Is the 3930K really worth £200 more than the 3820?

[ChileanLlama]

I doubt it will last 4 years without you cleaning them

The physical drives will last you that long, but you'll need to clean them probably every 12 months or so.

Imagine your OS and Apps take 40GB, leaving you 200GB for temp files. In an extreme example imagine you totally filled that 200GB with new files every day. You'd quickly see performance drop, and need to clean the drives so all the previously written cells were back to their virgin state.

 

[stone_cold_Jimi]

In answer to the original question, it depends what you want from your CPU. I have a 3930k, I'm very happy with it and at this point I would probably have been equally happy with the 3820. However, I'm satisfied that I have some "future proofing" in the medium term, and that I will benefit if I install VM on the box. More cores = more options.

If you had asked "Is the 3960X worth ~£400 more than the 3630k", then the answer is rather easier. No

 

[andybird123]

Please show me where I've used the words 'poor value' in regard to the 3930K. If you can't I'd appreciate it if you remove those quotation marks from your post.

My only point of discussion has always been whether the 3930K is worth the extra £200 to most people looking to upgrade to 2011. I've never claimed nor implied the 3930K is a poor value CPU.

You're just playing semantics.
You've stated that you don't think that the 3930k is "worth" £200 more than a 3820. Does that not imply that you think the 3820 is "better value".

Fine but that's a fault with that model of mobo not a general indication of OCing on a budget board. The Asrock X79 Extreme 4 board is cheaper than the UD3 and doesn't suffer from the same issue it seems so your original point about the 3820 not overclocking on cheap boards isn't true.

The extreme 4 also doesn't have as many full sized PCIe slots, USB ports or SATA ports - so I've traded a feature I don't use for loads more expansion possibilities

the extreme4 is also not cheaper - at best it is the same price (unless you are talking about the Extreme4-M micro ATX version but that has even less ports etc.)

More cores doesn't mean better SLi performance. Here's a benchmark from an SLI'd system using an 4 core i5 against a 6 core Phenom and whilst the Phenom wins the encoding type tasks, the gaming based marks are all taken by the smaller cored i5.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/109?vs=203

erm... are you seriously going to compare a phenom against an i5 to try to win an argument about 3820 to 3930K... really?

Personally I don't like underestimating the need for a good mobo. I remember the guy who got me into building PCs telling me "You can upgrade anything in your PC except the motherboard"

I see the motherboard as the main part of the PC, the chassis of the car if you like. There's no point attaching a big engine to poor chassis.

I can easily upgrade my CPU to a 3930K, 3960X or IB-E failry easily, with only a re-install of Windows needed. You would need to completely rebuild your PC if you upgraded your mobo. That's why I personally always pay that bit extra for the Mobo, I can upgrade the CPU later if I need to but you're stuck with your mobo.

my mobo is only missing 1 feature that yours has - which is BCLK overclocking... I too can upgrade to IB-E easily if I need to, so I don't get what your point is, you've been forced to buy a more expensive mobo because you've skimped on the CPU, I've gotten a good value motherboard and have a faster processor as an end result

you also don't need to re-install windows for a CPU change

and I can swap out a motherboard in about 30 minutes anyway - that would require a reinstall of windows but due to the nature of my work I need to do that fairly regularly anyway


I'm failing to see what point if any you are trying to make in any of this.

Your OP seemed to ask the question "is the 3930k worth £200 more", people have stated reasons for why yes and other people have pointed out that when taking in to consideration the whole picture it isn't £200 difference we're really talking about, and then you just keep adding in more provisos to try to limit the circumstances under which you think a 3930K ISN'T worth the price that it is.

