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Please help me pick out a CPU!

smirk

smirk

Member
Hey guys, due to a faulty motherboard I need to rebuild my home server. The existing CPU is a Core i3-540, but I see they don't make socket 1156 motherboards anymore so this is probably a good time to modernize a little and replace the CPU, too.

What's a good CPU to use these days? My original design goal with the i3 was to keep the power draw low but still have enough muscle to transcode video and possible run VMWare or Virtualbox. Well, I never used any virtualization but it processed video like a champ.

With the rebuild, I'm changing OSes and will likely end up virtualizing something along the way. The power draw should still be reasonably low. It needs integrated graphics but nothing fancy since it will only be used to configure the BIOS. And I'd like to stay with Intel.

I realize we're always chasing technology, but do you think I should wait for Haswell for the power savings and to stay ahead of the curve or just go with whatever is common right now?

Thanks for the advice, the last time I did CPU research was 2010 when I built the server. Looks like we've gone through a couple generations and socket changes already. 🙂
 
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Ok, cool. I think I'd be looking at an i3, then. Newegg has nine models, both Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge; both use socket 1155. For power savings, I guess we could eliminate the Sandy Bridge chips.

I'll hit the Intel documentation to compare processor features among the various i3 Ivy Bridge models, but if anyone has any thoughts on what features would be good to have or any gotchas to avoid I'd love to hear it.

Any thoughts on Ivy Bridge vs. Haswell?

Thanks!
 
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smirk said:
Ok, cool. I think I'd be looking at an i3, then. Newegg has nine models, both Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge; both use socket 1155. For power savings, I guess we could eliminate the Sandy Bridge chips.

I'll hit the Intel documentation to compare processor features among the various i3 Ivy Bridge, but if anyone has any thoughts on what features would be good to have or any gotchas to avoid I'd love to hear it.

Any thoughts on Ivy Bridge vs. Haswell?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Haswell is mostly designed for mobile, wont be a major advance on the desktop until/if software is available that uses the new instruction sets. Dual core haswell is quite far off.
 
smirk said:
I do live by a Microcenter. But why the i5 vs. the i3?
Click to expand...
MOAR COARS.

Actually very useful for encoding and virtualization. Intel's power management is very good, so idle power is almost identical between the duals and quads.

Doubling - or almost doubling - your encoding and VM performance for a few bucks more, and no additional operating costs, is generally what we call a "good deal."
 
An i5-3570K at Microcenter in store sale price is pretty much unbeatable in terms of sweet spot price/perf.
 
If you are near a MC then either the i3 3225 or the i5 3570k. Both of those will also give you a $40 off a motherboard when you buy together.
 
Yes. MC with i5 3570k and $40 off compatible motherboard. If you really want to save power, look into undervolting your CPU. Undervolting at stock clocks is somewhat its own movement these days, much like overclocking is.
 
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