Intel screws LGA1366 users?

[llee]

People that buy their commodity computers as an investment and also expect upgradability beyond a few years need a reality check.

Does it strike anyone as odd that Lynnfield and Clarkdale only had one-year life spans before getting succeeded?

 

[Scotteq]

Does it strike anyone as odd that Lynnfield and Clarkdale only had one-year life spans before getting succeeded?

That presumes LGA 1366 users would have considered an IGP/SandyBridge in the first place. WHich is highly doubtful, since if they wanted an IGP they would have bought one. The socket the OP is referring to hasn't been released yet (Q4 2011, for that).

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Does it strike anyone as odd that Lynnfield and Clarkdale only had one-year life spans before getting succeeded?

Perhaps a bit.

Once again though, if you have any experience in the tech world then you should know to never plan for your system to be supported by next gen parts. While it kind of sucks that a <1 year old system can't be upgraded to a new chip, realistically how many people will that really effect? Most people who built an 1156 system will keep it for 2+ years (at least cpu/mobo/ram). At that point why would you want to upgrade a 2 year old mobo? Yeah cheap performance bump might be nice, but I think most people don't upgrade CPU's often.

The vast majority of people build a system, then keep said system (maybe adding RAM or upgrading GPU) until they build their next system. I don't think it's anything that is a big enough deal to get bothered by. If you want to keep the same mobo for a while, then you should go with AMD since they have a better track record as of late with socket/cpu support.

 

[mv2devnull]

Buying a motherboard to be "future-proof" is in 99% of cases stupid.

I do recall replacing a plain ISA board of 33MHz 486DX with a hybrid board that had both VLB (which I did ignore) and a novel Intel feature called "PCI". Whether that actually managed to elongate the life of that system, I cannot recall, which statement in itself says something. I doubt it was a "1%" idea, but it was fun.

As summary, I do agree with biostud.

 

[Edrick]

LGA1366 has been top of the line since November 2008. And it was the only socket to get 6 core CPUs. How could anyone possibly feel screwed?

 

[smakme7757]

I'd like to know what the LGA1366 users at AT think. I recall many people telling others seeking build advice to opt for LGA1366 because it was 'future-proof'. Now it seems that Intel is jumping straight to LGA 2011 for the high performance market. Or do you feel differently?

Edit: Also, what do you guys think about the PCIe lane limitation to 16? Even if the CPUs are better, users will be limited from building triple/quadruple multi-card graphics setups.

Edit: I didn't realize that board makers were pumping out mobos with NF200 chips on them for 8-8-8.

It's been common knowledge for a long time that SB will introduce new sockets. All the people who have been jumping on cheap i7-950s have all been told that it's a dead end so they all knew that.

The people who purchased 1366 earlier this year knew something bigger and better would be out early 2011 and they also knew upgrade paths on the 1366 platform was limited.

With that being said 'futureproof' in the technology world is about 3 years. I wouldn't buy PC hardware expecting it to be in the higher end of the hardware scale for more than that!

As for the PCI lanes i'm quite sure i remember reading somewhere that it doesn't have a dramatic negative effect on performance. From what i have been reading off spec sheets a lot of the higher end P67 motherboards support x8, x16, x16.

Taken from Asus website.

Asus Maximum IV Extreme
4 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (single @x16, dual @x8, triple @x8, x16, x16 )

For the record, I'm a Lynnfield user. I feel completely ripped off that Intel decided to get rid of backwards compatibility with LGA1156 chips. I quickly realized that I was flame-baiting myself by mentioning the term 'future-proof', but it was just an example of what I've heard in recommendations and accolades. In the original post however, I'm querying for LGA1366 users' opinions.

I don't see how you can feel ripped off or even expected it to be backwards compatible.

775
1366
1155

None of those sockets are compatible. Why on earth would you presume that a brand new CPU with a revamped arcitecture would be backwards compatible with older hardware? Even if it was physically possible Intel wouldn't do it; and from what had been floating around online we knew Intel was planning a new socket anyway.

I'm not defending Intel, but a little logic goes a long way!

