Which CPU (not an upgrade)

[jmachin]

I'm building a new PC from scratch, but there's so much information to sift through regarding the new Haswell CPU's that I'm pretty much back where I started. I've got 4 choices of processor to buy (all k versions):

Ivy bridge i5 for £150
Haswell i5 for £180
Ivy bridge i7 for £280
haswell i7 for £270

I see a lot of people saying they're not going to upgrade from sandy/ivy to haswell because of the 4770k lacking certain features e.t.c., but what about someone who's not upgrading? Is it stupid to buy a generation-old processor?

I feel like I should get an i7 for if future games start using more than 4 cores (I'm a student and wont be able to upgrade for at least 2 years minimum).

 

[sm625]

I'm not sure I would even buy a K version. It is quite possible that in 2 years we may find enough TSX optimizations that the non-K chips with TSX enabled might actually outperform the K versions overclocked.

 

[jmachin]

I'm not sure I would even buy a K version. It is quite possible that in 2 years we may find enough TSX optimizations that the non-K chips with TSX enabled might actually outperform the K versions overclocked.

Hmm... do the ivy bridge i7's have TSX enabled?

 

[LagunaX]

Few games currently use more than 4 cores.
All of the above are quad cores, some with hyperthreading.
True, 1155 is a dead socket with no future processors like the new 1150 socket.

6 core socket 2011 is still quite expensive.

If you feel that you need more than 4 threads, get Haswell i7, as the price is actually cheaper as listed above than an Ivy i7.

Or, you could get the i5 Haswell for now, ans sell it in the future/swap out for an i7.

 

[jmachin]

Few games currently use more than 4 cores.
All of the above are quad cores, some with hyperthreading.
True, 1155 is a dead socket with no future processors like the new 1150 socket.

6 core socket 2011 is still quite expensive.

If you feel that you need more than 4 threads, get Haswell i7, as the price is actually cheaper as listed above than an Ivy i7.

Or, you could get the i5 Haswell for now, ans sell it in the future/swap out for an i7.

I think I might go for the i5 haswell then yeah, and sell it if I need an upgrade. Will future i7's use the same socket?

 

[smakme7757]

I think I might go for the i5 haswell then yeah, and sell it if I need an upgrade. Will future i7's use the same socket?

That's the wrong type of question. It should be, will there be further processors available as an i7 on 1150 and the answer is most likely yes, i suppose.

But it's doubtful that it will be worth the upgrade price if you can't get a good amount for the i5 you buy today.

 

[jmachin]

That's the wrong type of question. It should be, will there be further processors available as an i7 on 1150 and the answer is most likely yes, i suppose.

But it's doubtful that it will be worth the upgrade price if you can't get a good amount for the i5 you buy today.

I'm hoping that if I buy an i5 I won't have to upgrade, I'm just thinking about the worst case scenario. I think I'll be able to find a use for the i5 if I can't sell it anyway though.

 

[smakme7757]

I'm hoping that if I buy an i5 I won't have to upgrade, I'm just thinking about the worst case scenario. I think I'll be able to find a use for the i5 if I can't sell it anyway though.

The i7 will give you Hyper threading and usually a bit more cache.

In my opinion moving within the same product range to an i7 from an i5 isn't worth the money. If you think you might have need of HT and some extra cache you might as well buy it now.

if not, then i5 all the way!

 

[Cerb]

If you're not upgrading, your choice will be limited to whatmotherboard or CPU(s) you have on hand, or by what happens to be available, so... I don't really get the question.

 

[jmachin]

If you're not upgrading, your choice will be limited to whatmotherboard or CPU(s) you have on hand, or by what happens to be available, so... I don't really get the question.

I could probably upgrade if I sold the i5, or I might be able to stretch to find £250 or so for a new CPU at some point, but ideally I don't want to.

 

[jmachin]

Is the Haswell i7 more powerful than the ivy bridge i7? Does the ivy bridge has something the haswell doesn't? I'm really confused.

 

[smakme7757]

Definitely buy Haswell, it's the latest release from Intel.

Ivy Bridge was the previous generation. The difference between the two isn't the much, but when buying new you should try to stay current unless you have a reason not too.

In all honesty, for someone like yourself that doesn't use a PC for much more than gaming and office work the i5 will be fine. You won't be missing out on anything, rather put the money you save from not buying an i7 towards a better GPU.

 

[jmachin]

Definitely buy Haswell, it's the latest release from Intel.

Ivy Bridge was the previous generation. The difference between the two isn't the much, but when buying new you should try to stay current unless you have a reason not too.

In all honesty, for someone like yourself that doesn't use a PC for much more than gaming and office work the i5 will be fine. You won't be missing out on anything, rather put the money you save from not buying an i7 towards a better GPU.

Ok I think I'll go with the i5 then
If only there were 4GB 770's ;(