i5, i7, or wait for sandy bridge

[dangerman1337]

Buy the i5-760 now, you won't be disappointed. The Sandy Bridge preview article shows a 12-18% improvement of the i5-2400 over the i5-760. Is it really worth waiting till next year for that? Skip SB, the i5-760 will hold you over till Ivy Bridge.

The problem with that is that to upgrade to ivy bridge, you will need to upgrade the motherboard again while if he/she does sandy bridge then there's a upgrade route to Ivy bridge and the only benefits of Ivy bridge will be lower power consumption and less heat and very little performance benefit (if there is any).

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The problem with that is that to upgrade to ivy bridge, you will need to upgrade the motherboard again while if he/she does sandy bridge then there's a upgrade route to Ivy bridge and the only benefits of Ivy bridge will be lower power consumption and less heat and very little performance benefit (if there is any).

If he waits until SB he most likely won't need to upgrade when Ivy bridge comes along. At which case he'll be waiting for whatever comes after Ivy Bridge and that will most likely require a platform upgrade too.

So it seems like it doesn't matter for him. Still 3 months away from SB. If he can't wait that long there's not foul in upgrading now.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I decided to not wait and I will buying in the next two weeks, its either the i5-760 or the i7-930. The approximate difference in price is $100. Here are the comparison of parts:

See if you can pick up the i7 920 for $169 at MC. Helps to knock a few $$$ off that difference. And no, you don't need to run a tri-channel mem config on the 1366 if you don't want to.

 

[orbster556]

If he waits until SB he most likely won't need to upgrade when Ivy bridge comes along.

I'm in a similar situation as the OP and I'm leaning towards a i5 now rather than SB later. For me, the additional 3 month wait isn't too much of a concern; instead, I'm inclined towards the i5 because I like buying on a fully mature platform rather than jumping on at the launch of socket 1155. I would imagine that there will be kinks and that the ironing out of these kinks will take some time.

Do you think there's any validity in my concerns?

Thanks

 

[brencat]

I'm in a similar situation as the OP and I'm leaning towards a i5 now rather than SB later. For me, the additional 3 month wait isn't too much of a concern; instead, I'm inclined towards the i5 because I like buying on a fully mature platform rather than jumping on at the launch of socket 1155. I would imagine that there will be kinks and that the ironing out of these kinks will take some time.

Do you think there's any validity in my concerns?

Thanks

Yep - That's a great point you make. I'm sure the mobos will certainly be a tad more expensive initially along with their immature bioses. But I think an earlier poster hit the key points about it being approx 12-18% improvement. Meanwhile, you can get an i5-760 at Microcenter right now for $170+tax or even an i7-920.

My sudden urgency for a rebuild also came about at a bad time...4 mos before the launch of SB due to my Abit board kicking the bucket (mem slots 3 & 4 are dead). Since I can't possibly go that long without gaming, it came down to either the i5 or the 955BE. Which is really no contest at all based on my research. Going to sell off my E6750, Tuniq, and 2 sets of DDR2 to help defray some of the cost but I'm really excited for the new build too. Love when major components die...gives you an excuse to upgrade!

 

[ilkhan]

losing 2 memory slots shouldn't make the computer unable to play games. You'll lose a little for lack of amount and/or dual channel, but can still play...

 

[brencat]

losing 2 memory slots shouldn't make the computer unable to play games. You'll lose a little for lack of amount and/or dual channel, but can still play...

More than that...won't hold the overclock anymore. Random BSOD's, fan fail warnings when not failing, RAM has already been replaced once, voltages adjusted, etc.. Memtest errors 3, 4, 5 and 8. Tried a bunch of things already. Nope, its time is up. It's been at 450 FSB 24/7 for 3 years and served me well. R.I.P. Abit...

 

[quest55720]

I am facing the same dilema. Going to be getting an interest free 1000 dollars loan from work for a computer. Going to sell off my old rig to a friend. So going to have 1400 to spend. I think I will go with the I5 or I7 depending on what microcenter has on sale when I visit a friend in 3 weeks. The way I see the I5,I7 are insanely fast already. I am choosing a mature platform and not wanting to pay for a on board GPU I am not going to use. On top of it sure there will be an early adopter tax like usual. I can use the extra money towards a sandforce based SSD. Going to get a 460 or 6850 depending on deals in november.