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Shall I wait for Sandy Bridge?

L

Lambros

n00b
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
10
Hey everyone, so I want to build a gaming rig, and was considering putting in the i7-970, then there was the price. So, I would like to put in a 950 or 960, but the real thing bothering me is whether Sandy Bridge will be released soon. Also, is it worth the wait? I mean, the baseline CPUs could come out soon, but the higher end, which is what I'm looking for, might not be out until end of 2011 for all I know.

Essentially, I don't want to build a computer, then 2 months later new technology comes out. That would annoy me considerably. Is it worth waiting? Is sandy bridge architecture apart from the integrated GPU (which I won't even utilise) THAT good?

I also found this roadmap:

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/intel/sandybridge/preview/roadmap.png

This suggests that if I go for the i7-960 it could potentially be a high performer on the market for most of 2011. At the end of the day, I want a computer which will last me a solid 4 years, playing high-end games for the next 3 or so years. I will be going for the GTX 480. Once I have made a decision about the CPU I will try and post specs here to see what you think.

Thank you!
 
Don't bother with an I7-960, go with an I7 950 and overclock. Personally, I'd wait for Sandy Bridge and get an i5-2500k when those come out. If you don't want to upgrade your PC at all for three years, get a sandy bridge setup and a GTX 580 in a few months.
 
I wouldn't wait, just because it might be a year. And, what are you going to to at the end of 2011 when you see something else sweet coming down the line? Wait yet another year?
 
I would be willing to upgrade the graphics card but not the CPU. I guess the main question here is whether or not the CPU would last for 4 years with intense gaming right until the end of its use?
 
You could even go with an i7-920 and overclock that and you would be very happy with it. I picked one up for less than 200 and I am very happy with it.
 
LGA1366 came out in 2008 so it is definitely getting up there in age. On the otherhand, the replacement enthusiast socket for Sandy Bridge(lga 2011 right?) is not due until the second half of 2011. These are going to be the powerful chips and hopefully not saddled with integrated graphics and if you are considering a 950 now I am assuming these are what you would want.

So basically, if you want to get Sandy Bridge be prepared to wait a year. If you want a rig now, just get a 920 or 930 and oc it to 4ghz.
 
agree with most here,get the i7-920 for now and then after all the bugs are fixed(if any)with SB(rev and new steppings) then go SB.do not get the 950 or 960 stick with the 920/930's.but if you just want to spend a lot of money now then you could try the 32nm i7-970 6c/12t,and then wait til SB enthusiast platform comes out in a year or so.
 
R-Type said:
LGA1366 came out in 2008 so it is definitely getting up there in age.
Click to expand...

Question: What have Intel/ AMD put out in the consumer space since 2008 that is better? AMD still does dual channel/ 4 DIMM slot boards. Intel... the LGA1156 platforms? You could argue that an AMD board with USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0gbps is better for those features... but the X58 platform has tons of PCIe bandwidth to utilize so add-in cards take care of this very easily.

It is odd to say but the LGA1366 platform is like a Q4 2010 upgrade to things that were released in 2009/ Q1 2010... despite it actually being older.

I never keep platforms this long, but my first X58 machine is still running strong... just with Dual GTX 470's and SSDs :)
 
pjkenned said:
Question: What have Intel/ AMD put out in the consumer space since 2008 that is better? AMD still does dual channel/ 4 DIMM slot boards. Intel... the LGA1156 platforms? You could argue that an AMD board with USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0gbps is better for those features... but the X58 platform has tons of PCIe bandwidth to utilize so add-in cards take care of this very easily.

It is odd to say but the LGA1366 platform is like a Q4 2010 upgrade to things that were released in 2009/ Q1 2010... despite it actually being older.

I never keep platforms this long, but my first X58 machine is still running strong... just with Dual GTX 470's and SSDs :)
Click to expand...

Didn't mean to imply the platform wasn't capable, in fact the longer it continues its reign at the top the more regret I have for deciding over a year ago to wait until its successor came out to upgrade.
 
