Deciding Between Sandy and Ivy Bridge

T

tonspike

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 24, 2008
Messages
255
Hey guys, I've been holding out for Ivy Bridge for over a year now and my system really needs to stretch its legs with a new mobo/proc/ram upgrade.

I almost exclusively game--would you recommend me spend double on a Z77/Ivy combo or go for the cheaper option with Z68/Sandy? I care about performance, but spending double to eke out a marginal amount does not interest me.

Would you say the added benefits of the Z77 platform along with Ivy is still the way to go? Or grab a great Microcenter deal for Z68/Sandy right now?
 
How are you spending double on z77/sandy? currently new prices on a 2600/2700 and 3770 are similar, z77 boards can be had for low $100s too.

I'd go for IB buying new.
 
I say just get a SB because it will be cheaper when the IB comes out. I'm pretty sure there won't be that much a difference in performance.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
How are you spending double on z77/sandy? currently new prices on a 2600/2700 and 3770 are similar, z77 boards can be had for low $100s too.

I'd go for IB buying new.
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ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $120
2500k through Microcenter - $180
= $300 before tax

as opposed to:

3570k - $225
Asus Z77 Sabertooth - $240
= $465

I wouldn't want to spend a lot on Sandybridge but conversely would want to spend a bit more on Ivy in order for it to last that much longer.
 
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Worst case scenario I've seen is about a 15% price premium for the Z77 equipped MoBo vs the same Z68 equipped MoBo.

IB will be around the same price as SB.

Expect $10-50 more for an equivalent Z77 + IB vs Z68 + SB.

That being said, save up the little extra money required and get the newer chipset and CPU.

You're comparing an ASRock board to an Asus Sabertooth? Of course the ST is going to cost more, it's far and away a much better MoBo. And your cost example is more in the neighborhood of 50% more cost, not 100% more, and that has everything to do with the selection of that particular Z77 MoBo.
 
tonspike said:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $120
2500k through Microcenter - $180
= $300 before tax

as opposed to:

3570k - $225
Asus Z77 Sabertooth - $240
= $465

I wouldn't want to spend a lot on Sandybridge but conversely would want to spend a bit more on Ivy in order for it to last that much longer.
Click to expand...

you're comparing a top of the line Z77 board to an Asrock Z68 board :S
 
DejaWiz said:
Worst case scenario I've seen is about a 15% price premium for the Z77 equipped MoBo vs the same Z68 equipped MoBo.

IB will be around the same price as SB.

Expect $10-50 more for an equivalent Z77 + IB vs Z68 + SB.

That being said, save up the little extra money required and get the newer chipset and CPU.

You're comparing an ASRock board to an Asus Sabertooth? Of course the ST is going to cost more, it's far and away a much better MoBo. And your cost example is more in the neighborhood of 50% more cost, not 100% more, and that has everything to do with the selection of that particular Z77 MoBo.
Click to expand...

You're right, my math was totally off. :mad:

Regardless, like I said earlier I'd rather spend more on Ivy and go all out rather than do the same with a Sandy build that would offer me no reason to do so.
 
I think the new Z77 motherboards are worth the small premium over Z68 especially for someone who may not upgrade again for many years. The real issue is whether to go Z77/SB or Z77/IB and that just cannot be answered definitely at this time.
Personally I think the new IB chip features are worth having even IF (as suggested by early leaks) we see a slight loss of performance in the highly OC air cooled segment that most of us operate within. Good news for you is that MC advertised bundles are good through the end of the month and you should have your answer by next week when IB is fully reviewed.
 
tonspike said:
but spending double to eke out a marginal amount does not interest me.[/b]
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That says everything right there. Go Sandy Bridge/Z68, in most CPU minds the IB was a dud where most of the performance earned was from the added GPU units. If you mainly game then you'll have no real need to care about what Intel is doing on the GPU front and even with that said it isn't too incredibly faster than SB to justify an upgrade, allow it does offer some big performance gains to say the least in that department.

I think most Sandy Bridge owners past, present, and considering purchasing one in the future will tell you that they are relieved IB wasn't as game changing as SB was and that they can rest easier having made the purchase and not kick themselves when IB came out.
 
Prav said:
I think the new Z77 motherboards are worth the small premium over Z68 especially for someone who may not upgrade again for many years. The real issue is whether to go Z77/SB or Z77/IB and that just cannot be answered definitely at this time.
Personally I think the new IB chip features are worth having even IF (as suggested by early leaks) we see a slight loss of performance in the highly OC air cooled segment that most of us operate within. Good news for you is that MC advertised bundles are good through the end of the month and you should have your answer by next week when IB is fully reviewed.
Click to expand...


Werd.

I'd much rather buy the newer Z77 even if I was using a 2500K. Especially the *check own sig* Z77 Sabertooth. :D
 
Liger88 said:
That says everything right there. Go Sandy Bridge/Z68, in most CPU minds the IB was a dud where most of the performance earned was from the added GPU units. If you mainly game then you'll have no real need to care about what Intel is doing on the GPU front and even with that said it isn't too incredibly faster than SB to justify an upgrade, allow it does offer some big performance gains to say the least in that department.

I think most Sandy Bridge owners past, present, and considering purchasing one in the future will tell you that they are relieved IB wasn't as game changing as SB was and that they can rest easier having made the purchase and not kick themselves when IB came out.
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Dud...huh??? Who are these "CPU minds" you speak of? lol.

