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Is Sandy Bridge/Bulldozer worth waiting for???
- Thread starter han_solo
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I have a Q6600 and have been holding off until Sandy Bridge. But "why not wait until Ivy Bridge?" I'm now thinking. I know one can always ask "why don't I just wait until the next release?" but I find it's usually a good thing to adopt new tech. after revisions etc. when one can have some "hindsight" on the market.
Though I'm fine with doing this as the Q6600 isn't causing me any real problems. If someone's CPU is causing noticable limitations, then I'm certainly not recommending waiting another year.
Though I'm fine with doing this as the Q6600 isn't causing me any real problems. If someone's CPU is causing noticable limitations, then I'm certainly not recommending waiting another year.
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You really are pushing that combo there...
Again im going to agree, that being said dont dismisss the Gigabyte G31M-ES2L, I have that board in one of my machines, it gets my Q6600 to 3.1GHz and right now its running a E2140@3GHz, it even runs the [email protected], an outstanding 100% overclock.
Edit: Entered speed wrong
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Soldato
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That is your opinion, but my take on it is that upgrading the CPU to a core 2 quad core is a cheap and simple upgrade to extend the life of the OP's system.
The G31 is certainly not the best chipset for overclocking quad cores, but there is plenty of evidence that that specific gigabyte board can take the Q6600 chip up to at least 3GHz ( a 25% clockspeed boost) - more than enough to run modern games well.
As for the cheap AM2+ board and Athlon II X4 - it is another good option. But I wouldn't say that it eclipses the Q6600. As shown in this comparison the two chips (at stock clockspeeds) perform very similarly, with the Q6600 tending to perform better in games. If the OP is able to aquire a Q9550 for around £80 then the performance would be even better - and on-par with a Phenom II X4 955 (which is generally regarded as an excellent gaming chip).
Admittedly, the s775 upgrade option does not offer the ability to upgrade to new CPUs or use the current CPU in upcoming motherboards. However, it can be argued that the Q9550 is as fast as AMD current top-line Quad cores, and the benefits of upgrading to DDR3 RAM in an AMD board and placing an AM3 CPU in a AM3+ board are rather limited.
If the OP were to get a Q6600 in the new board then it will play games just as well as a Athlon II X4 upgrade, cost less and involve less hassle. The AMD option however would give the OP brand-new, full-warranty parts and slightly better upgrade prospects. If the OP finds these features worth the extra money and effort then it is a good choice for them.
However, if the OP can secure a Q9550 for around the price he would pay for a Q6600 (£80), then he would pay less than the AMD system costs and the performance would signifiantly better than a AMD Athlon II X4. In this case I would strongly suggest he goes for the Q9550 if available and the price is right.
Soldato
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Plus AMD Athlon II x4 630 only has 2MB L2 cache whereas Q6600 has 8MB L2. So in this regard, Q6600 will be quicker
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Update from my mate. Says he will let me have the Q9550 for £100. Good deal? For another £70 he'll let me have his Asus Striker II Extreme mobo.
Is that mobo any good?
Good deal guys or...? or shall i sell all my stuff and go for a medium budget AMD rig instead? (intels are a bit pricey for me...i know you get what you pay for but still...)
Is that mobo any good?
Good deal guys or...? or shall i sell all my stuff and go for a medium budget AMD rig instead? (intels are a bit pricey for me...i know you get what you pay for but still...)
Soldato
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£100 is a pretty good deal for a Q9550. You could buy a AMD Athlon X4 system for similar money, but it won't be as fast as a stock Q9550 unless it is heavily overclocked.
As for the motherboard - I would pass it up. You want to keep the costs down or you may as well go for all new tech. Anyway - the Striker is a 780i chipset, which is pretty poor compared to the P35, P45 and X48 intel chipsets.
