Best price for performance 6-core option? LGA 2011 vs LGA 2011 v3?

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PcZac

Limp Gawd
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I know it'll probably be cheaper to build a computer around the i7-3930K instead of the newer i7-5820K, but the i7-5820K sells for $300 at Microcenter often, and I'm wondering at the price, is it worth it to go for the newer and more expensive build?
 
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Yep, technically, if you want the "cheapest" options, go with an LGA 1366 Xeon.

For newer setups, you left out the 4930k. I would go with that over the 3930k.

If you only need a low number of PCIe lanes, then you could go with the 5820k.
 
The Xeons tend to have a much lower clock speed and aren't much cheaper.

I guess I should have phrased this best price for performance 6-core.
 
I really wouldn't bother with X58 at this point, unless you're still running a C2D/C2Q setup, it's just too old and outdated.

28 PCIe lanes is fine if you don't plan on running more than 2 GPUs. Forget the 3930K, no reason to grab that when 4930K is around.

4930K still sells for close to its original price so I'll just break it down like this:

-If you foresee yourself running 3 or 4 way SLI/XFire in the future and don't want to pay the premium on 5930K+DDR4 right now, get the 4930K
-If you don't ever plan on running more than 2 way SLI/XFire, 5820K would be the cheapest choice
-If you care about m.2 at all grab the 5820K and forget 4930K even exists

For me it was a toss up between 5820K and 4930K, because while I don't really plan on running more than 2 way SLI, I did want to leave that door open. In the end I got the 4930K but only because I was able to get an amazing deal on a barely used 4930K from an established member here. Seriously after the ass-raping 9.25% CA sales tax the 5820K came out to be around the same as that used 4930K, and so for me it was a no-brainer.
 
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Running C2Q D: Q9450. Definitely need an upgrade, any of these processors should be 3 times as fast.

I was going to go with a mATX build anyway, I've always been a single GPU guy.
 
Then 5820K might be the best choice, unless you can find a good deal on a used 4930K chip.

EDIT: I guess I should add it depends on whether longevity is important to you and how long your upgrade cycle is. 1366 Xeon is the much cheaper option there's no dispute about that, however IMO it's already fairly aged and will pretty much be obsolete the moment you get your hands on it. If budget really is that important, what you could do is build an el cheapo 1366 Xeon setup, wait for DDR4 prices to drop, and for 5820K to get cheaper when Boradwell-E drops. 1366 Xeon is really a stop-gap solution at this point.
 
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How quickly are prices going to drop for a 2011 v3 build? Should it be $100 cheaper in 6 months?
 
The Crucial 2133 DDR4 kits aren't that much more expensive than DDR3, $205 for 2 x 8GB. DDR4 should get cheaper in the coming months but I'd wait for motherboards too.

Haven't looked too hard at the ASRock mATX X99 mobos but I haven't been too impressed with the EVGA X99 Micro. Rumor is Gigabyte has one coming out, not sure on MSI. Asus has said they don't currently have plans for one but will reconsider if there is demand.
 
I was sad that the EVGA X99 didn't really have many m.2 options, so that concerned me, hopefully there is some more options in that mATX motherboard space in the near future. Asus making a board that sized would hopefully push more features into the form factor and make the competition do the same.
 
Aibohphobia said:
You should chime in on my petition thread then: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1835457 :)

They've made very clear that there are no plans for a Rampage V Gene but money talks and if they see there is demand for it they'll reconsider.
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I dunno, I suspect much of the SFF market is moving towards mITX, anyways. Though the stupidly high price to get true 2x16 PCIe 3.0 lanes probably didn't hurt, as well. If you gave up on that, all of the other "advances" of LGA2011 platforms over their mainstream/mobile counterparts are likely meaningless, as well.

Leaving a smaller X99 market, and a much smaller mATX X99 market, as well.
 
You're right, I see the existing SFF crowd mostly going for Mini-ITX.

The Tech Report surveyed their readers recently and found that 75% did not have any expansion cards other than a sound card and video card and yet 72% had ATX mobos :rolleyes:

It seems people are loathe to give up the option to expand even though few actually utilize it. I suspect the greater variety of ATX motherboards and cases also plays a role too.

Mini-ITX is a tough sell because you're limited to a single PCIe slot and two RAM slots so I see lots of potential for mATX because it allows a reduction in size while still allowing enough expansion to satisfy the vast majority of users.

Manufacturers just need to step up and make more and better mATX mobos, cases, and SFX PSUs though.
 
n=1 said:
I really wouldn't bother with X58 at this point, unless you're still running a C2D/C2Q setup, it's just too old and outdated.
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I happen to have an old core 2 Duo 3.0 on an abit ip35 pro. p35. I just installed an r9 285 and it really brought it back to being able to play more modern stuff.

How much would a X58 motherboard help
 
bluesynk said:
I happen to have an old core 2 Duo 3.0 on an abit ip35 pro. p35. I just installed an r9 285 and it really brought it back to being able to play more modern stuff.

How much would a X58 motherboard help
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A C2D despite being good back in the day just won't cut the mustard especially with your 285. An X58 in 98% of cases would be a shit ton faster then your C2D at 3.0. Used X58 mobo's ain't as cheap as it was 2 years ago, after people discovered that cheap $100 drop in 6 core Xeon's make it a really worthwhile platform.
 
Aibohphobia said:
You're right, I see the existing SFF crowd mostly going for Mini-ITX.

The Tech Report surveyed their readers recently and found that 75% did not have any expansion cards other than a sound card and video card and yet 72% had ATX mobos :rolleyes:

It seems people are loathe to give up the option to expand even though few actually utilize it. I suspect the greater variety of ATX motherboards and cases also plays a role too.

