Should I go with Haswell or Ivy Bridge for my next gaming build?

[kiph]

Right now, my build is the following which I built years back and is getting long in the tooth:

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955
RAM: 4GB
GPU: Powercolor AMD Radeon 5770 2GB
HDD: 500GB HD

My planned new build is the following:

CPU: Intel Core i5 4670K
RAM: 8GB
GPU: Gigabyte nVidia Geforce GTX 670 2GB
SSD: Samsung 250GB SSD
HDD: 500GB HD

However, I've been reading on various websites that Haswell chips aren't good for desktop gaming at all, they're only good for mobile PCs. So what I'm wondiering is, should I still go with Haswell, or should I "downgrade" in a sense to an Ivy Bridge CPU instead? And why?

 

[2timer]

Haswell is actually slightly faster than IVB, but not by a large margin. I'd pick Haswell simply because of the newer motherboards and chipets. Yet if budget is a concern, you would spend less going IVB.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Isn't that Phenom an AM3 socket? If so, wouldn't you be better served getting a higher end FX chip on the AMD platform, and avoid buying a new motherboard?

 

[kiph]

Isn't that Phenom an AM3 socket? If so, wouldn't you be better served getting a higher end FX chip on the AMD platform, and avoid buying a new motherboard?

Not sure. Don't Intel CPUs give much better gaming performance than AMD 8-core CPUs though? That was my main reason for choosing Intel this time.

 

[RaistlinZ]

I'd go Haswell as long as Newegg is offering the $80.00 CPU/Mobo discount bundle.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I am the wrong person to ask about gaming performance, but I was really impressed with the FX8350 from what I saw. Check out this thread for some info: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/356983-28-8350-good-gaming Of course, this is all contingent on your board handling the FX chip and possibly a ram upgrade, but for under $200 you seem to be talking about a chip that holds its own with the i5 in gaming, outperforms it by a large margin in some tasks that utilize multiple cores, and you save the cost of a new MB.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

However, I've been reading on various websites that Haswell chips aren't good for desktop gaming at all, they're only good for mobile PCs. So what I'm wondiering is, should I still go with Haswell, or should I "downgrade" in a sense to an Ivy Bridge CPU instead? And why?

They're probably saying it's not fast enough over Ivy to upgrade from Ivy to Haswell. However from a Phenom II, even Sandy was a worthy upgrade and Haswell is a much better chip and platform than Sandy Bridge.

AMD is too far behind in gaming, specifically when you start looking at online games, min fps, and perf/w.

Think of it this way, my Haswell i5 @ 4.8GHz uses less power than a stock 8350, and the performance isn't even comparable.

AMD's platform doesn't support PCIe 3.0, if you plan to keep your system for a few years and GPU's continue to nearly double up each generation... Well I think you can see where this is going.

Even in threaded applications the 8350 doesn't walk away, in fact more often than not you'll see the Haswell i5 is still faster in most of these workloads.


http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/06/12/intel-core-i5-4670k-haswell-cpu-review/1

 

[bononos]

......
However, I've been reading on various websites that Haswell chips aren't good for desktop gaming at all, they're only good for mobile PCs. So what I'm wondiering is, should I still go with Haswell, or should I "downgrade" in a sense to an Ivy Bridge CPU instead? And why?

Haswell's are good as for gaming or whatever you want to do with it, just not good for overclocking and the jump in performance for a new microarchitecture isn't impressive compared to the previous generation.

 

[Bateluer]

AMD is too far behind in gaming, specifically when you start looking at online games, min fps, and perf/w.

Think of it this way, my Haswell i5 @ 4.8GHz uses less power than a stock 8350, and the performance isn't even comparable.
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Thats true right now. but with the AMD platform becoming the reference model for gaming for the next decade, it'll change. For the moment, even an IVB i3 can outpace AMD's best in some tests. Its kinda sad.


That said, I'd still go with Haswell over IVB myself. It is faster than IVB, and the newer motherboards support newer technologies, and possibly could take a Broadwell chip with a bios update.

 

[Redoitall]

Hawell. And as far as overclocking a 4770 k at 4.7 ghz is like an ivy at 5.1 ghz . Mos people that say haswell is not good for gaming are those who don't have it. I can tell you I have both and for flight simulator my 4770 k is running way better than Ivy .great chip all around if I delidd I wll get to 5ghz rt now I'm at 4.8 w out it

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

If you're building now, it doesn't make much sense to go with IvyBridge, unlike when IvyBridge first came out (due to only ~3% IPC improvement coupled with thermal problems compared to SandyBridge).

The caveat is that you're comparing a new IVB setup. If you can score some IVB (or even SB) gear for a good price on CL / FSFT / whathaveyou, then go for it.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Not sure. Don't Intel CPUs give much better gaming performance than AMD 8-core CPUs though? That was my main reason for choosing Intel this time.

Overall haswell is faster in most games and 8350 only comes close in a few recent highly multi-threaded games. If building from scratch, I would definitely go Intel.

However, if your current mb will handle the 8350, it would be a good choice if you want to save some money.

 

[nyker96]

I would personally get Haswell if choosing bet. the two. new motherboard, and the if you doing moderate OC, say below 4,5ghz, haswell is still alright. but if you going for 5+ prob ivy but considering the ips improvements, 4,5 haswell problably close to a 4,8-4,9 ivy.

in short I'd go for haswell if buying new.

 

[kiph]

Well I've been looking at some benchmarks comparing AMD FX 8350 and the ivy bridges, and the difference between them is worlds apart. Its not like its only a couple of frames diff, theres roughly 30 FPS difference between the two in almost every game tested.

So yeah, i think ill definitely go with intel this time. Sure, i gotta fork out roughly an extra 200 bucks for the new mobo + cpu, but i think in the long run ill be better off and happier with the performance. Anyways, thx for the feed back guys

 

[Rio Rebel]

Clearly I was right.

I AM the wrong person to ask about gaming performance. Good luck.

 

[beginner99]

However, if your current mb will handle the 8350, it would be a good choice if you want to save some money.

Or get a faster GPU with the saved money and hence higher FPS.

Depending on what games and what resolution OP has, even the phenom could still be good enough.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Haswell. It will also work better in the future due to 256bit paths and AVX2/FMA. Besides being those 10% faster than IB, offer better platform, better power savings etc.

 

[OGOC]

I'd get the cheaper one. Unless it's only like 10 bucks cheaper or something.

 

[Remobz]

I would go with Haswell. Newer technology.