the fact you dont test with purely sythetic apps and have made several of your own benchmarks, such as photoshop and studio max, thats brilliant work Zardon.
only in my dreams, only in my dreams. but maybe someday 🙂
They cost even more where I live, but they are ideal for professional industries and for an audience who render or video edit on a regular basis. this is when they truly shine. Good review.
Best 970 review online by a long shot. Seems like a very good purchase, you just need deep pockets.
I like this product, it makes sense for professional users who wont overclock and the turbo boost will mean its comparible to 980x anyway.