LGA 1155 or LGA 2011?

Emission

Emission

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Gonna be looking to upgrade soon and I just want some opinions. Gonna do this quick run-down list style.

- I do a lot of multitasking, and I tend to do this multitasking while gaming too. I basically want something that won't slow down on me while I'm running a bunch of things, ever.
- I'd like it to be relatively future-proof.
- I have about $800 to spend on a new CPU, Mobo, and case.

It will be water-cooled with the loop I'm currently using, so overclocking will definitely be happening. I just need a run-down on whether it would be a good idea to go with the newer 22nm chips or the older 32nm chips, and if the LGA 2011 six cores are worth it at all. Thanks.
 
It comes down to what kind of multitasking you do.

A good rule of thumb is: If you don't know you need LGA2011, you probably don't need it.
 
For that amount of money, you won't be able to secure a new six-core 2011 and meet the rest of your goals - the 3930k is between 550-600 at its lowest price by itself.

At this point I'd actually wait on upgrading and seeing what happens. Socket 1155 is EOL'ed if I recall, as Haswell (mainstream) will be using Socket 1150. Socket 2011 in theory should at least get Ivy Bridge-E (but Haswell-E is another socket, so no matter what you do future-proofing isn't going to happen. There's an expiration date set on everything at this point), but to be honest I've been worried enough to keep me from upgrading. I was planning on going 2011 from my 1366 rig, but seeing at the sky-high prices of the platform, plus the use of older technology (ie still Sandy-based chips after all this time, if Ivy-E chips come out they'll likely be up against Haswell etc..) for those prices, the HUGE lag time leading to them being generally a whole generation behind the "mainstream" (unlike the socket 1366 days); complete with all the problems that entails (ie older controllers/issues on X79 based boards that had issues with SATA6 and PCI-E 3.0 that were remedied in Z77 boards launched beside Ivy Bridge etc.), I can't see it to be worthwhile, especially if money is still an issue.

Just on price alone, this is how it stacks up when last I checked
CPU - I personally don't see the point of going 2011 and not going 6-core, so you'll at least need the $550 3930K to secure that platform.
MoBo - Generally, X79 boards will be a little over $100+ than Z77 boards. Asus standard boards are in the 300s, (maybe Sabertooth too) or RoG boards are in the 400s.
RAM - Quad channel time, which is actually the cheapest offering. DDR3 is dirt cheap these days and I love it. A 16gb (4gb x 4) quad channel DDR3 1866 kit can be had under $100!

That, plus all the issues I noted above, make it not a worthy buy - at least, not for me. If you can afford to wait, I'd say see what happens in the wake of CES and what is coming down the pipe. Intel could have had a HUGE winner if they treated the 2011 platform like they did the 1366, but they decided to basically do everything opposite and make it late, expensive, problematic old technology.
 
Haswell does sound really nice, and is supposed to launch sometime this year.

I might just buy a 3770K setup for the time being and then upgrade to Broadwell when that comes out next year sometime, depending on when Haswell for desktops actually releases and what the prices look like.
 
Seems like the 1155 is more mainstream. Intel really needs to get on the ball and stick with one socket for a while. I don't mind upgrading my system every 5 or so years but it seems like Intel releases a new socket every time a new dye is released.
 
3570K or 3770K

Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI mid-upper to upper range MoBo

Corsair 400R or 500R
 
M3Roc said:
Seems like the 1155 is more mainstream. Intel really needs to get on the ball and stick with one socket for a while. I don't mind upgrading my system every 5 or so years but it seems like Intel releases a new socket every time a new dye is released.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with this. As more stuff (memory controller, PCIe lanes, etc.) get moved onto the die, maintaining compatibility gets a lot harder to do. Sandy-E, for instance, wouldn't be electrically compatible with 1366, since 1366 had the QPI link and the PCIe lanes on the northbridge, and 1366 didn't support the 4th channel of RAM.

Back in the day, it worked because you just had the FSB and you could add more stuff at the chipset level, but I think the days of a socket staying mainstream for 5+ years are behind us.

Just look at LGA 775. It launched with Pentium 4s, DDR memory, and AGP graphics cards, and stayed mainstream through Core 2 Quad, DDR3, and Crossfire/SLI PCIe.

But the compatibility is a mess. No way could you drop a Core 2 Quad into a 915 chipset board. The CPU would fit, sure, but even if it worked, the performance would be crap, and you'd be bottlenecked by ancient DDR memory speeds and outdated AGP graphics cards.

By the time you've gone more than 2-3 years on a socket, the rest of your system is so out of date that a CPU upgrade alone would be stupid.

Look at LGA1366. It came out in late 2008. Best GPU at the time was a Radeon HD 4870 or a Geforce 9800 GTX.