 

[andybird123]

I think I've already made it clear that my opinion is not that 3930k is a massive boon for gaming - even for SLI *right now* but that I'm hedging my bet that it will do in the time frame of my PC

I also don't think (based on SB to IB) that IB-E will show enough of an improvement for me to consider upgrading and I would wait for the replacement to X79 or possibly even later before actually upgrading - just like I waited 3 generations from my Q6600 (which everyone also told me was waste of money when I bought that) and yet you can still play BF3 on Ultra with a Q6600, which would be a real struggle (I dare say impossible) on a 2 core from the same era

 

[andybird123]

I tend to bin old PC equipment so I'm not too worry about re-sale value or anything. As long as it lasts me 4 years without major degradation I'm happy (for any component).

This may be where you are going wrong... I got 300 for my old Q6600 system, so by the time you take that off the cost of my new one it becomes an even easier choice to spend the extra £50-100 on a 6 core

 

[Bluntwrapped]

I'm pretty sure replacing SB with IB would be a complete waste of money.. for the vast majority anyway. Good chance most here will never stress their SB enough to justify the upgrade. Running benchmarks is a poor way to justify spending that cash, I'd only upgrade if I was using the system for rendering and are making a return out of it. I'm sure they'll be an attractive option to those building a new system though.

 

[Zuban]

when i run the cinebench 11.5 test on my 3930k at stock settings my cpu is actually running at 3.5ghz, so if i bump that up to 3.6 ghz to match the 3820, my score is 10.41, so assuming a figure of 7.2 for the 3820 so a 45% increase from 50% extra cores, that must be a pretty reasonable figure, i wouldnt have expected the full 50%.

again whether that sort of increase is worth it to you the answer is .... depends.... lol

 

[estebanrey]

You're just playing semantics.
You've stated that you don't think that the 3930k is "worth" £200 more than a 3820. Does that not imply that you think the 3820 is "better value".

Why do so many people (ironically) mis-use the word semantics? When you debate semantics you are debating the meanings of the words a person used. You on the other hand are putting words in my mouth and quoting text I've never said..that isn't playing me playing semantics at all.

The extreme 4 also doesn't have as many full sized PCIe slots, USB ports or SATA ports - so I've traded a feature I don't use for loads more expansion possibilities

the extreme4 is also not cheaper - at best it is the same price (unless you are talking about the Extreme4-M micro ATX version but that has even less ports etc.)

Extreme 4 - £169.99
GigaByte UD3 £174.98

erm... are you seriously going to compare a phenom against an i5 to try to win an argument about 3820 to 3930K... really?

I wasn't comparing the brands, I was comparing the number of cores. You're claim was that more cores would help SLi but that seems to suggest it doesn't.

As you can see the AMD BEATS the i5 in a lot of tasks so it's not I'm comparing a good chip against a bad one. But in gaming the extra cores don't seem to help...that's all I'm saying.

my mobo is only missing 1 feature that yours has - which is BCLK overclocking...

No your mobo isn't as good at BCLK overclocking as mine, small but important difference. And that lack of support is down to your particular mobo it seems and not the price point of it, which is what you're trying to say (that you have to pay over £250 to get a mobo that would support decent overclocking which isn't true).

I too can upgrade to IB-E easily if I need to, so I don't get what your point is, you've been forced to buy a more expensive mobo because you've skimped on the CPU, I've gotten a good value motherboard and have a faster processor as an end result

My point was it's easier to throw a chip in later than do a re-build for a new motherboard.

I could easily argue that my £270 "military grade" mobo is far more likely to support your 3930K for the next few years. When IB-E comes out, the chances are I won't have any need for a new mobo whereas yours might be knackered by then.

This isn't a competition bud, I simply explained my rationale for not skimping on the mobo and I didn't pay the extra so I could OC my 3820 as you imply, when I got it I had no idea about the OCing potential of the cheaper boards and the claim you're making about the UD3.

We have different methods of building PCs. You obviously think the Mobo is unimportant and it's better to get a more powerful CPU. I, on the other hand, prefer to spend a bit extra (lest we forget that my Sabertooth is still only a mid-range X79 board) on the motherboard as I regard the mobo as the platform to which everything else is a replaceable accessory. I suspect my opinion on that isn't rare amongst the home-build community either.