As for the motherboard - I would pass it up. You want to keep the costs down or you may as well go for all new tech. Anyway - the Striker is a 780i chipset, which is pretty poor compared to the P35, P45 and X48 intel chipsets.
its not bad price but its still dieing tech and you'll need some old style ddr3 ram (which runs on high volts) for that board which will set you back quite a lot if you wanna be smart buy just the q9550 sell it on as they go for about £140 on the bay buy a second hand i7 for that and a cheap i7 board and cheap i7 ram as i've just picked up a 1366 board for £65 and ram for £80 and CPU for £145 and seeing as the 1366 platform wont be replaced till half way through next year and will still be a damn good chip even when the next tech is out and will hold its price the same way q6600 have for years just my 2 cents
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Soldato
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OP from the 4th post that you posted about mainly watching HD movies and playing games, I would suggest getting Q9550. Although it is a generation old tech but still a very powerful cpu and for £100 it is still a very good bargain. On ebay the cpu seems to be selling for atleast £145+. Also try haggling your friend into giving you the cpu for £90 if you can
.It would be better for you to wait for sandybridge/bulldozer until some time has passed and technology has matured and you have better idea of where things stand price/performance wise. Afaik sandybridge will be coming in two sockets, LGA 1155 & LGA 2011 with the latter being high end.
So during this time period, the Q9550 will be giving you very nice performance and if you then decide to upgrade to Sandybridge/Bulldozer, then you can sell Q9550 as it will still be in demand as many people won't be upgrading immediately to the newer tech.
Ofcourse this is all my opinion and in the end it's up to you to see which way you wanna go
. I recently bought my 2nd hand Q6600 G0 for £80 from Ocuk member market and I intend to use the cpu for atleast 4 years.Just to put my two pence worth in i am waiting for sb and bd to be released before upgrading as i believe they will both be bringing new and worthwhile stuff to the table. Normally if i followed my normal upgrade path this year would have been mobo,cpu and memory upgrade time but kowing whats coming out i have put it off as i couldn't shake the feeling i would spend £500ish and regret it when i saw what that would buy me later. Unlike normal where there are always those who say wait because something better is always round the corner this time it's true and makes sense to wait and see what we can get the other plus point is if it isn't that good then the price on current kit will drop and we get more for our cash anyway .
.OP from the 4th post that you posted about mainly watching HD movies and playing games, I would suggest getting Q9550. Although it is a generation old tech but still a very powerful cpu and for £100 it is still a very good bargain. On ebay the cpu seems to be selling for atleast £145+. Also try haggling your friend into giving you the cpu for £90 if you can
It would be better for you to wait for sandybridge/bulldozer until some time has passed and technology has matured and you have better idea of where things stand price/performance wise. Afaik sandybridge will be coming in two sockets, LGA 1155 & LGA 2011 with the latter being high end.
So during this time period, the Q9550 will be giving you very nice performance and if you then decide to upgrade to Sandybridge/Bulldozer, then you can sell Q9550 as it will still be in demand as many people won't be upgrading immediately to the newer tech.
Ofcourse this is all my opinion and in the end it's up to you to see which way you wanna go
Good advice there, much appreciated
Just to put my two pence worth in i am waiting for sb and bd to be released before upgrading as i believe they will both be bringing new and worthwhile stuff to the table. Normally if i followed my normal upgrade path this year would have been mobo,cpu and memory upgrade time but kowing whats coming out i have put it off as i couldn't shake the feeling i would spend £500ish and regret it when i saw what that would buy me later. Unlike normal where there are always those who say wait because something better is always round the corner this time it's true and makes sense to wait and see what we can get the other plus point is if it isn't that good then the price on current kit will drop and we get more for our cash anyway
A post like that makes me want to wait
I've since read up some more on SB/BD... and they sound like some serious improvements over the way how current cpus are designed... also 32nm will be the defacto standard and i can't help but salivate over how cool those temps will be even when overclocked! argggggggggggghhhh...
