CPU/Build Choices, I7-980 vs SB-E or SB

[MENNONH]

This build will be for mostly gaming, maybe some Bryce and Poser(3D modelling) but very light if I do.
I have an I7-980 sitting in a box from the old Intel Retailedge deal, just went through a rough time with money right after and couldnt build around it.
I now have the money but some choices. I can build around the 980, and my work has some good discounts on a nice Gigabyte 1366 motherboard. The other option is to pick up the Holiday Intel deal which I assume will probably be a SB-E or just a Sandy Bridge processor and build around it.

I also have an I7-920 sitting here, so the question is, should I sell the 980 and the 920 for a combined total of about 6-700 and start fresh with a newer processor, or should I go ahead and build around the 980?

 

[HendrixFan]

I would suggest seeing how much you could get for the 980. If you can pull 700 or more I would say go with the 3930K. I haven't looked at the resale market since SB-E came out so it may be better for you to just stick with the 980.

 

[Plimogz]

Go for the new platform. There's bound to be some interest for the 980 from people looking for a 1366 upgrade and you can get the latest and greatest for not that much more outlay than it would run you to build up around the Gulftown, presumably.

Or just buy into socket 1155 and trade the 980 for pretty much an entire system which will match it in everything except the most heavily multi-threaded scenarios.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Build around the 980.

 

[Rvenger]

I say just use the 980 and sell the 920 to buy a nice videocard.

 

[ensign_lee]

If you can sell the 980, go with Sandy Bridge (not enthusiast). You said that your hardest application is gaming, right? SB-E doesn't improve AT ALL on Sandy Bridge for gaming unless the games use > 4 cores. And most games barely even use 2.

If you can't sell the 980...I guess build around that. It's still a wicked processor.

 

[houe]

Build around the 920 and sell the 980. Overclock it and you should be more than good for gaming for quite a while. Or sell them both and build a 1155 system. Your more than good either way.

 

[Arkaign]

If gaming is your biggest concern, you're gonna be GPU limited with even a 2500k. So sell it all, and grab that + a decent GPU. No sense paying huge extra for SB-E or 1366 setup, or not getting a good amount of cash now for the 980 while it still commands a high price.

 

[MENNONH]

Thanks for the replies. Gaming will be my main use, only light 3D editing but I doubt I will ever get skilled enough to actually do more with it.

I am leaning toward selling, or at least trying to sell both the 920 and 980 and going with LGA2011 platform so it can later support Ivy Bridge. I probably dont necessarilly need to be looking to upgrade it but it wouldnt hurt.

 

[kami]

Thanks for the replies. Gaming will be my main use, only light 3D editing but I doubt I will ever get skilled enough to actually do more with it.

I am leaning toward selling, or at least trying to sell both the 920 and 980 and going with LGA2011 platform so it can later support Ivy Bridge. I probably dont necessarilly need to be looking to upgrade it but it wouldnt hurt.

If gaming is your main use you only need a 2500k, and Ivy Bridge will be out for LGA1155 as well, not just LGA2011. You can buy one of the many Z68 boards that already have PCI-E 3.0 if you want that as well. You will see zero gaming benefit from going LGA2011 right now.

For the price of just a i7-3930k CPU you can get a 2500k, nice GEN3 Z68 mobo, 8 or 16GB of ram, and a nice cooler to take you 4.5GHz and beyond, plus have money left over.

There's always an option to drop in an Ivy Bridge CPU come March if you decide you want something faster or something with Hyper Threading.

Also I don't know if you play BF3 but on older i7's (non-sandy bridge) with HT enabled there can be really bad stuttering. The only fix is to disabled HT which might be a downside for keeping the i7-980. Some other games perform a lot better on sandy bridge as well.

edit: forgot to mention. if you want do tri or quad SLI obviously LGA2011 is the choice, but if you plan on just 1 or 2 video cards Z68 is fine.

 

[Arachnotronic]

LGA 2011 would probably be a complete waste in your case. Especially if you have an i7 980, one of the fastest CPUs on the planet .

Do what I did. Get a used X58 board, put the 980 in, and boom! You're all set. My upgrade cost me just south of $500.

 

[Arg Clin]

the 920 should last quite some time yet for gaming. So I'd say build around the 920, sell off the 980 (assuming you can get a decent price for it) and put the money into a fast gpu.

 

[fastamdman]

If you are gaming grab a 2500k and z68 mobo. The 2500k beats out everything when its overclocked and will be comparable to the 2600k/2700k/3930/3960x when you are gaming.

People dont realize that when it comes to gaming the 2500k is the best price to performance chip out right now.

Also going 1155 / 2500k / z68 allows you the choice to upgrade to IB later on down the road.

2500k > all for gaming.

edit: so this means yes sell the chips and go SB

 

[Puppies04]

No point at all in going enthusiast. Sell what you have and buy an 1155 rig. Plenty of people already telling you this, they know what they are talking about.

 

[MENNONH]

That's what I am going to do, some of the other guys at work in the Build your own department were saying go Sandy Bridge also. I was leaning that way to begin with just wanted some input since I already had the chip. Thank you.