Neither of them is right or wrong but you keep seem to want to question every part of my PC (well the ones that are more expensive than yours anyway) because you didn't choose to go that way.

If you, like me, asked me if I needed RAID or felt I spent too much money on my Mobo that would be different by you are convinced that I've wasted my money and seem to take delight in telling me so.

Again, I've not accused any 3930K owners of that. When people have said they use it for large rendering tasks etc I say 'fair enough you need it', I don't say 'you're wrong anyway' like you are doing here. I'm am questioning people's decisions, you are telling people they are wrong. Can you spot the difference?

and I can swap out a motherboard in about 30 minutes anyway - that would require a reinstall of windows but due to the nature of my work I need to do that fairly regularly anyway

30 minutes? You scare me if you are prepared to de-construct and re-build a PC in that slap dash time. I certainly want to let you upgrade my PC if you're gonna do it that quickly because you won't be doing it properly if so!

It should take you 30 mins in prep time a lone before you even start. Do you not bother reading the Mobo manual at all that would take more than 30 mins also. What about setting up your BIOS etc?

You may be able to fit a mobo in 30 mins from opening the case to closing it again (I would still worry about that even) but there's more involved than that when putting in a new mobo.

Your OP seemed to ask the question "is the 3930k worth £200 more", people have stated reasons for why yes and other people have pointed out that when taking in to consideration the whole picture it isn't £200 difference we're really talking about, and then you just keep adding in more provisos to try to limit the circumstances under which you think a 3930K ISN'T worth the price that it is.

Sorry but I don't think you're reading my posts properly if that's what you think I'm doing.

 

[estebanrey]

This may be where you are going wrong... I got 300 for my old Q6600 system, so by the time you take that off the cost of my new one it becomes an even easier choice to spend the extra £50-100 on a 6 core

OK it's not that always bin my stuff, it's just that by the time I come to change it's either too old to be worth anything or broken.

I do have all the parts from my old rig to build a fairly decent home PC and might do it (need a new mobo for it though) and sell that.

I guess what I meant is I'd rather enjoy using my system for the time I've got it than be one of those people who spends more time trying to maintain it like new than actually enjoy using it.

I'm the same with cars, some people spend thousands on a car and then hardly drive it whereas I run them into the ground and enjoy them. Different strokes.

 

[estebanrey]

when i run the cinebench 11.5 test on my 3930k at stock settings my cpu is actually running at 3.5ghz, so if i bump that up to 3.6 ghz to match the 3820

No sorry, likewise the 3820 runs at 3.8GHz when run on stock settings. Both increases are being caused by the 'Turbo Modes' which they have.

Turn Turbo off and they'll both run as advertised.

 

[Zuban]

No sorry, likewise the 3820 runs at 3.8GHz when run on stock settings. Both increases are being caused by the 'Turbo Modes' which they have.

Turn Turbo off and they'll both run as advertised.

ah i shall try 3.8ghz next, i'm just curious now regardless of all other talk to see how much of an increase it the extra cores bring in that particular test

 

[mmj_uk]

Like stone_cold_Jimi said it's nice to have the peace of mind in knowing that it'll be future proof, if others such as the OP want to save £200 and go with 3820 then that's their decision.

I've said before 3930K has about a £100 premium on it compared to 3820. 3930K is £75 per core, 3820 is £60 per core... but the very best hardware always has a premium on it and it's nothing like the £133 per core of the 3960X.

From what I've seen of 3820's the silicon tends to need a lot of voltage compared to 2600K/2700K/3930K/3960X to get decent overclocks, the rule of thumb with SB has always been:

Do not exceed 1.35-1.38v core voltage, doing so could limit lifespan of the CPU

and yet most 3820 owners I've seen are closer to 1.4V in order to get a decent overclock even though SB-E is made on the same 32nm process. It'll be interesting to see if they start keeling over in a year or two's time (or less).

 

[andybird123]

My point was it's easier to throw a chip in later than do a re-build for a new motherboard.

