Is this a good time for an upgrade?

[Zoom123]

Hello,

I am thinking to upgrade my CPU / Motherboard / Memory (probably i5 2500K + Z68) and I was wondering if this is the right time, or if newer CPUs or significant price drops are expected any time soon (by "soon" I mean until the end of this year or even January).

Thanks

 

[RussianSensation]

AMD is supposed to release its Bulldozer CPU on socket AM3+ in the coming month. It may launch this or next week with retail availability in October.

Intel does not plan any price cuts until next year.

You can wait to see how well BD performs since it's so close to launch date. But you really can't go wrong with a 2500k either way. It's a great CPU.

 

[superccs]

^- that. Things should get interesting with AMD's new cpu launch, as well as intel's response. There is also Black friday coming up, so Fry's might be throwing down some door busting cpu/mobo combo deals.

I was able to get a x6 1055t and MSI board from a Fry's combo for $200 around this time when it came out around this time last year.

 

[Kingbee13]

2500K is a good choice, but Ivy Bridge is scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2012. guestimates are about 10% boost in performance for the same cost. Second thing to consider IB also brings new chipsets with native usb3 etc, if you don't upgrade very often (3 years between builds or more) it might be better to wait. But like the others said at least wait a few weeks (days?) to see what BD really brings to the table.

 

[trollolo]

to see what BD really brings to the table.

Spoiler

more cores

 

[RussianSensation]

2500K is a good choice, but Ivy Bridge is scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2012. guestimates are about 10% boost in performance for the same cost. Second thing to consider IB also brings new chipsets with native usb3 etc, if you don't upgrade very often (3 years between builds or more) it might be better to wait. But like the others said at least wait a few weeks (days?) to see what BD really brings to the table.

It's end of Q1 2012. So Late March-April. It's still September. That's 6 months wait, at least. Honestly, right now is the best time to upgrade. When IVB launches next spring, it'll be about 1.5 years away from Haswell, the real worthwhile upgrade from SB. Also, native USB 3.0 support doesn't do much since current controllers work well (esp. on Asrock boards). IVB is mostly about reduced power consumption, likely better overclocking, slightly higher IPC and much better GPU performance. But it won't suddenly make a 4.5ghz 2500k seem slow -- that's what Haswell is for. Personally, I time my upgrades on Tocks. In the last 5 years, I find that Intel's Tick's are uneventful upgrades, with minor IPC differences (if any) and small power consumption improvements.

 

[gmaster456]

I would wait to see what Bulldozer offers, and depending on how it performs, I'd either get that or Sandy Bridge. If you wait any longer you'll never end up buying anything with SB-E, Ivy Bridge, Bulldozer Revision, Haswell etc. You'll be waiting a long time. Granted, the latter isn't set to release until 2013.

 

[Zoom123]

Thanks.

I guess I will make my research about what motherboard I should get for the 2500K while waiting for Bulldozer. If the first reviews of Bulldozer are promising then I might wait a bit more and have a look at that option. Otherwise I will be ready to buy the i5.

What are the chances that intel will drop the prices of their i5 CPUs after the Bulldozer goes on sale?

 

[greenhawk]

What are the chances that intel will drop the prices of their i5 CPUs after the Bulldozer goes on sale?

current guess - low.

for a quick price drop, the following needs to happen.

a) bulldozer needs to be faster
b) bulldozer needs to be present/available in numbers
c) bulldozer needs to be priced lower than intel's offerings.

at best, intel might do a price change about a month after bulldozer's release, but the above things would still need to be valid.

Any price change by intel from now to chrismas I suspect will only be a few dollars and so not have any noticable price effect to a complete system by itself.

 

[happy medium]

Hello,

I am thinking to upgrade my CPU / Motherboard / Memory (probably i5 2500K + Z68) and I was wondering if this is the right time, or if newer CPUs or significant price drops are expected any time soon (by "soon" I mean until the end of this year or even January).

Thanks

It depends on what you have now?
If you have a decent quad core system I would wait for Ivybridge or the Bulldozer refresh with the new cpu socket/motherboards mid next year.

If you have a dual core cpu I would upgrade now.

 

[vrait]

Wait till next month, buying now would be stupid.