If your X58 mobo supported a Sandy Bridge E, what would be the point of dropping a $600 hexcore into a rig with a graphics card that gets trounced by a <$100, lower midrange graphics card of today? The i7-920 isn't holding the rig back.

I doubt anyone kept a single LGA 775 mobo throughout the many years of it being the only Intel socket. I bet most of us went through multiple rigs during that time period. I doubt anyone was running a C2Q in a 915 chipset board with a Geforce FX 5800 or Radeon 9700 Pro and a gig of DDR-400 in 2009.

I'm fairly confident that by the time my current 1155 CPU is not fast enough to handle current games, my DDR3-1600 and HD 6950 won't be able to either, and I'll go out and buy the latest mobo that supports PCI Express 3.0 and DDR4 so that I can hook my brand CPU to new RAM and a new GPU that won't bottleneck the crap out of it.
 
Socket 1155 is the mainstream socket for now. We don't hamstring our engineers by forcing them to stay with the same socket for more than a single tick tock cycle.

The best way to get the longest lifespan out of your computer to buy the best that you can afford at the time of purchase with a mind on what you will be doing now and in the future.
 
I upgraded to the 2011 platform a week or so ago and couldn't be happier.

3930k - $499 on Amazon
Asus Mobo - $300 (depends on model)
Ram: Around 115 for 32gb
Corsair h100i
+ additional/better fans
2x256gb Samsung 840 Pros (not RAID, 1 OS, 1 VM)
256gb Crucial m4 Storage Drive

I think around $1000 all said in done to upgrade (no drives)... uses same power as my old i7-9xxx setup so far it looks like but I have 2 more cores!

I run OSX virtualized in it with no issues, and multi-task, and love it.
 
If I could still find the 3930k for $500 or less it might be worthwhile but that's a no-go. Might change by the time I actually buy parts though, we'll see.
 
go for a quality 1155 system with 3770k . . . will surpass or or keep up with a 2011 system in most duty's plus you get a bit more on a updated technology
 
the_real_7 said:
go for a quality 1155 system with 3770k . . . will surpass or or keep up with a 2011 system in most duty's plus you get a bit more on a updated technology
Click to expand...

I checked AnandTech's CPU Benchmark charts and the 3770K keeps up with the 3930K by a good margin. I can imagine what a good overclock would do for the 3770K, it's a beast and a half. Thanks for the input guys.
 
2011 is for people that absolute KNOW they need it. Period. Or just want to have the best.

3930K will SMOKE a quad core in true multithreaded apps due to having 4 more threads at its command. But on an IPC measurement I think the 3770 might be a tad bit quicker due to less cache lag.
 
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tangoseal said:
2011 is for people that absolute KNOW they need it. Period. Or just want to have the best.

3930K will SMOKE a quad core in true multithreaded apps due to having 4 more threads at its command. But on an IPC measurement I think the 3770 might be a tad bit quicker due to less cache lag.
Click to expand...

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/551?vs=552

That comparison definitely doesn't show the 3770K getting smoked by the 3930K, not in any way.
 
The performance numbers just don't line up with the extra cost of the CPU + Motherboard. I can get the 3770K + Z77 Board for about $450, less than the price of just the 3930K. On top of that, in order to get the 3930K in the same neighborhood as far as overclocks, you're going to need an industrial freezer. Lastly, I hear people complaining about the heat of the X79 chipset and all of its minor problems.

The 3930K is no doubt a monster, but it bears drawbacks as well, mostly in the $$$ department.

Correct me if I'm wrong but that's how the picture looks to me.
 
For people that can actually leverage the use of the 6 cores, it is worth it. Since Intel's 3930k and 3960x are basically in a class of their own, they can charge a huge premium for them.

The X79 board has 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, while Z77 has 16. This makes X79 the preferred platform for multi-GPU setups.

X79 has quad-channel memory, meaning it can support up to 64gb of RAM for those who use lots of VMs and other stuff that requires lots of RAM. Z77 is limited to 32gb.

X79 has many advantages over Z77. However, the advantages are niche advantages, but it is worth it for those people in those niches.
 
That does sound like it would be worth it, it's just that the two price points are too far apart to justify the higher one.

I wont be running SLI or anything crazy, never really liked the idea considering its drawbacks.
 
Isn't the socket 1155 going to be face out soon for a new socket, I think, socket 1150?
 
AndreRio said:
Isn't the socket 1155 going to be face out soon for a new socket, I think, socket 1150?
Click to expand...

I think 1155 will be alive and available for some time after 1150 is released. Look at how many older socket mobos are still available today. When 1150 is released, I really doubt that all 1155 production is going to cease and all existing stock is going to be pulled from shelves the very same day that Haswell comes along. ;)
 
the 3930k is a beast, but like others have said unless you are going to be using the extra cores or other features provided by the chipset then the price point is not worth it.

High powered VMs and adobe after effects just love it.
 
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