P55 or X58 for the casual enthusiast?

I am a guy who likes to play with computers. I do a bit of gaming but plan to do more. I like to over clock my CPU. I am thinking of going with the P55 platform over the X58. Maybe getting an i7860 over the i7920. They are comparable and I think the i7860 or i5750 will give me a better bang for the buck. The i7870 is an ugly duckling it appears. (cost to performance)

Here's an example of the type of review I'm reading. There are many, many more but. This is a good one (19 pages) and explains a lot.

Core i5 750 - Core i7 860 and 870 processor review

What are you planning? The i5750 is also a good bet.

I think for the money...you are getting more performance for the money with the new LGA 1156 and P55 stuff.

What is your opinion?

I am talking about the casual enthusiast and the most for the money. Keep this in mind before posting. I know these are not the top of the line flagship so you don't need to post this information.

I just got through reading a few articles at Tom's Hardware Guide that puts it in perspective. Here are the links:

Core i5, Core i7, CrossFire, And SLI: Gaming Paradise, Redux? : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

In Theory: How Does Lynnfield's On-Die PCI Express Affect Gaming? : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

Intel Core i5 And Core i7: Intel’s Mainstream Magnum Opus : Introduction - Review Tom's Hardware

The first pertains almost strictly to gaming, the second primarily to gaming (but more to the underlying theory behind the CPU design and its effects on gaming / anything making use of PCIe x8 or larger paths) and the third is a direct comparison between P55 and X58.

I myself bought a Core i7 965 EE, so I am stuck with an x58 (not that that is a bad thing) - but when speaking in terms of bang for buck, it is damned near impossible to recommend the x58s and Core i7 9xx series over the Lynnfield series.

Start out by reading the conclusion page of all three articles - then go back and dig deeper into the articles themselves.

Thanks for the reply Johngalt, these are some very good links. They confirm what I thought. "bang for the buck" is what I am trying to get. (even though I could get whatever) I also would like to know for sure about the "on die PCI". I have heard from some pretty smart people that todays cards DO NOT take advantage of X16 or X8 PCI. They don't even get to X8.

It also sound like the Lynnfield CPUs are OCing past 4.0 pretty easy on AIR COOLING.
This is a big thing for me. Even the i5 750 is doing pretty well in the OC dept.
They are doing better than I expected.

Thanks again for the links.

nate42nd said:

I have heard from some pretty smart people that todays cards DO NOT take advantage of X16 or X8 PCI. They don't even get to X8.

Correct. Current cards do not fully utilize the full x8 bandwidth, let alone x16. However the great expectations of ATI and Nvidias new cards is that they will.

However, until they are released, no one knows yet what they are truly capable of.

smarteyeball said:

nate42nd said:

I have heard from some pretty smart people that todays cards DO NOT take advantage of X16 or X8 PCI. They don't even get to X8.

Correct. Current cards do not fully utilize the full x8 bandwidth, let alone x16. However the great expectations of ATI and Nvidias new cards is that they will.

However, until they are released, no one knows yet what they are truly capable of.

Thanks for the clarification Smarteyeball. I have always wondered this. A lot of people don't know this fact.