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i7-960 vs i7-2600k

Maghop

Maghop

Maghop

Associate
Joined
9 Sep 2011
Posts
7
Greetings dear Overclockers community! This is my first post here, and I'm pretty computer illiterate, hence why I am here! So please be gentle :)

Here is the deal, I've currently ordered a X58 chip with the i7-960 prosessor, Its arriving together with all the other parts this week in the mail.

But it has come to my notice that everyone says that the 'next generation' processors from intel, which are using so called sandy bridge archstructure is vastly superior.

What I'm wondering if its worth it to return the i7-960 with the motherboard and order a i7-2600k instead. It would cost me more so I don't really want to, unless the difference is noticable. My main concern is to run BF3 as smooth as possible. And to do that I have ordered a GTX 580 graphics card aswell.

TL;DR is the difference between i7-960 and i7-2600k so huge that i should waste time and money on changing it?

Of course the answer I want to hear is that the difference ain't that big, and that I should just stick with the 960, because I'd like to get my gaming rig together as fast as possible. Especially seeing as the beta to battlefield 3 is right around the corner.

So dear overclockers, what do you think?
 
there is very little difference between the 960 and the i7 2600, for your requirements you'll be fine sticking with what you have ordered main difference is arguably the i7 2600k has a little bit more overclocking headroom (can be clocked in excess of 4.5 gHz whereas the 960 will most likely only be clockable to approx 200-300 mHz below a typical i7 2600k overclock). Regardless with a GTX 580 either set up will be more than sufficient to play games for quite some time on a single monitor at a respectable resolution. To overclock either chip you shall most likely need some after market air or water cooling heatsink
 
Caracus2k said:
there is very little difference between the 960 and the i7 2600, for your requirements you'll be fine sticking with what you have ordered main difference is arguably the i7 2600k has a little bit more overclocking headroom (can be clocked in excess of 4.5 gHz whereas the 960 will most likely only be clockable to approx 200-300 mHz below a typical i7 2600k overclock). Regardless with a GTX 580 either set up will be more than sufficient to play games for quite some time on a single monitor at a respectable resolution. To overclock either chip you shall most likely need some after market air or water cooling heatsink
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer! That sounds very good :) I have a cooler ordered with, and I've never overclocked before in my entire life, and chances are low that I will be doing it untill I actually have to, to improve my performance (tip on overclocking is welcome, how to get started etc.) I'm indeed playing on a single monitor :)

The cooler i've ordered is a Antec Kuhler H2O 620 CPU Cooler.

<3
 
Buying into X58 now is definitely a bad idea. Dead end socket and not as fast as Sandy Bridge (unless you opt for a 6 core CPU but they cost a LOT of money and are not cost efficient for the vast majority of users).

If you don't want to spend more on getting an i7-2600K (which actually is barely any more than the i7-960 and you could probably get a cheaper motherboard), just get an i5-2500k. A lot cheaper than the i7-960 and would actually be faster in 99% of games.
 
DragonQ said:
Buying into X58 now is definitely a bad idea. Dead end socket and not as fast as Sandy Bridge (unless you opt for a 6 core CPU but they cost a LOT of money and are not cost efficient for the vast majority of users).

If you don't want to spend more on getting an i7-2600K (which actually is barely any more than the i7-960 and you could probably get a cheaper motherboard), just get an i5-2500k. A lot cheaper than the i7-960 and would actually be faster in 99% of games.
Click to expand...

Yep, thats how I've understood it, thing here is that it's already ordered and payed for, seeing as I'm very unexpirienced in the very technical aspect of computer parts. So basically its more about the time lost and extra hassle of returning it and getting a new one, questions is if this hassle is worth it. If we're talking about such a slight change that i'll barely notice it, i'll live through it, and rather upgrade my CPU at a later point if it proves necesarry.
 
How will I notice the difference in say, the gameplay of battlefield 3 between the different CPU's? Will it be noticable at all? Loading times? FPS ? Answer to that would be greatly appreciated as I'm proper clueless at the moment about what a CPU even does for the game.

