I might actually do this!

[Smythe]

So so much misinformation and lack of knowledge.

One, the problem with the Foxconn sockets isn't a problem for 99.9% of users. Unless you're doing competitive overclocking/benchmarking with a phase, dry ice, or LN2/LH4 (I've never seen liquid helium used with intel chips, cold bug) you don't have to worry. The reduced contact on the power delivery pins only becomes a problem when the CPU is sucking down over 150W of power. That simply is not going to happen with water or air cooling.

Two, the LGA1156 chips are not particularly anymore difficult to overclock than the LGA1366 chips. Getting to 4.0GHz with either the Lynnfield or Bloomfield platform is not that difficult. The Lynnfield chips generally will need a bit more vcore to reach the 4.2-4.3GHz range on account of the on-die PCIe controller, but not much more. Furthermore, their much lower TDP than the Bloomfield chips will offset this. Heat output will be more or less the same for both chips at similar clockspeeds.

Three. There seems to be this misconception that any LGA1156 processor does not support simultaneous multithreading. The Core i5 does not support SMT, however the Lynnfield-based Core i7 processors do support two threads per core just like their Bloomfield counterparts.

Unless you need gobs of PCIe lanes (triple SLI or SLI and a RAID HBA) you're better off getting a Lynnfield system. It'll save you about $100-$200 that you can spend on something else, maybe get an SSD. Finally, I think that AMD is pretty much irrelevant at this point. The consumer Nehalem variants have pushed AMD out of the mid-range and relegated them to the very low-end of the market.

Since the majority of this post was directed at me I thought I'd respond.

One, would you please tell me how it's OK for there to be improper electrical contact unless using sub-zero cooling and going for extreme overclocks? There has been a report of burnt pins with someone who didn't even overclock (http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/sh....php?t=2540820). Maybe there's something else at work here, but to basically say that it's impossible to burn a CPU unless under extreme cooling is just as misleading as anything I've said. I doubt that's what you're saying, but that's the way it's coming off. I'd also like to see where this 150W number came from. I've been following the XtremeSystems thread that first brought to light the issue of melting sockets, the Anandtech article that exposed the problem and the discussion on [H] and the closest thing I've ever seen to a number regarding power is this comment by the author of the Anandtech article:

Physically it's really hard to tell. Foxconn say their revision is in the top plate, but I have not seen anything other than the one I have on my boards here. Further a report from DFI revealed the user issue I reported above from mainland China (that was single thread 32m at 4.7Ghz though).

If I get any more info on this I'll update.

BTW 32m single thread at 5Ghz only darwas about 60w to VCC. So it is a little scary.

later
Raja

Is the VCC wattage simply added to the 95W TDP which would give 155W total?

Two, sorry if it came across as if I was saying the 1156 is extremely difficult to overclock. However, you do say that the on-die PCIe controller does make things slightly harder which is all I was saying. For those that don't mind playing with voltages there's no problem, but I'm chicken **** when it comes to voltages. My first major foray into overclocking was with the P4 Northwood that had the Sudden Northwood Death Syndrome and the Gradual Northwood Death Syndrome. I didn't put much voltage into mine (under the "limit" thought to cause SNDS), but after awhile I had to back down on my overclock significantly because it was no longer stable, an overclock that was initially Prime stable for 48 hours. It's also been my experience that adding voltage doesn't get me much more from an overclock, if any at all, no matter which voltages I adjsut.

The only "facts" I presented are that there is a contact issue with p55 motherboards using Foxconn sockets and that the on-die PCIe controller makes overclocking more difficult. Everything else I said about those issues was simply my opinion and guesses on what could potentially happen. I'm sorry if it came across as if I were stating my opinions as fact. I still wouldn't get an 1156 chip despite these potential issues, but that is my personal opinion which I hope I'm still entitled to. It's ultimately up to [DWC]Darkwolf to make the decision for himself.

With all that said with the findings here by Lathode about the pin holes being there direct from Intel, of which I can confirm is the case by looking at the never-before-installed i5 I have here, does make me question somewhat the conclusions Raja has come to when he said this. However, no one has disproved that there is a contact issue and with supposed admittance by Foxconn that there was a problem and for DFI, EVGA and MSI to stop using Foxconn sockets shows that caution for now is advised. Maybe the problem isn't with the Foxconn socket, but all the information we have says that it is. I do not feel I'm guilty of giving false information, but that's really only because I'm going on the conclusions of others and cannot personally verify any of the claims. I trust that those who are looking into the issue know something of what they're talking about, but if it comes out that there is no problem with the Foxconn socket I will admit that I was unknowingly spreading false information and for that I would be sorry.