 

[Hugo Drax]

This build will be for mostly gaming, maybe some Bryce and Poser(3D modelling) but very light if I do.
I have an I7-980 sitting in a box from the old Intel Retailedge deal, just went through a rough time with money right after and couldnt build around it.
I now have the money but some choices. I can build around the 980, and my work has some good discounts on a nice Gigabyte 1366 motherboard. The other option is to pick up the Holiday Intel deal which I assume will probably be a SB-E or just a Sandy Bridge processor and build around it.

I also have an I7-920 sitting here, so the question is, should I sell the 980 and the 920 for a combined total of about 6-700 and start fresh with a newer processor, or should I go ahead and build around the 980?

2600K is plenty for Bryce and Poser. and 2600K runs much cooler and uses less power.

I would sell that CPU get a 2600K and you will have plenty of cpu power. and you can get a nice video card.

 

[Wuzup101]

Sell your current processors and equipment and go with an 1155 setup (2500k or 2600k). If gaming is all you do, it's hard to beat the 2500k for the price. The 2600k is also very decent price/performance if you can take advantage of HT in some of your applications.

I'm going to be honest with you, 1366 offers next to nothing over 1155 as far as gaming is concerned. If you are considering 3+ video cards in SLI/xfire maybe... but for "normal" gaming setups there really is no point (and even then it's debatable). 1155 is definitely the best bang for the buck... sell your processors and you are pretty much paying for a 2500k / HSF / mobo and starting on a decent GPU...

 

[Arachnotronic]

I'm not sure how anyone could recommend an 1155 CPU over an 6 core 1366 chip. These things are absolute beast. Whatever, though!

 

[Plimogz]

I think the real nub of this thread is: How much can the OP get for a 980? and, to a lesser extent, a 920.

 

[mb103051]

running a 1366/920 o/clocked now with the available used 1366 6 core cpu's becoming fairly cheap used on the forums, myself id be looking to go that way...yea x79 is cool and a beast but 1366 offers more than anyone in there right mind could use as far as cpu speed and bandwidth...
now if i had money to burn then maybe id build an x79 system but as far as it being more useable than an x58 system,no way...i cant even come close to maxing out my 1366 system...i will be looking for a used 970/980/990 6core after the first of the year...
300 bucks or so and ill be good till the next new platform comes out...jmo

 

[Spikesoldier]

If gaming is your biggest concern, you're gonna be GPU limited with even a 2500k. So sell it all, and grab that + a decent GPU. No sense paying huge extra for SB-E or 1366 setup, or not getting a good amount of cash now for the 980 while it still commands a high price.

this. grab a 2500/2600 k series, a premium cooler, and spend all the proceeds from sales and money saved in buying two badass gpu's.

 

[3DVagabond]

Thanks for the replies. Gaming will be my main use, only light 3D editing but I doubt I will ever get skilled enough to actually do more with it.

I am leaning toward selling, or at least trying to sell both the 920 and 980 and going with LGA2011 platform so it can later support Ivy Bridge. I probably dont necessarilly need to be looking to upgrade it but it wouldnt hurt.

It seems like you keep builds/components for a while. If so, then definitely sell the 980 and 920 and go with the latest platform. Workloads are going to use more threads/cores from here on out. You'll appreciate 12 threads with your 3D work a lot You also have the longer upgrade path than with 1366 or 1155.

This is assuming you can get a decent price for your current gear. If not, I'd build with the 980. It's still a kickass platform and CPU.

 

[3DVagabond]

I'm not sure how anyone could recommend an 1155 CPU over an 6 core 1366 chip. These things are absolute beast. Whatever, though!

I agree. Seems pretty shortsighted. Even if all people are using their PC's for is playing games. Games are getting better at using more threads and GPU's are getting more demanding on CPU's to feed them every generation. We have to O/C SB processors now and the next gen vid cards will likely even be more CPU limited

 

[Arachnotronic]

As far as pricing goes, you can get about $475-$520 for the 980 if you want a quick sale. Intel stuff seems to hold its value like crazy.

Also, I just...you have a 980....I'm telling you right now dude, it is BEAST. I got a mobo for my 980X for $41 + $10 shipping on ebay...the platform costs for going LGA 1366 are staggeringly low nowadays.

 

[Wuzup101]

I'm not sure how anyone could recommend an 1155 CPU over an 6 core 1366 chip. These things are absolute beast. Whatever, though!

I'm just recommending them on relative price per performance given that he isn't really doing anything more demanding than gaming. While the 980x is a beast (especially when overclocked), it offers marginal (if any) improvements over an overclocked 2500k for gaming. If he was encoding all day, it would be a different story. As it stands, given a limited amount of resources, it's better to spend more $$$ on the GPU setup and less on the processor (and by relation the motherboard).

Again, there is nothing wrong with the 980... but the 1155 "k" processors are damn good for their price. A 980 setup is just fine for gaming - but it's sorta silly when you are running it with a single video card. It is not the optimal allocation of funds.