I could easily argue that my £270 "military grade" mobo is far more likely to support your 3930K for the next few years. When IB-E comes out, the chances are I won't have any need for a new mobo whereas yours might be knackered by then.

this is quite possibly the funniest comment I've read this week

We have different methods of building PCs. You obviously think the Mobo is unimportant and it's better to get a more powerful CPU. I, on the other hand, prefer to spend a bit extra (lest we forget that my Sabertooth is still only a mid-range X79 board) on the motherboard as I regard the mobo as the platform to which everything else is a replaceable accessory. I suspect my opinion on that isn't rare amongst the home-build community either.

No, I looked for a board that had all the features I wanted, I wasn't that bothered about OC as with an extra 50% on tap anyway I didn't see the "worth" of an extra £125 just for OCing an extra 1 or 2 hundred mhz... I'm sorry but as you go up the scale of price on the X79 boards, they all make massive issue of the improvements to power delivery system in how many phases they have and the quality of the caps they use... I don't even know what you are for if you are saying that OC potential did not factor in to your buying decision for an X79 motherboard or a 3820

Neither of them is right or wrong but you keep seem to want to question every part of my PC (well the ones that are more expensive than yours anyway) because you didn't choose to go that way.

this comment is quite funny from a guy who started a thread entirely on the basis of apparently "asking" a question of wether a 3930k was "worth £200" more than a 3820 and then immediately jumped on people who said "yes" to tell them they are wrong.

If you, like me, asked me if I needed RAID or felt I spent too much money on my Mobo that would be different by you are convinced that I've wasted my money and seem to take delight in telling me so.

I'm not saying you wasted money on an expensive motherboard as obviously the extra OC potential was of value to you, I'm just pointing out that based on your OP of saying that 3930k is not worth £200 more than a 3820, that actually the price differential between a 4.5ghz 3930k system and a 4.6ghz 3820 system is actually pretty negligible and therefore a 3930k CAN BE "worth" the difference in price, even with some of your most outrageous provisos on the conditions that you consider "fair" for a comparison

I'm am questioning people's decisions, you are telling people they are wrong. Can you spot the difference?

You are telling people they are wrong.
People have said that yes to them, the 3930k is "worth" it and you have repeatedly said or suggested that it isn't

30 minutes? You scare me if you are prepared to de-construct and re-build a PC in that slap dash time. I certainly want to let you upgrade my PC if you're gonna do it that quickly because you won't be doing it properly if so!

the 50 or so PC's currently sat helping run production lines and power stations would argue with you on that point

You may be able to fit a mobo in 30 mins from opening the case to closing it again (I would still worry about that even) but there's more involved than that when putting in a new mobo.

your point was that you could change a CPU vastly quicker than a motherboard, as if changing a motherboard was a massively arduous task, but in my most recent case and build everything is pretty modular and easy to work on, so disconnecting a couple of sata cables and taking a graphics card out is easy and not much more work than what would be involved in changing a CPU... I even have all the case lights etc. on a quick connector, so as long I stayed with a gigabyte motherboard I wouldn't even need to re-do that and that is the fiddliest bit of changing a motherboard

you were insinuating that I made a poor choice in going with a cheaper motherboard because you were nigh on certain that I will have to replace it (for what reason I would need to replace it I'm not quite sure as you haven't stated a feature that yours has that mine doesn't, other than "military grade" caps rofl)

as I've already said, the reason I went for a 3930k is because *I* *think* it will outlast a 3820, so lets come back to this thread in 3-4 years time and see who still has their CPU (and motherboard for that matter) and how they compare in games then

 

[paradigm]

Based on, but isn't SB.

It's widely known that SB-E can take more voltage (and indeed requires more voltage), and can quite happily take 1.45v - 1.5v on decent water.

 

[Ghøst]

Is the 3930K really worth £200 more than the 3820?

Yup & I couldn't be happier with mine.

