Why not pay 1000 dollars for a CPU, yet we see TRI and QUAD SLI/XFIRE.

[tweakboy]

Sorta wondering about this. What I said in subject...

A tri is gonna cost about avg 1k depending on video card model.

Imagine 3x 680 GTX. that is 1500 dollars.

My question or wonder is, why do we never see anyone with the top of the line chip. The 1k chip the E chip. Sandy E or Ivy E ........ and do a single video card setup or no more then SLI... I think most Anand peepz are gamers.....thx gl

 

[Tuna-Fish]

Because people here are mostly gamers, and the E series CPUs are not any better at games. So spending $1k is just a waste of money.

 

[kowalabearhugs]

Probably the same reason you're still rocking a Q6600.... dolla, dolla bill ya'll.

Also, I don't know anyone with a tri/quad card setup.

 

[Denithor]

Because a $300 chip can be overclocked to perform exactly the same as that $1000 chip.

Leaving you $700 to put into your GPUs if you so desire.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Probably the same reason you're still rocking a Q6600.... dolla, dolla bill ya'll.

Also, I don't know anyone with a tri/quad card setup.

There's quite a few here.

 

[joshhedge]

Because CPU is no longer the real limiting factor in games anymore? Whereas playing at higher resolutions than 1080p with AA requires a lot more GPU brute force, which is provided by SLI and Crossfire.

 

[kowalabearhugs]

There's quite a few here.

Yes, on these forums, but they're still a small small minority. I was referring to people I know in the meatspace.

 

[Torn Mind]

Because they would grab a 3930K instead of the 3970X and get almost the same performance. Plus, the 3970X requires a third party cooler.

 

[BrightCandle]

The $1000 CPU likely doesn't run at high clock speeds than the cheaper more moderate one. In order to run Xfire/SLI well you sometimes benefit from having a CPU that is faster than anything you can buy. Once you are taking them out of spec with overclocking and watercooling etc its the quality of the silicon not how it was branded and packaged that determines its peak performance. Simply put there is no benefit to having that more expensive CPU.

Where there is value is in having additional cores where games need them, and in having CPUs that overclock well and easily.

 

[mango123]

I know a guy in real life that has one of those EVGA Classified boards, with dual high end 800 dollar cpus, and 64g ram, with 3 x 680s.

I always try to get him to play bf3 and arma with me.

He spends all his time playing Killin floor...
This game is built on an engine that is at least.. what, 6 - 8 yrs old????


He just recently told me he will be getting 2x 690s.


What... is... the... point....?

 

[kache]

I know a guy in real life that has one of those EVGA Classified boards, with dual high end 800 dollar cpus, and 64g ram, with 3 x 680s.

I always try to get him to play bf3 and arma with me.

He spends all his time playing Killin floor...
This game is built on an engine that is at least.. what, 6 - 8 yrs old????


He just recently told me he will be getting 2x 690s.


What... is... the... point....?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiFXAooGtgU

 

[taltamir]

Why not pay 1000 dollars for a CPU, yet we see TRI and QUAD SLI/XFIRE.

Everyone I ever saw with a tri or quad GPU was rocking a 1000$ CPU as well.

 

[Yuriman]

Real example from a few years back:

Pentium 4 3ghz: $300
Pentium 4 3.2ghz: $999

Take your pick. It's not like you're getting a different product like with video cards, the only difference between the two chips is the multiplier is set differently from the factory.

 

[Wall Street]

The 3960X loses 8 out of 10 discrete gaming tests in 3770k review.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I know a guy in real life that has one of those EVGA Classified boards, with dual high end 800 dollar cpus, and 64g ram, with 3 x 680s.

I always try to get him to play bf3 and arma with me.

He spends all his time playing Killin floor...
This game is built on an engine that is at least.. what, 6 - 8 yrs old????


He just recently told me he will be getting 2x 690s.


What... is... the... point....?

E-peen

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Because a $300 chip can be overclocked to perform exactly the same as that $1000 chip.

Leaving you $700 to put into your GPUs if you so desire.

no, a $300 chip can't perform exactly the same in the multitude of a higher end computing where more than 4core/8threads can be utilized, however the $500-600 3930K can effectively achieve that $1K performance

The 3960X loses 8 out of 10 discrete gaming tests in 3770k review.

yeah, because losing by margin of error when the 3770K has a 200-300MHz stock clockrate advantage is legit

ultimately, the 6 core CPUs are no slower for gaming, but the more modern engines that can properly wield the beefier CPUs start to show some actual tangible wins:

at any rate, anyone buying anything more than an i5 K series CPU when their most CPU intensive task is merely gaming is going to see extremely diminishing returns

heck, my primary computer is a 3930K, however my portable gaming computer is an i5 3570K

 

[jhu]

Sorta wondering about this. What I said in subject...

A tri is gonna cost about avg 1k depending on video card model.

Imagine 3x 680 GTX. that is 1500 dollars.

My question or wonder is, why do we never see anyone with the top of the line chip. The 1k chip the E chip. Sandy E or Ivy E ........ and do a single video card setup or no more then SLI... I think most Anand peepz are gamers.....thx gl

What are you talking about? I have a 4-socket Xeon in my room (4x Xeon E5-4650). I use it to check my email and use Facebook.

 

[Obsoleet]

Probably the same reason you're still rocking a Q6600.... dolla, dolla bill ya'll.

Yup. Same reason when I have the money, that I'm using a Q9450.. it works exceptionally well. I'll upgrade when it breaks.

 

[taltamir]

What are you talking about? I have a 4-socket Xeon in my room (4x Xeon E5-4650). I use it to check my email and use Facebook.

I had a friend who did that
His was a 4 socket opteron though... used primarily for youtube surfing

 

[Torn Mind]

What are you talking about? I have a 4-socket Xeon in my room (4x Xeon E5-4650). I use it to check my email and use Facebook.

I take it that you have a 6 or 7 figure salary or equivalent.

 

[SPBHM]

buying a 3960X over a 3930K makes no sense, the difference is minimal, while the price... goes from 1k to 570...

but even the 3930k is a rare choice for gamers, and it's easy to undestand why, the extra $300 you pay over a 3570k will hardly make any difference in terms of gaming performance, since games normally use up to 4 cores only, and the performance of 4 cores being used in each CPU is about the same...

while buying more GPUs will give you a clear gain, even if scaling is not amazing, and you need to play with some ultra high res, is more than you will see between a 2500k/3570k and a 3930k (or 3960X).

 

[taltamir]

I take it that you have a 6 or 7 figure salary or equivalent.

You can do that on a modest wage if you prioritize spending on your PC.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I take it that you have a 6 or 7 figure salary or equivalent.

I don't think he's serious....I hope

 

[kache]

You can do that on a modest wage if you prioritize spending on your PC.

Or you can buy the old platform for cheap when someone upgrades.

 

[BrightCandle]

Buying a second, third and even forth GPU brings dramatically more performance gain than a high end CPU does.