Reese writes, "What is the difference between the Intel Core i7 and Core i5 processors? The Core i5 750 and the i7 860 are both quad-core processors with only a minor speed difference between them, but the i7 costs about $100 more."

Well Reese, to be perfectly honest with you, the Intel Core i5 series of processors costs less than the Core i7 series for one major reason: they're meant to compete with AMD in the mind-range processor price-point.

Both the i5 750 and the i7 860 have 4 processing cores, 8MB of L3 cache, and fit the LGA1156 processor interface. So why would you spend $100 more for the i7 860, which is clocked 440MHz faster than the i5 750? I don't know.

There's actually only one main difference between the i5 and i7 lines of products (now that both lines are officially on the LGA1156 socket type): the i7 line of processors targets the high-end market (gaming/multimedia) with faster clock speeds and more L3 Cache, while the i5 line targets the mid to low-end market (desktop use/casual gamers) with slower clock speeds and less L3 Cache.

The performance difference between the i5 750 and the i7 860 is minimal, at worst. If you're building a new gaming computer with the LGA1156 socket type, save yourself $100 and go with the Intel Core i5 750.

If you have a question, send it over to lordkat@gmail.com

Be safe,
Jason