I'd wait. All indications are that Sandy Bridge is coming early in 2011, and it'll offer pretty significant inprovements over the current i5/i7s - up to 30% clock for clock according to some reports, while running cooler and overclocking higher (again reportedly up to 5 Ghz on air). So wait and see what happens in January.

What are you running now? How bad are you hurting for an upgrade - or is it a want to versus a need to?
 
Forceman said:
I'd wait. All indications are that Sandy Bridge is coming early in 2011, and it'll offer pretty significant inprovements over the current i5/i7s - up to 30% clock for clock according to some reports, while running cooler and overclocking higher (again reportedly up to 5 Ghz on air). So wait and see what happens in January.

What are you running now? How bad are you hurting for an upgrade - or is it a want to versus a need to?
Click to expand...

It seems you and I agree on both future and past hardware recommendations, I took you by .01v on the vcore though.:p

I personally can't wait for a 5ghz hex-core sandy bridge.
 
I have a Q6600 and I'm undoubtedly waiting for the sandy bridge to come out. What I have is good enough for now, and it's been three years at this point, I am excited that what I have is pretty good, and what the future offers looks great.
 
Go for an i7 now, you wont be sorry you did..with a moderate o/clock and an ssd hard drive you would be amazed at how fast these things are...its real world performance is so impressive...benchmarks are truly impressive..I like running the latest,fastest thing out but i can see this setup [ in sig ] lasting me at least 2 more years...its hard for me to believe that the next generation cpu is going to be so much faster that i have to have one over this rig...you will probubly have to see the difference in benchmarks but for games and real world useage these i7 systems rock....
 
If you aren't running SLI/crossfire, the answer is a 2500K. If you are, grab a 950 and be happy with it for 4 years (and/or upgrade to a 970 when they're cheap).
 
Definitely wait for sandy bridge. The 1155 chips coming out in January will be significantly faster than the quad core 1366 chips, and possibly better than the hexa cores. Even when 2011 comes out, the unlocked 1155s will still have a very long life.

As for SLI, just get a motherboard with the nforce chipset, which will allow for 16x16 pcie speeds.

Hold off on your build until January 9th (supposed SB public release date). Get a 2500/2600K series cpu, pair it with 2x 580 GTX, and you'll have the fastest rig on the market for at least 1 year until the 2011 chips come out. After that, it will still be very relevant.
 
Aren't the new SB CPU's coming out in early 2011 going to be non-friendly for overclockers? The i7 950 is looking real good to get since MicroCenter has it for $229.
 
xristos said:
Aren't the new SB CPU's coming out in early 2011 going to be non-friendly for overclockers? The i7 950 is looking real good to get since MicroCenter has it for $229.
Click to expand...

From what I understand, the 5ghz overclocked CPU is a 2600K, which will be out soon
 
What makes you think that every store will have cpus that will go up to 5Ghz and it is not a 'special' model given to the overclocker?

I'm not doubting about the oveclocking capabilities of SB but I'm a bit sceptical about how much they will clock
 
movdx said:
What makes you think that every store will have cpus that will go up to 5Ghz and it is not a 'special' model given to the overclocker?

I'm not doubting about the oveclocking capabilities of SB but I'm a bit sceptical about how much they will clock
Click to expand...

If one chip can hit 5ghz on air, its fair to say that the rest of them will be friendly to overclockers (whether or not that is the actual commonly achieved OC)
 
I think waiting is the right call - I'm waiting, too. I'm maxing out my core2 a lot these days (e7200 @ 3.4), and I have cash. It's a hard wait :)

I have a feeling I'll be heading to microcenter in the next couple of weeks and picking up a Q8300 to tide me over until spring.
 
movdx said:
What makes you think that every store will have cpus that will go up to 5Ghz and it is not a 'special' model given to the overclocker?

I'm not doubting about the oveclocking capabilities of SB but I'm a bit sceptical about how much they will clock
Click to expand...
Being 32nm I expect they'll clock (the K series anyway) at least as well as gulftown hex-cores. Gulftown isn't shabby and does better than bloomfield anyway.
Hitting 4 should be pretty easy and ≈4.5 should be fairly common, even on air. 32nm makes for good results.
 
considering you get to 3.8-4ghz on your overclock, there would not be 1 game out there, that you would be CPU bound by.