 

[estebanrey]

ah i shall try 3.8ghz next, i'm just curious now regardless of all other talk to see how much of an increase it the extra cores bring in that particular test

Good luck, let us know how you get on mate.

Like stone_cold_Jimi said it's nice to have the peace of mind in knowing that it'll be future proof, if others such as the OP want to save £200 and go with 3820 then that's their decision.

That's fine, we've just taken different approaches to future-proofing that's all. I've gone for X79 (rather than the marginally cheaper P67 option I was looking at) so I can drop a IB-E If I want to later.

In either case both our set ups will be old and slow compared to what's ever about in a couple years so you can never really future proof building a PC other than the next foreseeable year anyway.

I can't see 6 cores becoming a must have in the next year tbh and I suspect we'll be well into Haswell by the time it is.

I've said before 3930K has about a £100 premium on it compared to 3820. 3930K is £75 per core, 3820 is £60 per core... but the very best hardware always has a premium on it and it's nothing like the £133 per core of the 3960X.

Serious question, where are these retailers that are selling the 3930K for £100 more than the 3820? All the one's I've checked it's £200 more at the least.

From what I've seen of 3820's the silicon tends to need a lot of voltage compared to 2600K/2700K/3930K/3960X to get decent overclocks, the rule of thumb with SB has always been:

and yet most 3820 owners I've seen are closer to 1.4V in order to get a decent overclock even though SB-E is made on the same 32nm process. It'll be interesting to see if they start keeling over in a year or two's time (or less).

As has been said this is SandyBridge-E not SB and one respected overclocking guide for the chip puts the max vcore at 1.5v if water cooled.

According to Intel, a SB-E running at 1.4v, 100% load would take 3 years running 24/7 to degrade it's VD by 0.025v.

In the real world that gives someone over 8 years of use before they'd have to adjust their voltages up a smidge, even then it wouldn't "keel over".

 

[Zuban]

scored a 11.02 at 3.8ghz, again taking the 7.2 from anandtechs bench that equates to a 53% increase, which i'm quite surprised at i thought it would get close to 50% but not over it!
sorry for the crappy pic

edit - just found that the specapc render test for lightwave which is one of the programs i use shows a 70% increase for the 3960x over the 3820, they didnt have figures for the 3930k unfortunatly, would be surprised if there was a greater than around 10% difference between the 3930k and 3960x as is typical from other reviews, so it does seem like 50% increase is quite realistic if the program is programmed to use all cores effectivly.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...k=view&id=874&Itemid=63&limit=1&limitstart=12

 

[estebanrey]

this is quite possibly the funniest comment I've read this week

Good, I'm glad you understand flippancy.

No, I looked for a board that had all the features I wanted, I wasn't that bothered about OC as with an extra 50% on tap anyway I didn't see the "worth" of an extra £125 just for OCing an extra 1 or 2 hundred mhz

No you bought the UD3 and THEN discovered it wasn't good a bclk OCing. You could have bought an equally cheap board that was and we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

... I'm sorry but as you go up the scale of price on the X79 boards, they all make massive issue of the improvements to power delivery system in how many phases they have and the quality of the caps they use... I don't even know what you are for if you are saying that OC potential did not factor in to your buying decision for an X79 motherboard or a 3820

The Sabertooth is built for durability not OCing so how can you claim I bought it because it's a good OCer? If that's all I was interested in I would have bought one of their ROG boards which are better known for OCing.

this comment is quite funny from a guy who started a thread entirely on the basis of apparently "asking" a question of wether a 3930k was "worth £200" more than a 3820 and then immediately jumped on people who said "yes" to tell them they are wrong.

Please show me where someone has posted a polite reply to my OP, justifying why they bought the 3930K and I've jumped on them.......don't worry, I'll wait..........








...no? Oh well. The only people I've 'jumped on' are those that have chosen to attack me in their post in this thread (I believe you are one of them).

I have argued against people who come straight out telling me how much better their CPU is and used unrealistic performance increases like you have your 50% thing.