Mini-ITX is a tough sell because you're limited to a single PCIe slot and two RAM slots so I see lots of potential for mATX because it allows a reduction in size while still allowing enough expansion to satisfy the vast majority of users.

Manufacturers just need to step up and make more and better mATX mobos, cases, and SFX PSUs though.
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I agree!

Very well said.
 
Aibohphobia said:
You're right, I see the existing SFF crowd mostly going for Mini-ITX.

The Tech Report surveyed their readers recently and found that 75% did not have any expansion cards other than a sound card and video card and yet 72% had ATX mobos :rolleyes:

It seems people are loathe to give up the option to expand even though few actually utilize it. I suspect the greater variety of ATX motherboards and cases also plays a role too.

Mini-ITX is a tough sell because you're limited to a single PCIe slot and two RAM slots so I see lots of potential for mATX because it allows a reduction in size while still allowing enough expansion to satisfy the vast majority of users.

Manufacturers just need to step up and make more and better mATX mobos, cases, and SFX PSUs though.
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This is a total dealbreaker for me personally. Also don't forget that thermal management will be that much harder with an mITX case, and pretty much the whole reason I would never build anything less than a mid-tower at the very least.
 
With DACs, better onboard audio, m.2 expandability, better onboard wifi, I really don't see the need for ATX motherboards. A lot of people could do everything they want with an ITX board these days (obviously the 2011 socket is too big for ITX though). Also with a modern Intel processor and a 900 series Nvidia GPU, the heat output is very low and you don't need monster cooling.
 
Err, last I checked Haswell ran like a blast furnace lol, so good cooling has become more essential than ever.

Yeah it's true that GM204 cut down on the heat, but don't forget flagship 250W cards will always get released. With an mITX case, I really can't see it using anything besides a reference blower if you want to keep it from becoming a hotbox.
 
Haswell isn't the worst, and all in one liquid coolers are a great option and more flexible than the tower coolers that came before them. All in one liquid coolers are pretty ITX friendly.
 
Careful with the AIOs, some of the WC purists will give you a few lectures on why they're an abomination beyond belief ;)

But yeah, I have a full tower and I still got an AIO because I don't like the idea of flexing my mobo with a big ass tower cooler, plus dumping 130+W of heat into the case and hoping the exhaust fans will be able to keep up just didn't sound attractive to me.

You still have to worry about GPU cooling though, but this where blowers can really shine as long as you can keep a good airflow.
 
I expect DDR4 will get cheaper, it's only a question of how quickly. Motherboards I don't know. But I don't expect the processor prices to change, but $300 at Microcenter for a 6 core processor is a great reoccurring deal.
 
PcZac said:
I expect DDR4 will get cheaper, it's only a question of how quickly. Motherboards I don't know. But I don't expect the processor prices to change, but $300 at Microcenter for a 6 core processor is a great reoccurring deal.
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Generally, motherboards really only drop by about $10 to $30 at most over their useful lifetime, if they drop at all. Just take a look at the Sabertooth X79 motherboard: it's still has the same ~$300 price tag in 2014 that it had when it was released in 2011.

So basically, your only real hope of a price break would be the RAM but that probably won't be until the release of Intel's Skylake platform in mid to late 2015.
 
Could there be more motherboards released in the future or some kind of refresh?
 
You /might/ see $50 price drop in the quad channel kits in a year but for everything else it won't be much of a change. The biggest will be the microcenter deal.
 
PcZac said:
Could there be more motherboards released in the future or some kind of refresh?
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If you're talking about X99, there probably will be a few new mobos here and there but for the mATX market, probably one or two. Note how there's really one X79 mATX motherboard available today and it's not even that good. From what I've been seeing with the X79 platform and some of the X99 platform, there's a reason why the Sabertooth X79 was my main X79 mobo recommendation despite its $300 price tag: Cheaper X79 mobos were just....cheap.

If you're talking about CPU refreshes, Broadwell-E (due out in Q3 2015) should work with X99 but Intel will more than likely do what they've been doing the past few years and release the Broadwell CPUs at the same price as their Haswell-E CPUs thereby forcing you to buy the newer CPUs. It'll take quite a long time for the Haswell-E CPUs to drop in price, if at all, and even then would only be a $10 to $20 discount.

So again, RAM pricing is really where you're going to save money with a X99 platform. And again, that probably won't happen to mid-2015 at the earliest.
 
On the subject of X79 mobos...

Currently running an X79-Deluxe and love this board so far. I honestly see this board as the poor man's version of the R4BE -- slightly less tweaking options in BIOS, 5K caps instead of 10K, slightly worse VRMs, no OC panel, only up to 3 way SLI/XFire.

But the build quality is still very good, and on the whole the components used are high quality and well above average. Unless you're a hardcore bencher or want to do 4 way SLI/XFire setup, I honestly think X79-Deluxe is much better value.
 
DDR4 isn't expensive. For example, the Crucial Ballistix Sport 4X4GB 2400MHz CL16 costs about 220USD, and it has 50GB/s bandwidth with ~60ns access time, pretty good compare to high speed DDR3 quad channel module. The DDR3 16GB quad channel modules would cost more than 160USD, so the price isn't that different. You pay a little premium to enjoy the latest technology. On the other hand, I don't think the DDR4 price will drop crazy in the next 12 months. Just look at DDR3 prices for the past year.
 
PcZac said:
I expect DDR4 will get cheaper, it's only a question of how quickly. Motherboards I don't know. But I don't expect the processor prices to change, but $300 at Microcenter for a 6 core processor is a great reoccurring deal.
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Agree. I never saw a X79 processor on sale. The only way to get it cheaper is eBay I guess.
 
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