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I know mate does your head in when you have the cash burning a hole in your pocket and knowing now is perhaps not the best time to spend it. I have got over that a little by buying a new case and the stuff for that for me to mod it how i want though i doubt it's to a level the modding guys on here would even class it as modding but will make me happy lol.
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wow cant wait to do a pre order for my the new 2011, when is the release date???
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According to Bit-Tech you're looking at January for Sandy Bridge socket 1155 to be released, it will basically phase out 1156 after some time, 6 months to a year. but it will not compete with the i7 brigade and i doubt it will bring any price drops in that sector.
You're looking at This time next year for socket 2011/
You're looking at This time next year for socket 2011/
you see, if 1155 comes early and if 2011 takes another year to be released, this would be a superb window of opportunity for AMD to seriously improve their fortunes by releasing BD probably just afer 1155's release!
If the 1155 socket is designed for the mass market and performance wise will be below that of the i7 range then people may be wondering why they should upgrade... maybe for reduced power and heat gains? (dunno).
BD could seriously kick a lot of ass until SB gets released.. bit like what we saw with the Radeon 5xxx series and nV was nowhere to be seen
Competition is good for us consumers!!
If the 1155 socket is designed for the mass market and performance wise will be below that of the i7 range then people may be wondering why they should upgrade... maybe for reduced power and heat gains? (dunno).
BD could seriously kick a lot of ass until SB gets released.. bit like what we saw with the Radeon 5xxx series and nV was nowhere to be seen
Competition is good for us consumers!!
Soldato
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I think Sandybridge lga 1155 vs 2011 could be a divisive factor for many people.
Just grab the Q9550, that mobo will be fine for up to 3 and maybe even 3.2-3.4ghz if you're lucky which paired with 4890 is plenty even for modern games.
If not then if you looked well second hand, you could grab a nice AM3 780/790/880 mobo for around 40quid, nice set of DDR for ¬60 and then you could grab either a cheap athlon x3 for 40-55, x4 for 50-65 or phenom II for around 90-110 (lower price used, higher one is for new or depending on the model).
Even the X3 which can be had new for just over 50quid will OC to 3.4-3.7ghz and be a massive upgrade from your current CPU + provide you with enough power to tide you over for the next year or so untill SB/BD comes out ( or probably longer if you'd like to keep it, you'll probably be able to pick up an x6 for under 100 by that time which will oc to ¬4ghz and last long years to come as well if you decide to pass on SB/BD ).
So yeh, if you sell your current CPU/mobo/RAM, the move over to AM3 should be possible for nearly same price or maybe cheaper than just paying for the Q9550.
Q9550 will be a bit faster than athlon x3 or x4 but u'll get better mobo with possibilty to upgrade and OC higher and more better features.
If not then if you looked well second hand, you could grab a nice AM3 780/790/880 mobo for around 40quid, nice set of DDR for ¬60 and then you could grab either a cheap athlon x3 for 40-55, x4 for 50-65 or phenom II for around 90-110 (lower price used, higher one is for new or depending on the model).
Even the X3 which can be had new for just over 50quid will OC to 3.4-3.7ghz and be a massive upgrade from your current CPU + provide you with enough power to tide you over for the next year or so untill SB/BD comes out ( or probably longer if you'd like to keep it, you'll probably be able to pick up an x6 for under 100 by that time which will oc to ¬4ghz and last long years to come as well if you decide to pass on SB/BD ).
So yeh, if you sell your current CPU/mobo/RAM, the move over to AM3 should be possible for nearly same price or maybe cheaper than just paying for the Q9550.
Q9550 will be a bit faster than athlon x3 or x4 but u'll get better mobo with possibilty to upgrade and OC higher and more better features.
I'd hang tight mate. I'm waiting for SB, but only so I can get a cheap ix cpu when they start flooding MM Unless of course SB turns out to be amazing and not too dear It's killing me though as I do find myself cpu limited even with a [email protected]!
Unless of course SB turns out to be amazing and not too dear It's killing me though as I do find myself cpu limited even with a [email protected]!