EggXpert

I want to build a new rig but cant decide between quad core intel vs i7 i don't understand what makes them different. They both have 4 cores so what is big here.

A great question! I would like to know as well, Hopefully someone else can answer. But I'm thinking it's like the difference beween Pentium Dual Core and Core 2 Duo, lol! Both has two cores.  I have seen bench marks showing i7s outperforming Quads.  I would probably go with i5 or i7 because not only are they better but also, they are more 'future proof'. If you get an LGA775 board for a Core 2 Quad, you won't be able to upgrade much in the future. But if you wanna save money and burn your CPU in half a year by OC'ing like crazy, then who cares.

The i7 is a quad core cpu.  But the real difference is that the i7 is a different cpu than the core 2 duo cpu's.  Basically it is the same as going from the Pentium 3 to a Pentium 4, it is a different architecture cpu, those were both single core cpu's (there were some dual core p4's later on, though they were not "true" dual core cpu's but Frankensteined). 

If you want to get more confused be warned the new i5 and "new" i7's on the 1156 socket are not very future proof, at least not a future proof as the "old" i7's on the 1366 socket as the upcoming i9 cores will be on the 1366 socket.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core   That may help some but then again it may just help to confuse.  In any case making i7's for both 1156 and 1366 sockets is a dumb naming convention that will only confuse many people (well pretty much everyone).

Verdict is 1366 then lol! But 1156 will be the next mainstream to replace 775 right?? So, it'll last for a few years even if i9 is launched in 2 years? I don't know. But if I buit a system now, I would go with an i7 for  1366...caz it's triple channel. I sometimes max out on my 4GB RAM though not too often.

Sniper I think you and products are looking at this in the wrong way! It is not quad core Intel vs i7 because i7 is quad core as well and is built by Intel, the problem lays with the chipset and what the mobo will allow in CPUs. Just so this will make better sense for you let us step back 10 years when the 478/P4 came out these were single cores but each mobo type 845, 850, 865 and 875 used these at various speeds from 1.2 Celeron to 3.6 Preston. Then they came out with the LGA775 chipset starting with the 915 thru the 975 again it started with a different P4 CPU until the dual core Pentium D's came out then the dual cores and the quad cores came out then the mobos changed to G & P 31, 35, 43, 45 and then the X38 and X48 along with the extreme dual core and the Quad cores then they jumped from 65nm to 45nm  which caused the P43, P45 and the X48 mobos to hit the streets. Then out came the highend X58 mobo with the 1366 chipset better known as the i7 and a few months later out came the 1156 chipset with the P55 mobo known as the i5/i7 now the 1156 chipset will not get more cores but might get changed to the 32nm to sell more CPUs but if not it too will be a deadend build cause Intel has already stated that the 1366 will get the 6 cores CPUs and may get the 32nm too since it is their main stream chipset for the next 2-3 years. Now this is way over simplified because you could right a book on the whys and where fores of Intel and what they have done and are planning on doing. So in the end it all depends on how current you wish to stay with technology versus how much cash you have to layout for this technology.

wow nice post so i think future proffing would be more 1366 i7 then

You are correct and here is a link that will explain it more indepth than what I did.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410.html