 

[OBLAMA2009]

this continual groaning here about upgrade paths for obsolete platforms is silly. you probably only spent $100 on your board, you got a couple years of use out of it, you got your money's worth. the new platforms will have all sorts of new features (usb, sata, lightpath...) that youll want anyway, just get a new board...

 

[tomoyo]

Ya I don't see the point. A motherboard isn't generally even as expensive as a high end cpu. Almost every freaking time I upgrade my cpu, I upgrade my mobo also. So having upgradeability is almost worthless to me. If I wanted more performance from my current cpu so badly, I'd just overclock further. Right now I'm overclocking and undervolting at the same time, so i have a ton of headroom, but I prefer low power over high performance. Be happy with your current fast system, and get a new one whenever you're ready for it.

 

[aigomorla]

So wait the concensus is Upgrade now since its available?

What happened to our hobby where all we usually needed was to replace the cpu, and the board when we pop'd the mosfet from overclocking?

What happened to the RAM being the first component in ones system to usually get upgraded?
Or the swapping of GPU's to keep up with demand in new and up coming games?

Has china spoiled us so much with price, that upgrading is no longer an option in a system one gets?

Now its manditory platform upgrade?


1366 we didnt get shorted.
We can get 32nm Xeon's whenever we want and throw them in our X58.
Westmere-EP is a good spot to retire the 1366 line.

Its the 1156 that got shorted.
They want something better, they need to get the complete ball package.

 

[tomoyo]

Well certainly 1156 was subpar for a platform, but a lot of people have warned everyone that 1156 was a dead end from the beginning. You're definitely stuck with something lacking good upgrades there, but I think you made your bed buying it in the first place. 1366 was touted as a longer lasting platform, and to be honest, it was. I would expect the 1155 and Socket R will be similar in lasting until the next tock, but not any further.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Well certainly 1156 was subpar for a platform, but a lot of people have warned everyone that 1156 was a dead end from the beginning. You're definitely stuck with something lacking good upgrades there, but I think you made your bed buying it in the first place. 1366 was touted as a longer lasting platform, and to be honest, it was. I would expect the 1155 and Socket R will be similar in lasting until the next tock, but not any further.

This ^ a hundred times over. Intel publishes their road maps years in advance. Before LGA 1156 was even released it was already announced that SB was going to use new sockets. LGA 1366 still has a few years left in it with multi threaded hexa core CPUs that include Xeons.

And you know what I remember on a few different occasions where I told people not to buy LGA 1156 because it wasn't "future proof" and people gave me crap about it and how LGA 1366 was a waste of money. Consumers have an obligation to research what they buy.

 

[smakme7757]

I think we should all keep in mind that even though Sandy Bridge is 'The Next Best Thing' and offeres fantastic performance gains over current hardware; socket 1156 and 1366 are still very good CPUs. Just because something better is available doesn't mean what you have is not good enough.

To be honest i could sit on my Q9450 for at least another year and i'm an enthusiast and i can admit that it still has life left in it. Which just shows how much life you still have in your 1156 and 1366 processors.

 

[Castiel]

LGA1366 has been top of the line since November 2008. And it was the only socket to get 6 core CPUs. How could anyone possibly feel screwed?

1366 owners should feel screwed for not getting Westmere 32nm quad's integrated into the I7 lineup by Intel.

 

[Zap]

People that buy their commodity computers as an investment and also expect upgradability beyond a few years need a reality check.

If that fails, how about a body check into the nearest wall? :whiste:

It's like feeling ripped off because Acura will inevitably build a new version of the car I drive.

Great analogy!

Ya I don't see the point. A motherboard isn't generally even as expensive as a high end cpu. Almost every freaking time I upgrade my cpu, I upgrade my mobo also. So having upgradeability is almost worthless to me.

Exactly. Also, new technologies are always coming out. Why in the world would I want to be stuck with some old motherboard? Can you imagine if Intel/AMD kept backwards compatibility? I'd imagine a lot of the performance gains of the new CPUs can be hindered with low bus and memory speeds, let alone new developments like SATA 6Gbps.

 

[AtenRa]

After the release of Core i7 800 series and 32nm Westmere (1156), Socket 1366 is dead for 99% of users.
I wonder why anyone will even consider to buy a 1366 platform now that SBs are released.