I never understood this mentality. Give me huge game changers and performance boosts every launch or let's stagnate technology because I want to justify my purchase? Umm no. :confused:
 
If you are looking to save money, ASRock has some well reviewed Z77 boards for cheap, $170 for the Extreme 6 and $140 for the Extreme 4. Supposedly these boards do not have the cheap Eltron USB controllers that caused people a lot of grief on the Z68 platform either.

I'm going Z77/IB because I don't upgrade often (see my sig), and at the end of the day I feel more comfortable buying something newer for about the same price, and Z77 does bring some new features to the table. As long as I can hit a moderate overclock on air I am happy.
 
If you can find a good deal for the sandy chips, the updated features on Ivy won't be that important. I found the Microcenter 2600k deal - payed $293(with taxes) for cpu and mobo. Equivalent Ivy cpu alone costs more than that so to me, a $150 savings (which I spent for my M4 ssd) outweighs the ~10-15% increase in performance the newer chips may have.
 
Microcenter combo deal is your best bang for buck, and will give you all the performance you ever need for the next few years. There will be Microcenter deals on Ivy Bridge, but that probably won't come for a few months.

i5 2500k for $180 with $50 discount on any z68 motherboard can't be beat. The MSI Z68A-GD65 G3 is a well reviewed board, better than that ASRock, and about the same price (I think).
 
snoops said:
Dud...huh??? Who are these "CPU minds" you speak of? lol.

I never understood this mentality. Give me huge game changers and performance boosts every launch or let's stagnate technology because I want to justify my purchase? Umm no. :confused:
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Referring to IB not being as big of a game changer as some originally thought or were hoping for. Most people already knew what to expect based off the details, but it's clear the GPU part is the biggest gains at least from what we've seen. Who knows until retail benchmarks are available though since most test thus far weren't anything that would make anyone jump from SB > IB unless they just had the money to blow for a minor increase on the CPU side, or the GPU function is more important (ie. laptops, netbooks). It would make sense if you wanted some of the benefits that IB includes (USB 3.0 native support, etc.).

All depends on what the actual retail prices will be though and how much more it is over SB, especially since we know how far you can go with SB and IB so far has been questionable with power/heat issue in preview tests. Bottom line is you can't go wrong with SB, IB you might have to justify based off what its price is.
 
The only things IB gives you over SB is PCI-E 3.0, better iGPU, and ability to drive 3 screens with said iGPU.

USB 3.0 and everything else is dependent on the chipset and motherboard. Get a Sandy Bridge with Z77 and you have native USB 3.0.
 
At most Ivy will probably only be 10-15% faster than Sandy at stock speeds.

I too was debating on waiting, I chose Sandy and a "future proof" Z77 as it is a well known CPU and overclocker. Just because Ivy is the next thing doesn't mean it will be the next "best" thing. My personal feeling with Ivy is Intel's focus was the iGPU, not the CPU/overclocking aspects.
 
tonspike said:
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $120
2500k through Microcenter - $180
= $300 before tax

as opposed to:

3570k - $225
Asus Z77 Sabertooth - $240
= $465

I wouldn't want to spend a lot on Sandybridge but conversely would want to spend a bit more on Ivy in order for it to last that much longer.
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I like odd combo's so here's my 2 penny's

h61 + ivy bridge
biostar h61 - $49
3570k - $225

z68 + ivy
z68ma-g45 - $89
3570k - $225

z75 + ivy (if you don't need ssd but want oc'ing)

or, and yes i know someone with this setup
z77 + Pentium G860

sounds silly, but bang for the buck it's quite good while waiting on ivy to get sorted
 
bahh so hard to wait

i have EVERY single part sitting in my living room including the 2600k from the $200 MC deal unopened... i still have a week to return the SB if i choose to hold out for IB...

the temptations

oh, i forgot to mention that i went with the asus maximus gene v
 
Don't return the 2600k, give someone else the chance to snag a 2600k for cheap ;)
 
kdu said:
bahh so hard to wait

i have EVERY single part sitting in my living room including the 2600k from the $200 MC deal unopened... i still have a week to return the SB if i choose to hold out for IB...

the temptations

oh, i forgot to mention that i went with the asus maximus gene v
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This.

I know I'm at least going to wait until the 23rd since the NDA for IB is supposedly being lifted that day. It's been tough not building though lol. All the parts just sitting there next to my desk....damn you NDA.
 
kdu said:
bahh so hard to wait

i have EVERY single part sitting in my living room including the 2600k from the $200 MC deal unopened... i still have a week to return the SB if i choose to hold out for IB...
Click to expand...

You two (quoted & previous posters) should have come up with some sort of reason to do a socket 2011 build. Then you could have built your systems yesterday and not worried about Ivy Bridge. On that note, I need to update my sig. I built a new system yesterday :p (socket 1155 was not involved)
 
I'm going Ivy bridge been selling stuff on ebay to pay for it though.....need a new motherboard might go with the Sabertooth.
 
Sure seems like a lot of people in this thread went for the Z77 Sabertooth, what are your opinions on it? Is the motherboard cooling/dust guard thing useful? I am going IB 3770K and still havent decided on a Z77 board yet, im thinking sabertooth hence my curiosity.
 
From what I've seen so far IB performance doesn't look that much different from SB.
 
I picked up a MSI Z77A-GD65. Now I just need to decide between 3570K or 3770K.
 
go with the Z77 im still on x58 and im finding it hard to pull the trigger myself, go the "future proof" route for sure.
 
reapergato said:
go with the Z77 im still on x58 and im finding it hard to pull the trigger myself, go the "future proof" route for sure.
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Not sure how "future proof" it is given that Haswell will be on a completely different socket. IB is the end of the line for 1155 regardless of chipset unless I missed something.
 
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