Intel Core i7-3820 or wait for Ivy?

[the_director]

This processor is just £217.99 at the moment on here which seems a pretty good deal.

Question is: will Ivybridge be quicker for less, will Ivybridge-E be compatible with current SB-E motherboards?

I imagine most people will probably just tell me to wait for Ivy - is there any confirmation of whent the desktop quads will be launched?

 

[Freddie1980]

This processor is just £217.99 at the moment on here which seems a pretty good deal.

Question is: will Ivybridge be quicker for less, will Ivybridge-E be compatible with current SB-E motherboards?

I imagine most people will probably just tell me to wait for Ivy - is there any confirmation of whent the desktop quads will be launched?

April seems the most likely date for IB, officials Intel have said Q2 2012 but motherboard partners and OEM's have been saying they expect the desktop chips to come out in April time.

I would wait, yes a 3820 isn't a bad price but motherboards can easily fetch £200 which is way to money for a motherboard IMO although to be fair you can overclock the bclk on these models.

 

[the_director]

Yeah, one of the things about 2500K / 2600K is that you can get them into a cheap motherboard and still overclock them significantly.

The Asrock Extreme3 seems like particularly good value for money...

 

[rare]

I was going to buy a 3820, but in the end opted for a 2500k now running easily at 4.5Ghz and producing little heat and consuming much less power than a 3820. In games there is 0 difference. Theres even almost no difference between a 2500k and a 2700k.

Depends what you need the system for really.

 

[hopeful_builder]

Yeah, one of the things about 2500K / 2600K is that you can get them into a cheap motherboard and still overclock them significantly.

The Asrock Extreme3 seems like particularly good value for money...

I'm using that mobo, with the 2600k and its fantastic I upgraded from a Q6600 too

 

[Buckster]

I was going to buy a 3820, but in the end opted for a 2500k now running easily at 4.5Ghz and producing little heat and consuming much less power than a 3820. In games there is 0 difference. Theres even almost no difference between a 2500k and a 2700k.

Depends what you need the system for really.

I don't think you can say "much less power" the power differences between the 3820 and the 1155 chips is pretty small

 

[the_director]

I'm using that mobo, with the 2600k and its fantastic I upgraded from a Q6600 too

Good to hear. I was set on the extreme4, but the extreme3 doesn't seem to offer signifcantly less really. All I need is a system that can handle two GPUS, a reasonable overclock, an SSD and a couple of hard drives.

I nearly bought Asus Gene today with the idea of getting a small case that I could move around easily and stick in front of the TV to play Fifa every now and again with mates. This might have meant switching to a single GPU set-up...

 

[lollyhayes]

From what I've heard the 3820 isn't particularly great at overclocking so Sandy 1155 would be as good, if you can wait for Ivy, even better.

 

[s7cn]

IMO, I feel Ivy will be marginally (5-15%) faster in terms of CPU performance, nothing major nor worth upgrading from SB to, but the iGPU is where there will be a major improvement. Prices of Sandy are likely to remain stable. IB-E is is supported by SB-E motherboards also.

You could get the 3820 and then see what the IB-E variants are when they are due for release in Q4 2012/Q1 2013.

Ivy Bridge is just round the corner (apparently) so it could be worth waiting just to see what it brings before you pull the trigger.

But, before you decide on LGA2011 or 1155, do you need the features of X79? The 40 PCI-E lanes, Quad-channel memory? The 3820 performs very closely to a 2600k, with the only differences really in chipset features and TDP. Where as the price of each setup is different and could play a part in your decision - X79 + a 3820 will likely set you back around £480-500, Where as a 2600k will set you back roughly £400ish.

If you're after pure price: performance and don't require the features of X79 then a SB platform will serve you well. If you do require the features of SB-E then the £80-100 difference in platform cost maybe worth it to you.