The only funny thing here is reading some people's first posts here, 3930K owners insulted that I even ask the question. Many cases of 'he doth protest too much' in this thread from some people.

I'm not saying you wasted money on an expensive motherboard as obviously the extra OC potential was of value to you

Again, I did not buy it for OCing potential and cheaper boards outside the UD3 can OC just as well as my Sabertooth.

I realise you want to believe the choice is either cheap mobo + 3930K OR expensive mobo +3820 (because you've bought the UD3) for OCing but that's simply not the case.

Your logic is based on a false premise.

I'm just pointing out that based on your OP of saying that 3930k is not worth £200 more than a 3820

..to 99% of people building an X79 system. You missed that bit which is kinda important.

Please stop trying to claim that I've said the 3930k is bad value under all circumstances.

You are the king off strawmen

, that actually the price differential between a 4.5ghz 3930k system and a 4.6ghz 3820 system is actually pretty negligible and therefore a 3930k CAN BE "worth" the difference in price, even with some of your most outrageous provisos on the conditions that you consider "fair" for a comparison

The difference is £200, that may be negligible to you but not everyone.

You are telling people they are wrong.
People have said that yes to them, the 3930k is "worth" it and you have repeatedly said or suggested that it isn't

No I haven't, at least not personally.

your point was that you could change a CPU vastly quicker than a motherboard, as if changing a motherboard was a massively arduous task

Sorry but if that's how you inferred it that is your problem. All I said is that's it's easier to change CPU than it is a mobo, which is true.

Walking up one stair is easier than walking up two, that doesn't imply walking up two is 'massively arduous task'.

But for me it would certainly be more than a 30 min job. If I was changing my mobo I would...

Prep - 10m
Remove all components - 15m
Install new mobo - 10m (I guess you use a drill or something to whack those screws in 2 mins but I prefer the tradional way and hand screw them)
Re connect all components - 10m
Wire management - ???? (I can spend hours on this tbh)
Set up new BIOS - 10m
manual reading time during build (30 mins)

So it would take me a couple of hours from going from working PC to working PC to install a new board. It would take me 20m to install a new CPU.

, but in my most recent case and build everything is pretty modular and easy to work on, so disconnecting a couple of sata cables and taking a graphics card out is easy and not much more work than what would be involved in changing a CPU

Yes it would, but we'll just have to agree to disagree.

you were insinuating that I made a poor choice in going with a cheaper motherboard because you were nigh on certain that I will have to replace it (for what reason I would need to replace it I'm not quite sure as you haven't stated a feature that yours has that mine doesn't, other than "military grade" caps rofl)

I said "I could equally say" and made the claim about the mobo mimicking the justifications you've been making for spending more on the CPU. I never said your mobo would 'certainly' not last that long. I was [sarcastically] offering an argument that was a silly as the ones you've been making but that seems to have completely flown over your head and you've taken it as a serious point.

as I've already said, the reason I went for a 3930k is because *I* *think* it will outlast a 3820, so lets come back to this thread in 3-4 years time and see who still has their CPU (and motherboard for that matter) and how they compare in games then

Exactly my point, you believe your 3930k will outlast my 3820 but think your cheap mobo will have the same longevity as my more expensive one. Can you not see the hypocrisy there and why I made that flippant remark earlier.

Unless you mean 'outlast' in terms of still being a capable CPU in the future. Well both are chips are OTT for 99% of uses today so the fact your 3930K may still run a viable system in 10 years is fine so long as your not planning to upgrade for that long.

As I said, unless you are a heavy renderer/film maker (and some here seemingly are) you need those 6 cores now, no one else really does and I can't see 6 cores showing real extra performance in everyday applications/games for a few years yet (at which point I'll upgrade).

 

[mmj_uk]

That's fine, we've just taken different approaches to future-proofing that's all.

