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This cpu is competitive with cpu's from 2 generations later. That makes it one of the best buys of 2009. Today it is a great cpu to take a ageing X58 platform to its maximum potential. The bigger brothers of this cpu the 980, 980x, 990x are all well overpriced next to the 970 as of this writeup date. The 970 gives you the performance and value of a brand new system with a smaller budget. The 6 cores help to future proof it for a few more years. There is a caveat however, the X58 will not receive another upgrade as it is retired and boards compatible with the 970 will start to get scarce. Make sure you have a good warranty on the motherboard that you purchase with this CPU. Update: It's now 2019 and the best buy would be a W3690 CPU for this socket in a single CPU system if you actually still needed one. For a dual CPU system the X5690 would be what you are looking for. Note I have placed two of those in my 2008 Mac Pro with some other modifications and bios updates to allow it to think its a 2009 Mac Pro and I now have it running Catalina. So if you are looking for a processor for the aging Mac Pro the 970 is no longer what your looking for.Read full review
Verified purchase: No
Bought the Intel i7 970 CPU on eBay because the prices were more in line with what they should be. If buying retail, purchase the 980X as they are about the same price. So far the processor has worked great. Over clocked it some, have more to go. If using the stock cooler / heatsink, be aware that the fan guard, while it does not appear so, has an 'up' and 'down'. But it on the wrong way and the fan won't turn. (Discovered that myself. Intel was not aware of it.) Be aware that no matter what the auction says, Intel will NOT honor the warranty if the item is purchased from an individual. It must be purchased from an approved retailer. (Found that out when contacting them about the fan not working.)
Processor worked quite easily. No bios update was necessary for my Intel X58 express. Chip overclocks to 4.2G quite readily.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I purchased this as an upgrade from an i7 920 processor. The 970 is quick and has immense capacity (given its six-cores), but installation was more difficult than expected. Even with the X58 level motherboard, this was no simple move from one compatible CPU to another. So, if you're going down the same path that I did, be especially careful about BIOS updates, the type of thermal gel you use, whether Intel's large, included cooler will fit in your box, and power supplies.
Seeing as this CPU is a few cycles old I was aiming to use it as a Plex media server. And it performs exceptionally well. The cores/threads combination is a perfect fit. And not to mention the price. All of that made this fit perfectly.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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