You could even get 3 480's in SLI and still not be CPU bottlenecked.

Sure Sandy Bridge will be faster, but you gotta remember GPU's are behind the CPU's...

but yea Sandy Bridge will be faster period.
 
I was wrong, It does bottleneck an I7 at 3.75ghz lol


Get this, our Core i7 965X processor is overclocked at default at 3750 MHz, and man .. it's just not enough to satisfy three GTX 480 cards most of the time. And that makes sense as it's just such a truckload of raw GPU horsepower. I mean that's 9 billion, yes nine BILLION transistors that need to be fed by the processor with some juicy data. The equivalent would be say roughly six GeForce GTX 285 cards. Severe CPU bottlenecks, we see it time after time in 3-way SLI setups.


http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-480-3way-sli-review/28
 
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DASHlT said:
I was wrong, It does bottleneck an I7 at 3.75ghz lol


Get this, our Core i7 965X processor is overclocked at default at 3750 MHz, and man .. it's just not enough to satisfy three GTX 480 cards most of the time. And that makes sense as it's just such a truckload of raw GPU horsepower. I mean that's 9 billion, yes nine BILLION transistors that need to be fed by the processor with some juicy data. The equivalent would be say roughly six GeForce GTX 285 cards. Severe CPU bottlenecks, we see it time after time in 3-way SLI setups.


http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-480-3way-sli-review/28
Click to expand...

It's kind of cool to have this "problem". As I was just getting back into PCs when the 8800GTX was king, I remember just about any old Core2 would be able to max out the card. It was a waste to buy any faster CPU. Nowadays, it seems like there's more parity between the top GPUs and CPUs.
 
I stayed up late at night thinking about this myself recently. I'd say, if you have a decent rig now and are in no hurry to upgrade, then wait it out and see how Sandy Bridge unfolds.

I recently put together a new i7 950 1366 build and couldn't be happier. Granted I went from an AMD 939 X2 and the difference is night and day.

I could have waited, but since my old hardware died (after five years of service), I wanted something now. In my opinion, the 1366 platform will still be a great option, even after Sandy Bridge's debut.

Like others have said, don't wait too long. There is always something newer, faster, cheaper, that will come out.
 
The thing is, is it worth it to wait for 1155 or 2011?

Ugh, the upgrade itch is so bad, that it's tough imagining a whole year for lga2011..
 
IMH(humble)O, waiting for sandy bridge is a simple choice based on one factor (for gamers).

If your system can run the games you play at acceptable framerates, wait for LGA2011. Not only will that give you more time to save up more money for better components, but prices will have dropped for 1366 considerably. If 1366 ends up at the highest bang/buck after the release of LGA2011, you're in a position to max out your graphics configuration with the extra cash you'll have.

While I am getting acceptable framerates (in BFBC2), I have decided to make some relatively inexpensive upgrades to make my wait for LGA2011 more enjoyable. I currently have an E8400 @ 3.8 and a GTX 260 @ 730 (on an EVGA 790i Ultra). I'm currently in the market for a 1000+ watt PSU (which will transplant into my new system) and another GTX 260 to hold me over until LGA2011. $350 worth of upgrades to extend the life of my system for a whole year! That makes the decision easy.
 
I have been waiting for over 2 years to build my new rig...I was ready to build a current I5/I7 system but with the new SB comin out, not to mention the release of the next high end video cards, I think waiting till Jan or even Feb will yield a really nice upgrade....

I mean, you can follow Moore's law, but at the end of the day, it's all about if are happy and content with the system you have...There is no way, I will wait almost a year for the predicted 2011 socket, but I can hang on a few more months to get the next set of bleeding edge hware...

The only sad thing is that i wonder how much we will have to pay for the next set of bleeding edge, i.e.-new mobo,cpu,videocard, etc. and will that setup really be that much faster then say a current I7 920 overclocked and a pair of 5870 2gig xfire or 480sli rigs?? Who knows....It sux that we [H] love this kind of stuff though and are willing to shell out the $$ for it
 
Island said:
I have been waiting for over 2 years to build my new rig...I was ready to build a current I5/I7 system but with the new SB comin out, not to mention the release of the next high end video cards, I think waiting till Jan or even Feb will yield a really nice upgrade....