Exactly, I've 'wasted' £200 on two extra processing cores whilst you've wasted the same amount on a stupidly expensive motherboard and a launch price GPU, neither of which offer a tangible benefit over the cheaper options themselves. I'd honestly rather have the two extra cores and wait a few weeks for GPU prices to plummet than to have two loud fans on my motherboard and a few extra fps right at this minute.

I've gone for X79 (rather than the marginally cheaper P67 option I was looking at) so I can drop a IB-E If I want to later.

In your position I would have got the P67+2600K (saving £100 on the motherboard cost) and then sold them if I ever wanted to upgrade to hex/octo SB-E. As it stands you've spent £100 more and will be left with a 3820 that's difficult to sell because a> they're not popular and b> you've abused it with a high voltage.

Serious question, where are these retailers that are selling the 3930K for £100 more than the 3820? All the one's I've checked it's £200 more at the least.

Do you know what a premium is? believe it or not you do actually have to pay for the two extra cores. The 'premium' is the bit that Intel throw on because they know that those with the money are willing to pay for the best.

According to Intel, a SB-E running at 1.4v, 100% load would take 3 years running 24/7 to degrade it's VD by 0.025v.

Source?

As has been said this is SandyBridge-E not SB and one respected overclocking guide for the chip puts the max vcore at 1.5v if water cooled.

In the real world that gives someone over 8 years of use before they'd have to adjust their voltages up a smidge, even then it wouldn't "keel over".

Intel documents stated the same for SB even though they've degraded/died at much less... 1.4V was borderline safe for Intel's 45nm let alone their 32nm parts. The safe voltage will decrease further with IB-E at 22nm.

Quick edit:

These were the supposed i7 920 'safe' voltages:

If you browse a little further into the i7 920 data sheet it clearly states the following:

"Table 2-6 specifies absolute maximum and minimum ratings, which lie outside the
functional limits of the processor. Only within specified operation limits can functionality
and long-term reliability be expected.

At conditions outside functional operation condition limits, but within absolute
maximum and minimum ratings, neither functionality nor long-term reliability can be
expected."

Pretty clear if you ask me.

People preach these tables as if they are safe voltages, Intel say they are not in the very same documents.

"Only within specified operation limits can functionality and long-term reliability be expected." this means the VID rating.

i7 920 VID = 0.800V-1.375V
i7 3820 VID = 0.600V – 1.350V

As yet there is no 3820 data sheet on Intel's website so I used i7 920 as an example.

 

[estebanrey]

this is quite possibly the funniest comment I've read this week

Good, I'm glad you understand flippancy.

No, I looked for a board that had all the features I wanted, I wasn't that bothered about OC as with an extra 50% on tap anyway I didn't see the "worth" of an extra £125 just for OCing an extra 1 or 2 hundred mhz

No you bought the UD3 and THEN discovered it wasn't good a bclk OCing. You could have bought an equally cheap board that was and we wouldn't even be having this discussion.

... I'm sorry but as you go up the scale of price on the X79 boards, they all make massive issue of the improvements to power delivery system in how many phases they have and the quality of the caps they use... I don't even know what you are for if you are saying that OC potential did not factor in to your buying decision for an X79 motherboard or a 3820

The Sabertooth is built for durability not OCing so how can you claim I bought it because it's a good OCer? If that's all I was interested in I would have bought one of their ROG boards which are better known for OCing.

this comment is quite funny from a guy who started a thread entirely on the basis of apparently "asking" a question of wether a 3930k was "worth £200" more than a 3820 and then immediately jumped on people who said "yes" to tell them they are wrong.

Please show me where someone has posted a polite reply to my OP, justifying why they bought the 3930K and I've jumped on them.......don't worry, I'll wait..........








...no? Oh well. The only people I've 'jumped on' are those that have chosen to attack me in their post in this thread (I believe you are one of them).

I have argued against people who come straight out telling me how much better their CPU is and used unrealistic performance increases like you have your 50% thing.

The only funny thing here is reading some people's first posts here, 3930K owners insulted that I even ask the question. Many cases of 'he doth protest too much' in this thread from some people.