 

[Makaveli]

this continual groaning here about upgrade paths for obsolete platforms is silly. you probably only spent $100 on your board, you got a couple years of use out of it, you got your money's worth. the new platforms will have all sorts of new features (usb, sata, lightpath...) that youll want anyway, just get a new board...

lol ok.

Most people that bought i7-9xxx series from Nov 2008 to Nov 2010 most likely paid close to $300 for their board. I know I paid that much for my P6T Deluxe V2 in Oct 2009. It was only after 2010 that I saw better pricing on these boards.

right now I haven't see a 1366 board for $100. Maybe you are confusing this with socket 1156.

 

[Castiel]

I wonder why anyone will even consider to buy a 1366 platform now that SBs are released.

I don't believe they will.

 

[Makaveli]

After the release of Core i7 800 series and 32nm Westmere (1156), Socket 1366 is dead for 99% of users.
I wonder why anyone will even consider to buy a 1366 platform now that SBs are released.

There are still a few reasons.

you got 16x PCI-E slots x2

More memory. up to 24GB's in socket 1366.

 

[Castiel]

There are still a few reasons.

you got 16x PCI-E slots x2

More memory. up to 24GB's in socket 1366.

SB's lanes are twice as fast as Lynnfield's and some P67 boards can support up to 32GB

 

[tomoyo]

Exactly. Also, new technologies are always coming out. Why in the world would I want to be stuck with some old motherboard? Can you imagine if Intel/AMD kept backwards compatibility? I'd imagine a lot of the performance gains of the new CPUs can be hindered with low bus and memory speeds, let alone new developments like SATA 6Gbps.

The only major disappointment for me in the new platform is the obvious lack of USB 3.0 integrated. It'll still be a great upgrade to get a new mobo with both SATA 6gb and USB 3.0 (with add on chip). That itself is a nice reason to change motherboards, especially if you also plan to get the faster ssds for 2011.

 

[tomoyo]

There are still a few reasons.

you got 16x PCI-E slots x2

More memory. up to 24GB's in socket 1366.

Of course the best option is to wait for Socket R. Or see what AMD has in their sleeve with bulldozer. I'm all intel currently, but I'd love to see AMD make a comeback on the high end where they either match or beat sandy bridge. Even matching would be huge because you'd have a ton of choices and probably lower prices to boot.

 

[Dark Shroud]

Intel won't add USB3 or SATA 6gig to their chipset until they're ready to release Lightpeak.

 

[RussianSensation]

SB's lanes are twice as fast as Lynnfield's and some P67 boards can support up to 32GB

Which lanes are you talking about? PCIe is capped at 8x/8x or 16x for single GPU PCIe 2.0 just as it was on Socket 1155. In that case 1155 didn't provide any improvements (although PCIe 16x vs. 8x is a 2% difference or so). Perhaps LGA 2011 will even have PCIe 3.0 spec.

Support for 32GBs of ram is pretty much marketing. With only 4 DIMMs, you'd need 8GB ram sticks to fill the board (and those will cost an arm and a leg when they are released). Even now outside of very specific applications (Photoshop), going beyond 4GBs of ram has no performance benefit.

The most important feature of P67 boards is by far the UEFI bios.

 

[Makaveli]

thanks russian you pretty posted what I was going to. Good luck finding 8GB's dimms for a good price!

 

[Castiel]

Which lanes are you talking about? PCIe is capped at 8x/8x or 16x for single GPU PCIe 2.0 just as it was on Socket 1155. In that case 1155 didn't provide any improvements (although PCIe 16x vs. 8x is a 2&#37; difference or so). Perhaps LGA 2011 will even have PCIe 3.0 spec.

Support for 32GBs of ram is pretty much marketing. With only 4 DIMMs, you'd need 8GB ram sticks to fill the board (and those will cost an arm and a leg when they are released). Even now outside of very specific applications (Photoshop), going beyond 4GBs of ram has no performance benefit.

The most important feature of P67 boards is by far the UEFI bios.

Russian,

Everywhere i look i see people saying SB pci express has double the bandwidth of lynnfield's lanes. Is that correct?