• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Tell me I made the right decision on my processor...

Beavermatic

Senior member
So i was stuck in a dillema..

my previous system was a Intel gaming mobo of some sort (sckt1155), intel i7 2600k (stock), 16GB of some sort of low latency ddr3 ram, and a Evga Geforce GTX580 SC with some platter-based 1TB western digital drives.


I was trying to determine to upgrade between either a socket 2011 Intel motherboard with a Intel 3930k 6-core socket 2011 processor, 32GB of RAM, a EVGA Geforce GTX680, and a OCZ Agility 3 SSD 240GB for my OS and main apps...

...or my other option was all of the same, but a 1155 ivy bridge intel motherboard, and intel 3770k ivy bridge processor on that same setup.


I thought at first i could justify the 2011 mobo and 3930k pricetag, but everyones telling me for gaming and everyday media (music, net, videos), thats kind of unnecessary and would provide little extra benefit at current time... that the 2011's are more for highend workstation environments and servers. That the 3770k ivy bridge would be just fine, and that i really wouldn't notice a difference anywho.

I run my games mainly at 1920x1080p on my 27inch sammy, or in 3D on my 56" passive LG 3D 1080p LED tv.

So Im leaning towards the recommendations of friends to just stick with the 3770k ivy bridge. Would that be the wise decision for now?
 
Last edited:
Wait,you had 2600K based system,you sold it and now you want to buy 3770K Ivy Bridge based system? You realize that performance difference between the two will fall in statistical error once both are OCed to their max?

On the other hand,buying 6 core SB-E can be justified if you would be using the system for production purposes (like 3D rendering ,image processing, multicore programing/development etc.) . For everyday usage ,you should have kept your sandy bridge 2600K... But it's too late now.
 
3770K is a side/downgrade. higher temps means less OC, and it offers next to no real performance gain. Also, dont get agility, only get vertex.
 
How dumb. There was nothing your "old" system couldn't play and there was no need to buy new stuff.

Your money, your bad decisions...
 
I generally do a year cycle on my machines... last year was the I7 2600k, this year is the i7 3-series i wanted to go with... just wasnt sure if i should stepup to the 3930k (and no, i do no workstation-based projects as mentioned), or just stick with the 3770k since my i7 2600k is already sold.

same with graphics card... although i remember for a few years i was stuck with the 8880gtx until nvidia fianlly decided to release the gtx280... then a nice yearly update ever since.
 
well, you are doing what I just did. I ditched my 2600K in hopes of finding better game performance. I bought a 3930K and FAILED. But, its all said and done now, so I will be happy with it. Besides, theres nothing better at the moment.
Since you ditched your 2600K, if it were me, I would go ahead with 3930K. At least that way you get an actual upgrade. You can always get fun and joy out of benchmarking, knowing you have the best, and you can FIND things to do with 6 cores and learn to harness the power of the bigger chip (I still haven't found anything, but doesn't mean you won't, lol).
The platform won't bottleneck big Kepler when it arrives. This is a plus for the 3930k and its PCI-e lanes. Microcenter has 3930K for $500. Thats only about $200 more than the other chips so it may be worth it to you to just go big.
 
Well I've got the gtx680 sitting here waiting on the rest of the system... but would the 3770k bottleneck it? I'm seeing no more than 1 or 2fps difference between 3770k and 3930k in benchmarks for games... some games even less for the 3930k at higher Res...
 
If you are on a one year upgrade cycle, I'd go with the 3770K and save the 200 for next years build, you can easily overclock it to 4.2 or 4.3ghz. Since you are still gathering parts Newegg has the Samsung 256GB 830 SSD on sale right now for $189.99-it is supposed to be in the top tier of SSD's
 
Last edited:
I don't think a 2011 system is worth upgrading to considering what you are using your system for. But like other people have posted it makes almost no sense to go from a Sandy Bridge system to Ivy. However Ivy is about 5-15% faster than Sandy making it an "upgrade." You won't have issues reaching 4.5-4.6Ghz with IVB on air and that should be equivalent to a 4.8Ghz Sandy Bridge CPU. This is not a recommendation to upgrade from your current system however as the performance gains would be negligible if barely noticeable at best. The Agility 3 is a good drive but make sure you flash to the lasted firmware version to avoid issues with the SandForce controller.
 
OP care to tell me when you maxed out that 16GB of RAM you had, and if as I suspect you actually didn't can you explain why you would need 32GB?

SB-E is a bastardized server socket, you don't mention a single thing that you do that would benefit from blowing money on a 2011 setup.
 
i dont think i ever did... just RAM isnt overly expensive anymore (for 4gb sticks anywho... and mobo will have 8 slots)... so i figure why not
 
I'm going to say you can't go wrong either way, although the Ivy Bridge 3770K is certainly the cheaper / better price and performance upgrade since you already own a Socket 1155 motherboard.

The Socket 2011 workstation / server socket has some great features, like quad channel memory, but the platform itself lasts 3-4 years and there won't be even a cpu upgrade until late 2013 from what I've read.

Since you seem to upgrade every year I don't think the workstation platform would be ideal.
 
From the wording on the first post, the 2600k rig is gone, we don't need to beat up on the poor guy for a less than wise move. Good hunting for your new parts!
 
I *probably* should have asked this before upgrading... I was kinda hoping to go to 6 core... didn't realize the only 6 core was for wotkstation / server boards as of current... its its insane price. And now I'm seeing benchmarks and reviews saying that the 6 core socket 2011 processors were not intended for gaming nor provide any performance gained over their 4 core sandy bridge and ivy bridge brethren.

I realize my mistake now... too little too late or I would have likely stuck with the 2600k. Seriously was hoping for mainstream 1155 6 cores though... but I guess maybe next year.
 
Well, there's no point in kicking yourself in the teeth at this point. Regardless of whether you're gaming, using it as a workstation, or using it as a server, the 2011 socket platform is intended for enthusiasts, so don't think it's not intended for gamers at all. It's just for pretty much every single game out there, the additional costs don't offset the performance gained over a 1155 system is all.

Either way, it's an insanely fast system, and one which I hope you thoroughly enjoy!
 
You should just add the 680 to your current 2600k system. You won't gain anything tangible for gaming by upgrading your CPU.
 
next upgrade ask before you decide.

in fact I would tell you don't buy the i7 3770k my opinion is buy a 2500k. yeah a downgrade
 
Back
Top