Help with deciding on Sandy-E

[mch21689]

So I am currently running an older system based off an Intel Core 2 Duo QX6800 OC'd to 3.2ghz and 1066mhz DDR2 and a GTX 460.

I was holding out for Sandy-E in hopes of putting together something akin to a 3600k system, but as the launch day approached I saw that the Sandy-E was really more of a sole replacement for Extreme chips and that there would only be 3 chips. The only real option for me being the $550 3930k. Reviews have been kinda mixed though with how Sandy-E isn't really an improvement in terms of gaming or everyday applications. Basically if your program isn't heavily threaded or a memory hog SB >= SB-E for half the price.

I read into Ivy Bridge then, which appears to be the mainstream successor to SB, but most of its improvements don't seem to be worth waiting for me. I don't have alot of SATA devices and I don't run a multi-monitor setup, or ever do anything beyond basic SLi. So it seems the SATA and PCI-e upgrades Ivy boards are boasting might not be worth the price for me, especially since the memory is staying the same dual channel. I also read that Ivy chips will be backwards compatible with some of the more high end LG1155 boards that are out already.

So now I am wondering what you all think about building a system around a 2600k, and simply swapping the chip out to an Ivy Bridge if they really are 20-30% better in performance? Or should I just wait for the Ivy Bridge to hit in March and build a system around the "3600k" and one of the new boards?

 

[NumericalMethods]

What do you plan on using your system for? Unless it's heavily computational then there is little point in buying SBE.

You can just about buy a mobo, processor and RAM if you buy socket 1155 for the price of a Sandy Bridge E processor! Just make sure you buy a motherboard that has support for the future Intel mainstream chips and PCI-e 3.0 and you will not have wasted your money.

 

[DesiPower]

What kind of games do you play and what kind of performance are you getting? IMHO, its time to upgrade for you and as you mentioned upgrading now with a mobo that supports ivy should be ideal. however one word of advice, you really wont need a 2600k a 2500k has more than enough juice for today's games. Save the $100 for your ivy upgrade!

 

[mch21689]

In terms of application I do extensive coding and I do sometimes edit HD videos etc. I do not do anything super intensive like 3DMax or Maya etc. This is why I am starting to shy away from SB-E.

Gaming wise I am an avid gamer, and that is the main reason for this rig. I currently am playing BF3 and Skyrim. I am looking to the future for stuff like SWTOR, but I am wanting to be able to crank stuff up with what I am playing now. I game at 1920x1200 so while it isn't super intensive it has caused me to have to start turning stuff down in order to keep at 30 fps.

I am thinking you are right to get a current SB and just upgrade the chip if it proves worth it in march. I would save almost $500 off a Sandy-E, and I can stomach spending $100 for the 2600k in case Ivy gets delayed or the 1st gen ivy aren't worth the buy.

 

[mch21689]

Does anybody happen to know a good board that will be Ivy/3.0 ready? Don't need more than 2 PCI-E slots on it and SATA/USB doesn't matter.

 

[NaOH]

can't go wrong with most of the Asus deluxe Z28 boards at this point and one of the sandy bridge processors. You can sell your CPU and get an ivy bridge later.

 

[Puppies04]

For the price difference you might aswell pick up a GEN3 PCIE board incase somewhere down the line you want to upgrade to a GEN 3 GPU. Asus P8Z68-v GEN3 is a nice board although gigabyte and MSI have boards avaliable aswell. Either pick one up with a 2500K or wait for IB to drop and buy the equivalent I5 then. If you really want to push the boat out then get the I7 but it really wont give you much benefit in gaming and the money saved going with the I5 will leave you extra cash for a very nice GPU.

 

[Puppies04]

P.s Don't waste your money on stupid overpriced RAM dimms, 8gb of 1600mhz from a decent company will do you just fine. Spending 3 times as much on 16gb of 2100mhz ram will be almost impossible to tell the difference

 

[red454]

I debated the same thing - wait for SB-E or just run with a 2600K.

See signature below - that is what I built a couple days ago and couldn't be happier...

 

[greenhawk]

Justding byt your current system you are not a person that must have every new piece of hardware.

That being said, SB-E is pretty much what was expected (no faster single thread performance) with some extra features. For IvyBridge, it is going to be the same as all inital indications is that it is just brings two improvements over SB, a better GPU (guessing not a issue for you) and 18-20% better performance at the same power. Down side is that for all inital pre-release information for IvyBridge, Intel is looking at taking that performance increase and lowering power requirements instead. So a 15% power drop, near zero performance increase (at stock). So unless overclocking, IvyBridge brings nothing for a gamer or heavy user.

note: most of the performance increase IvyBridge is ment to be bring is to the GPU, raw general use performance is the 18% and that is 100% from the new transisters/die shrink.

As to boards, going by wiki.com, IvyBridge will release with some new motherboard chip sets which might make waiting for it better. Though IIRC one artical mentioned the new boards will allow some FSB changes similar to SB-E, but that feature will be disabled if using the current boards. How true that is, not 100%, but it is enough to put me off.

In terms of application I do extensive coding and I do sometimes edit HD videos etc. ...

Gaming wise I am an avid gamer, and that is the main reason for this rig. I currently am playing BF3 and Skyrim. ...

HD editing can take advantage of the 2600K's extra cache/HT but if that is worth $100 more over a $200 processor is up to you.

On the gaming side, a lot of games have been designed around the consoles, so a super fast system is not needed for those. On the short list of exceptions is BF3, but I do not think you need a better cpu for that. I am running the game on a Q6600 stock and it plays fine so no need to upgrade before IvyBridge. I am at 1920x1024 so a little smaller screen (standard 16:9), but I upgraded to a GTX570 soon after their release.

In your situation, a new GPU would give a better experence than getting a new system currently, espically if you are thinking of it only as a temp stop before April next year.

Skyrim on the other hand, I have not bought yet, but from what I have read, it does like the cpu/large memory GPUs, so for that game, upgrading now might be useful.

If you have not got a SSD yet, that might also be a better "tide me over" part as you can at least re-use it later, and get a good use from it now.

hope that helps somewhat.

 

[darckhart]

if you're not hurting to upgrade RIGHT NOW, then may as well wait for IB. even though you may not need the new features, they'll be there. as well as bug fixes/refinements. if not, there's always 2600k to fall back on.

 

[mrjoltcola]

You are running the same hardware I was. My Core 2 Extreme X6800 lasted me five years (and I still have it as a test box for ensuring our software works on older hardware). I'm glad I waited and skipped Nehalem i7 and went straight to Sandy. The 2600K is magic.

There has never been a better time to build a system. Don't bother waiting on Ivy Bridge, it isn't going to bring with it all new levels of IPC, if anything there will be some overclocking possibilities, or power savings, but it will still be the same architecture.

The 2600K will bring you the best gaming performance available, +/- a couple of frames per second if you count the minute advantage of the higher bandwidth SB-E.

I plan to build a SB-E, but I'm building it for more than gaming, and I run two desktop rigs (a primary work boxg and an overclocked game/fun box), and I also like to benchmark and crunch (F@H, BOINC, etc.) however, if you are going to have a single rig, then the $300-400 you can save by going 2600K can buy you a GTX 580, or SLI 570s, a much better use of your funds, in my opinion.

 

[ocre]

i agree, The 2600k is a killer chip priced very good. This is the chip i would by, and just might in the next few weeks.

If you want to save some cash with a small sacrifice in performance then go with the 2500k. Its a better bargain, a great bang for the buck. Its almost identical to the 2600 in gaming. But if you do more than game, the 2600k is definitely worth the extra cash. At least as i see it. my opinion.