I'm not saying you wasted money on an expensive motherboard as obviously the extra OC potential was of value to you

Again, I did not buy it for OCing potential and cheaper boards outside the UD3 can OC just as well as my Sabertooth.

I realize you want to believe the choice is either cheap mobo + 3930K OR expensive mobo +3820 (because you've bought the UD3) for OCing but that's imply not the case.

Your logic is based on a false premise.

I'm just pointing out that based on your OP of saying that 3930k is not worth £200 more than a 3820

..to 99% of people building an X79 system. You missed that bit which is kinda important.

Please stop trying to claim that I've said the 3930k is bad value under all circumstances.

You are the king off strawmen

, that actually the price differential between a 4.5ghz 3930k system and a 4.6ghz 3820 system is actually pretty negligible and therefore a 3930k CAN BE "worth" the difference in price, even with some of your most outrageous provisos on the conditions that you consider "fair" for a comparison

The difference is £200, that may be negligible to you but not everyone.

You are telling people they are wrong.
People have said that yes to them, the 3930k is "worth" it and you have repeatedly said or suggested that it isn't

No I haven't, at least not personally.

your point was that you could change a CPU vastly quicker than a motherboard, as if changing a motherboard was a massively arduous task

Sorry but if that's how you inferred it that is your problem. All I said is that's it's easier to change CPU than it is a mobo, which is true.

Walking up one stair is easier than walking up two, that doesn't imply walking up two is 'massively arduous task'.

But for me it would certainly be more than a 30 min job. If I was changing my mobo I would...

Prep - 10m
Remove all components - 15m
Install new mobo - 10m (I guess you use a drill or something to whack those screws in 2 mins but I prefer the tradional way and hand screw them)
Re connect all components - 10m
Wire management - ???? (I can spend hours on this tbh)
Set up new BIOS - 10m
manual reading time during build (30 mins)

So it would take me a couple of hours from going from working PC to working PC to install a new board. It would take me 20m to install a new CPU.

, but in my most recent case and build everything is pretty modular and easy to work on, so disconnecting a couple of sata cables and taking a graphics card out is easy and not much more work than what would be involved in changing a CPU

Yes it would, but we'll just have to agree to disagree.

you were insinuating that I made a poor choice in going with a cheaper motherboard because you were nigh on certain that I will have to replace it (for what reason I would need to replace it I'm not quite sure as you haven't stated a feature that yours has that mine doesn't, other than "military grade" caps rofl)

I said "I could equally say" and made the claim about the mobo mimicking the justifications you've been making for spending more on the CPU. I never said your mobo would 'certainly' not last that long. I was [sarcastically] offering an argument that was a silly as the ones you've been making but that seems to have completely flown over your head and you've taken it as a serious point.

But anyway, doesn't my board "feature" bsclk OCing over yours, you keep telling it does so I guess it must be true.

But why are limiting a mobo's value on 'features' only? A Ford Fiesta has more "features" as a Ferrari but that doesn't mean it's just as good build wise, performance wise, efficiency wise.

You're talking as if the only thing that separates a good mobo from a bad one is how many "USB 3.0 Integrated!" type stickers it comes with.

as I've already said, the reason I went for a 3930k is because *I* *think* it will outlast a 3820, so lets come back to this thread in 3-4 years time and see who still has their CPU (and motherboard for that matter) and how they compare in games then

Exactly my point, you believe your 3930k will outlast my 3820 but think your cheap mobo will have the same longevity as my more expensive one. Can you not see the hypocrisy there and why I made that flippant remark earlier.

Unless you mean 'outlast' in terms of still being a capable CPU in the future. Well both are chips are OTT for 99% of uses today so the fact your 3930K may still run a viable system in 10 years is fine so long as your not planning to upgrade for that long.

As I said, unless you are a heavy renderer/film maker (and some here seemingly are) you need those 6 cores now, no one else really does and I can't see 6 cores showing real extra performance in everyday applications/games for a few years yet (at which point I'll upgrade).