Thanks a lot for answers so far btw, helping me and learning me a lot :)
 
DragonQ said:
Buying into X58 now is definitely a bad idea. Dead end socket and not as fast as Sandy Bridge (unless you opt for a 6 core CPU but they cost a LOT of money and are not cost efficient for the vast majority of users).

If you don't want to spend more on getting an i7-2600K (which actually is barely any more than the i7-960 and you could probably get a cheaper motherboard), just get an i5-2500k. A lot cheaper than the i7-960 and would actually be faster in 99% of games.
Click to expand...

The difference in performance would be marginal at best. If the poster had been asking for a gaming spec having not purchased any hardware the advice would be to get a 2500k and a decent motherboard (assuming that the chip would be overclocked). As he has already bought the hardware its all down to whether they want the hassle of returning everything under DSR and re ordering new stuff minus whatever it will cost in postage. Without knowing what the poster paid for its current setup its hard to tell but I'm guessing he would not be much better off money wise if he did swap over to a Sandybridge setup. Personally I have never managed to but a new CPU that did not require a whole new motherboard so the whole 'its a dead end socket' argument seems a bit mute. Later this year 'Sandybridge-E' LGA2011 comes out and next year there will be a whole new set of motherboards with PCI-E 3 sockets for the new 22nm Ivybridge chips and so your current 'future proof' lga 1156 will seem anything but in the terms you imply(i am aware that some boards are coming out soon that claim to be PCI-E 3 compatible).

Bottom line an overclocked Sandybridge I5/I7 chip is marginally quicker at the same clock speed as a 1366 I7 and will generally overclock a little higher.

There is however very little to tell the chips apart in running almost all games and the GPU is far more important when comparing performance with these chips. Do the maths and work out if it is worth the hassle returning/ cancelling stuff currently ordered and changing to a Sandybridge setup. If you do be sure to buy a motherboard with either the p67 or z68 chipset so you can overclock your 2500k/2600k and buy at least 4gb of decent ram or preferably 8gb as its so cheap at the moment.
 
Maghop said:
How will I notice the difference in say, the gameplay of battlefield 3 between the different CPU's? Will it be noticable at all? Loading times? FPS ? Answer to that would be greatly appreciated as I'm proper clueless at the moment about what a CPU even does for the game.

Thanks a lot for answers so far btw, helping me and learning me a lot :)
Click to expand...

With both chips decently overclocked you would notice no difference. The might be a couple of frames per second difference if you were running benchmarking software.
 
The difference in performance would be marginal at best. If the poster had been asking for a gaming spec having not purchased any hardware the advice would be to get a 2500k and a decent motherboard (assuming that the chip would be overclocked). As he has already bought the hardware its all down to whether they want the hassle of returning everything under DSR and re ordering new stuff minus whatever it will cost in postage. Without knowing what the poster paid for its current setup its hard to tell but I'm guessing he would not be much better off money wise if he did swap over to a Sandybridge setup. Personally I have never managed to but a new CPU that did not require a whole new motherboard so the whole 'its a dead end socket' argument seems a bit mute. Later this year 'Sandybridge-E' LGA2011 comes out and next year there will be a whole new set of motherboards with PCI-E 3 sockets for the new 22nm Ivybridge chips and so your current 'future proof' lga 1156 will seem anything but in the terms you imply(i am aware that some boards are coming out soon that claim to be PCI-E 3 compatible).

Bottom line an overclocked Sandybridge I5/I7 chip is marginally quicker at the same clock speed as a 1366 I7 and will generally overclock a little higher.

