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(sandy bridge vs ivy bridge)

duckdodgersuk

duckdodgersuk

duckdodgersuk

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Joined
18 Apr 2008
Posts
98
I was looking to get a i7 27k but Im hearing a lot of chatter about the new ivy bridge CPU's that are coming soon.
What the difference and should I wait? :confused:
p.s I here Boards capable of the new 3.0 PCIe will only work with ivy bridge CPUs?

Ivy-Bridge-processor.jpg
 
The new Ivy Bridge quad core CPUs are expected to come out in April, have a thermal design power of 77W (compared to 95W with quad core sandy bridge chips like the i5 2700K), be clocked at the same level (the stock speed of the $332 3770K will be 3.5GHz) and be approximately 15-20% faster clock-for-clock. As for overclocking ability - I don't know how they will compare to the 32nm sandy bridge chips - but considering ivy bridge is 22nm then I would assume they will do better.

The current LGA 1155 boards (usually Z68 ones) that advertise PCIE gen 3 support will work fine with existing Sandy Bridge CPUs like the i7 2700K. But the PCI-E v3 support is only applicable when an Ivy Bridge CPU is installed, when using Sandy Bridge CPUs they only run at PCI-E v2 speeds (which is perfectly fine for modern graphics cards).

As to whether you should wait, it really depends on what your current system is and what you are doing. If your current system will happily get you by until into April then you may as well wait and get the faster, lower power Ivy Bridge parts. However, if your current system isn't cut out for what you want to do now or plan to do in the next couple of months then you may as well go for sandy bridge (and go for a Gen 3 board so you can make good use of an Ivy Bridge CPU if you do want a CPU upgrade in the future).
 
That's still a decent CPU. Does it run what you need it to? If so, and you can wait, i would. That being said a Z68 mobo + i7 will still be a great upgrade if you decide to now.
 
That's still a decent setup you have there. If you feel you can wait out the two months, then I would and get the newer tech Ivy Bridge.

The board you mention is a good one, though it is rather expensive for what it is. Personally, I would look at this.

As for the CPU support list, the Ivy Bridge CPUs haven't been launched by intel yet - so they won't appear on the support list for current boards. When the Ivy bridge chips arrive in april expect this page to be updated with the new Ivy Bridge CPUs and a new BIOS available to download which will add the support to the boards.
 
cmndr_andi said:
That's still a decent setup you have there. If you feel you can wait out the two months, then I would and get the newer tech Ivy Bridge.

The board you mention is a good one, though it is rather expensive for what it is. Personally, I would look at this.

As for the CPU support list, the Ivy Bridge CPUs haven't been launched by intel yet - so they won't appear on the support list for current boards. When the Ivy bridge chips arrive in april expect this page to be updated with the new Ivy Bridge CPUs and a new BIOS available to download which will add the support to the boards.
Click to expand...

Yes I was looking at that board but wasn't sure I would use the on-board graphics, That is unless Nvidia figure out a way to use it along with a PCIe Graphics card in Nvidia Surround mode :D
 
Pretty much all these Z68 board allow access to onboard graphics. The graphics cores are actually located on the CPU - so these boards just provide the connections so they can be output to a display.

If you don't need the onboard graphics then it is automatically disabled when you put a graphics card in the main PCI-E slot.
 
cmndr_andi said:
The new Ivy Bridge quad core CPUs are expected to come out in April, have a thermal design power of 77W (compared to 95W with quad core sandy bridge chips like the i5 2700K), be clocked at the same level (the stock speed of the $332 3770K will be 3.5GHz) and be approximately 15-20% faster clock-for-clock.
Click to expand...

I think 15-20% performance per clock is hugely optimistic, unless of course you are including integrated GPU performance in that figure.
 
A couple of months will fly in, if you're like me you'd only regret if you bought now. Unless your current cpu was knackered, then it would be a good idea to buy now
 
In all likelihood stock levels will be ran down prior to IB being released and SB will be End of Lined so don't expect too see much of a price drop, if at all.
 
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