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Should I upgrade to 2600k now or wait for Ivybridge

adamgwsmith

adamgwsmith

adamgwsmith

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7 Jun 2009
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Should I upgrade to a 2600k (and Z68 mobo/1600MHz RAM) now or wait for Ivybridge? (spec in sig)

Will there be much difference? With a new Z68 mobo could i the just upgrade the CPU later?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks :)
 
What for is the question, just gaming, or do you encode/render/whatever else?

Ivy won't be a significant upgrade( to Sandybridge that is, not the Q6700 which either SB or IB will spank), you'd get more value with a Sandy now that will easily last you through till Haswell(mid 2013) and probably long after that for gaming.

If again it is for gaming, then you'll get next to nothing out of a 2600k over a 2500k, so you can save £70 right there aswell, save the money, then if you really want buy a 3500k(ivybridge) and sell the 2500k and use that saved £70 to make up the difference in cost.

Again for gaming, you're maybe slightly cpu limited, if you could get another 300-400Mhz out of the cpu you'd be fine in almost every game out there cpu performance wise.

With new gpu's coming in not much more than a month now, if you're limited on money and what you can spend on upgrading, then I'd consider a gpu upgrade and waiting a while for a cpu/mobo/system upgrade, or go for the 2500k, then use the saved £70 to sell the 6950 and buy a 7950 when available .
 
Thanks for the feedback - really useful.

It's just for gaming really, so I think i'll go for the 2500k now, then maybe upgrade my GPU and perhaps move to Ivybridge once the price premium wares off a bit.

Would a 3500k slot straight into a Z68 mobo though?

Thanks again :)
 
Would a 3500k slot straight into a Z68 mobo though?
Click to expand...

Yes

My answer to this question is simple. Do you have money burning in your pocket now? In that case get the Sandybridge, it's an excellent chip. If you're still saving and are happy to wait until march, get IB it will be a better chip. Is it worth a 5 month wait though? The answer can only be no if you already have the money to buy.
 
I would upgrade now.

I upgraded 2 weeks ago after waiting for Bulldozer, I was going to get a 2600k also. But I got talked out of it, as my PC is used for gaming 95% of the time. So I bought a 2500k and I am very happy with it, I spend the £70 I saved on a CPU cooler and BF3, as I already have a good graphics card and a SSD.

adamgwsmith which mobo are you looking at? The P8Z68-V Pro is a good board and so is the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
 
Main question is why do you want to upgrade what for? I assume to play a new game i.e BF3? Do you have a problem running anything with your CPU?

If it is for BF3 and gaming in general just wait and see how it runs then if you really need it upgrade now 2500K is the spotlight atm, if you can play the game/s comfortably i'd wait till Ivy Bridge :)

Do you reckon you have reached your maximum overclock ? I'm sure it could go a bit higher ;)
 
If I were you (and it's what I'm doing), buy the i5 2500K now, then when Ivy Bridge comes along, if you want to upgrade, chuck the 2500K on Ebay and get yourself a nice Ivy Bridge chip.
 
w00dy85 said:
I would upgrade now.

I upgraded 2 weeks ago after waiting for Bulldozer, I was going to get a 2600k also. But I got talked out of it, as my PC is used for gaming 95% of the time. So I bought a 2500k and I am very happy with it, I spend the £70 I saved on a CPU cooler and BF3, as I already have a good graphics card and a SSD.

adamgwsmith which mobo are you looking at? The P8Z68-V Pro is a good board and so is the Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3
Click to expand...

In the same boat as the OP - upgrading from a q6600 (but I am only running it at a modest 2.8) ...

I have a bit more to spend - so am getting a 2700k ... and yes like the above poster recommended those motherboards (I actually recommend the v-pro; which I will be getting shortly ... v-pro gen3 that is; they should be out in the uk shortly here) ...

Funny thing is Im only running a 5770 ... So many things to upgrade on the old puter ... maybe amd will release new cards in dec (if so Ill get one then).
 
There really doesn't seem to be any reason to get an i7-2700K over an i7-2600K. If you have money to blow, get an i7-2600K and give the difference to charity. ;)
 
Same boat as I have been in this week but couldn't wait so went for a 2500k on a z68 board so then if I decide next year to go ivybridge its just a case of swapping the chip out and im sure you will still make some money back on the 2500k.
 
As it is only for gaming then, I won't say don't get a 2500k, I'm sure you do other things and it would be faster and probably feel in general a touch more responsive, and its easier to have a silent midly overclocked 2500k system than a heavily overclocked Q6700 system, I think you can get an extra 200-300Mhz but power/noise/heat and you'll be fine performance wise.

Honestly, with a quad and a 6950, I don't think you should be in a rush to upgrade for BF3(says the man who just bought a 2500k/mobo and who is a bit peeved my heatsink didn't show up before tomorrow :p , only for timing, I use it for a lot of things Sandy will be faster for).

I'd say, hold your cash, wait for new gen gpu's, see what prices are like, and potentially with lowish stock on new cards you'll be ready, money wise, to jump on a 7950 basically on launch day.

Q6700 + 7950 WILL, without question be a better gaming rig than a 6950 with a 2500k. Of course, 7950 + 2500k would be nicer overall ;)

See how a new gpu goes, if you feel you aren't getting the right framerate then think about holding on till Ivy or jumping on a 2500k.
 
Thanks everyone for the info and advice. I think i'll upgrade to a 2500k now and then make a new GPU my next upgrade. Might then move to Ivybridge after that if the price/performance increase makes sense.

Thanks again :)
 
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