I mean, you can follow Moore's law, but at the end of the day, it's all about if are happy and content with the system you have...There is no way, I will wait almost a year for the predicted 2011 socket, but I can hang on a few more months to get the next set of bleeding edge hware...

The only sad thing is that i wonder how much we will have to pay for the next set of bleeding edge, i.e.-new mobo,cpu,videocard, etc. and will that setup really be that much faster then say a current I7 920 overclocked and a pair of 5870 2gig xfire or 480sli rigs?? Who knows....It sux that we [H] love this kind of stuff though and are willing to shell out the $$ for it
Click to expand...

The silver lining is that when you have the itch to upgrade and socket "xxxx" is announced to be 1 year away, you can put a new CPU into your 1155 system and wait it out. A 1366 system will peak as soon as you get your maximum overclock.
 
I think you should base your purchase on utility rather than technology. Technology will always change.

Are there things that you need to be doing that your current machine is significantly limiting? If not, wait.
 
Intel's CEO said that the new chips coming out in January will offer amazing increase in performance. Don't know if he's full of (sh)it, or not. However, there's a big chance that if you buy now, you'll be sorry!
 
InternationalHat said:
I think you should base your purchase on utility rather than technology. Technology will always change.

Are there things that you need to be doing that your current machine is significantly limiting? If not, wait.
Click to expand...


+1


If there's nothing you do today pushing what you have, it makes sense to wait...at least just a few more months. I took my 775 rig from dual to quad the end of last year, and am still going just fine on a Q9550 @ 3.8 and 8GB DDR2 with a GTX285.
 
Forceman said:
Wait for LGA 1155, don't bother waiting for LGA 2011.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I have a hard time imagining LGA 1155 won't eclipse 1366 in everything but hex-cores immediately at launch.

I personally will be holding out for 2011 only because I know my system will continue to meet my needs for the next year but if I don't set a specific goal for it I will fall victim to the upgrade itch early.:D
 
My Phenom 9600 is holding back my Radeon 6870 pretty badly. I'm trying to hold out for LGA 1155 and Sandy Bridge but it gets tougher every day. I'm hoping for a December release as Cataclysm will no doubt test my little processor.
 
Forceman said:
Wait for LGA 1155, don't bother waiting for LGA 2011.
Click to expand...

I'm waiting for my next build, and I've waited this long, so I'm willing to put some good $ in it.

I got the q6600 at launch, so i've enjoyed OC'd quads for a while.

Is SB rumored to bring some powerful non-extreme hexa's in the LGA2011 launch?

If so, I am glad that I waited to get the Q6600 when it first launched, and I would wait again for the next great non-extreme hexa proc.
 
DASHlT said:
I was wrong, It does bottleneck an I7 at 3.75ghz lol


Get this, our Core i7 965X processor is overclocked at default at 3750 MHz, and man .. it's just not enough to satisfy three GTX 480 cards most of the time. And that makes sense as it's just such a truckload of raw GPU horsepower. I mean that's 9 billion, yes nine BILLION transistors that need to be fed by the processor with some juicy data. The equivalent would be say roughly six GeForce GTX 285 cards. Severe CPU bottlenecks, we see it time after time in 3-way SLI setups.


http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-480-3way-sli-review/28
Click to expand...

You're not wrong... This just isnt that easy of a question and people keep trying to make it easy. The entire thing is *resolution* bottlenecked.

Doing any sort of 3 way SLI testing without a 3 monitor setup is ridiculous. Crank the res to 5040x1050 and watch the GTX480s get a real workout. If you're playing at 1920x1200, whether you will get 120fps on a 4Ghz i7 today or 180fps at 5Ghz tomorrow is sort of a ridiculously synthetic point. Tri-SLI was never about enormous framerates for academic testing at low resolutions, it was for unlocking playability at massively high resolutions.

To the OP, to me this is a no-brainer. Building a new machine ground up now? Id certainly wait a bit longer to see if Sandy looks like its coming earlier in 011 rather than later.
 
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