There is however very little to tell the chips apart in running almost all games and the GPU is far more important when comparing performance with these chips. Do the maths and work out if it is worth the hassle returning/ cancelling stuff currently ordered and changing to a Sandybridge setup. If you do be sure to buy a motherboard with either the p67 or z68 chipset so you can overclock your 2500k/2600k and buy at least 4gb of decent ram or preferably 8gb as its so cheap at the moment.
Click to expand...
With both chips decently overclocked you would notice no difference. The might be a couple of frames per second difference if you were running benchmarking software.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for quick answers, I feel a lot more informed now as to the differences, and I doubt i'll return it when looking at it this way. Hopefully i'll be able to handle battlefield 3/skyrim/diablo3 nicely, especially seeing i got a pretty nice graphics card (which i might buy another one for SLI setup later on)

Anyway, if you were curious here is the complete set up. I'm aware its possible to change towards the better, but its the first time I ever 'build' a PC myself (getting help from a colleague) and I've always been used to buying ****** packages from local electrical stores. Feel free to come with any input though.

Cab: Cooler Master HAF X Big Tower
Psu: Corsair TX V2 850W PSU
Cpu: Intel Core i7-960 Processor
Mb: ASUS SABERTOOTH X58, Socket-1366
Cooler:Antec Kuhler H2O 620 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 6GB CL9
Gpu: Gainward GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhysX
SSD: Corsair SSD Force Series F115, 115GB /w frame
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
 
Maghop said:
Thanks a lot for quick answers, I feel a lot more informed now as to the differences, and I doubt i'll return it when looking at it this way. Hopefully i'll be able to handle battlefield 3/skyrim/diablo3 nicely, especially seeing i got a pretty nice graphics card (which i might buy another one for SLI setup later on)

Anyway, if you were curious here is the complete set up. I'm aware its possible to change towards the better, but its the first time I ever 'build' a PC myself (getting help from a colleague) and I've always been used to buying ****** packages from local electrical stores. Feel free to come with any input though.

Cab: Cooler Master HAF X Big Tower
Psu: Corsair TX V2 850W PSU
Cpu: Intel Core i7-960 Processor
Mb: ASUS SABERTOOTH X58, Socket-1366
Cooler:Antec Kuhler H2O 620 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 1333MHz 6GB CL9
Gpu: Gainward GeForce GTX 580 1536MB PhysX
SSD: Corsair SSD Force Series F115, 115GB /w frame
HD: Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
Click to expand...

Although I'm sure someone will point out that it does not make much difference if you are considering an SLI setup than a 1366 board may be better as it offers more PCI-E lanes. Have no doubt overall the Sandybridge setup is superior to a 1366/Nehalem setup (for gaming) but not by much (to the point that if you already have a 1366 setup the advice is generally to stick with it for know), The spec you have stated will play all current and near future games fine, changing to a Sandybridge setup would offer very little in the way of further 'future proofing'
 
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Caracus2k said:
Although I'm sure someone will point out that it does not make much difference if you are considering an SLI setup than a 1366 board may be better as it offers more PCI-E lanes. Have no doubt overall the Sandybridge setup is superior to a 1366/Nehalem setup (for gaming) but not by much (to the point that if you already have a 1366 setup the advice is generally to stick with it for know), The spec you have stated will play all current and near future games fine, changing to a Sandybridge setup would over very little in the way of further 'future proofing'
Click to expand...

Alright :) that sounds good :) thanks a lot for the help thus far guys, going to bed now, and feel much more enlightened then when I woke up this morning! Looking forward to getting the PC and putting it together with the help of a colleague this week!

Again, thanks for the help and have a very good night to all of you :)
 
Keeping your current setup, although less hassle now will really bother you in the long run.

As far as I've read so far Ivy Bridge (next gen intel chips) will run on the same socket as Sandy.

I'd personally send it back, get more / faster ram, an i5 2500k and future proof yourself against having to buy a new mobo / cpu / ram when you feel like upgrading.
 
Having recently owned an i7 950, 2500K and 2600K, I can honnesty say there is little noticeable difference between the three of them.

If I was building a new system now I would definately save money and use a 2500K, but it is not really worth changing from an i7 950/960 to one.
 
I have a 950 at home, use a 920 and 2600k at work - I can concur that I notice virtually no difference between them 99% of the time. Only difference I've noticed is with certain 3D renders: lots of ray traced shadows on fur is much faster on the 2600k for some reason.

For BF3 I'd say the GPU is going to be far more important than the difference between those processors.
 
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