Should I wait?

Aleksandrs · 10 Jan 2013 at 06:16

Hey guys,
I'm in the market for an upgrade, well mainly I am looking to upgrade CPU, Mobo and Memory. I'm edging towards getting this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-113-OE&groupid=43&catid=2384&subcat=2288 which I think will be perfect for what I need it for, which is gaming and high res game recording, and possibly using it as a backup 3D renderer if I need a little kick and my render farm isn't doing enough.

Anyway, I'm aware that we're likely to be expecting a new run of processors soon (Haswell), so the question is should I wait?

I am kind of needing to upgrade sooner rather than later but if it means that in 2 months time my computer will already be outdated and I could have got far more for the money then I'd obviously wait, so just want to check first before I commit a lot of money for an upgrade!

Thanks guys

zakblood · 10 Jan 2013 at 06:21

i've just got the i7 bundle as well, for me i'd grab it now, as if you wait for one now you have a slower system while waiting, have no idea of the cost of the newer setup either and every 6 months or so something newer comes out anyway, take the bullet and buy now, and if in another couple of years its slower than what you would like it to be do same again, as if you wait and go Haswell, it will still only last a max of 2 years before something else wipes the floor with it.

and all i read on the newer chip is " although lower heat output and power usage would be nice" etc etc so it looks like it's not going to be a jump in speed etc, so another +1 for buy it now.

i don't understand why everyone knocks stuff that users more power or gets warmer either, thats why we fit better coolers and don't leave it on all day, we just want it to be fast or faster, if you pay for more juice so be it, over it's total life it's not going to add up to that much, and when you spending this amount, a few extra pennies for more electric use is the lease of my problems

so what im trying to say is, unless you are totally green and want to save the planet, and care about a few pence of electric per day for more power use, but the one your link points to.

honosuseri · 10 Jan 2013 at 06:35

I would wait fella. Haswell is rumoured to land in the spring time, it's not just a new processor it's on a new socket. The 1155 socket is effectively a "dead end" now. You've waited this long a couple of months more won't kill you lol

Haswell will consume less power and features an improved IGP, wether it will provide a massive leap in performance we dont know till it's released. Why does the IGP matter? Quicksync is used to help boost video encoding tasks if your software supports it, by "harnessing" the power of the IGP. There is also the LucidMVP software which we have on the 1155 socket at the moment. It can use the IGP to save power for everyday use and then kick in the GPU when needed, as a bonus it can also use the IGP to boost your dedicated GPU when gaming.

If you have money to spend now then look to upgrade the GTX 260 if that's what you are using in your rig currently. Something like the 7850 would be good (comparison here) and offer a noticeable improvement, these GPUs overclock quite well.

Aleksandrs · 10 Jan 2013 at 06:53

Now you've made me realise, I can see a good idea with changing the graphics card now and getting the rest later. Is there a more relevant GeForce card that is better than the 7850 and similarly priced? I've always gone for a GeForce so naturally would want to stick with that. Unless the latest AMD cards are better that is, then I might make the change! :O

honosuseri · 10 Jan 2013 at 07:03

The 660 is the rival to the 7850. It has CUDA support and PhysX over the 7850, in truth CUDA isn't great on the 600 series. If you really really really want Nvidia then consider the 660Ti which is a cut down 670, the standard 660 is very different from the Ti version.

Sadly you have just missed out on the AMD "Never settle" free games bundle with the AMD GPUs. Although for best bang for buck you will see us suggest the 7850 and 7950s GPUs from AMD. We quite like the 670 from nvidia (which is a very close relative to the 680) but that's a £300 GPU, the 7950 is cheaper (£240ish) and offers more VRAM and better bang for buck.

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £239.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £169.99
1 x HIS HD 7850 IceQ X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H785QN2G2M) £155.99
Total : £565.97 (includes shipping : FREE).

Some examples there to look at. The 7850s as I said overclock well, you can also push the 7950s too

Aleksandrs · 10 Jan 2013 at 07:29

Thanks for that! I should point out I will be gaming in 2560x1440 if that changes anything.

honosuseri · 10 Jan 2013 at 07:37

Aleksandrs said:
Thanks for that! I should point out I will be gaming in 2560x1440 if that changes anything.

Yes mate it does. You will be wanting the 7950 really as a minimum to be fair, especially if you want to be using high quality settings in game.

OC'd (boosted) 7950 vs stock 7850

You can see the benchmarks for your intended resolution. You'll note that they have AA or MSAA enabled, this kills FPS. Disabling it in the game options will help improve the FPS you get from the GPU.

Keep in mind there have been newer drivers released since these benchmarks were done which also have helped up the FPS.

Aleksandrs · 10 Jan 2013 at 07:50

Brilliant, thanks that's helped me make up my mind!

honosuseri · 10 Jan 2013 at 08:03

Have you overclocked your Q9550?

If not a good value heatsink wouldn't be a bad idea to push it a little harder to help carry you over, if you haven't got one already. It is rumoured that Haswell will take 1155 socket coolers, so if you do get a Haswell mobo bundle there is a chance you can take the cooler along with you

Aleksandrs · 10 Jan 2013 at 14:37

honosuseri said:
Have you overclocked your Q9550?

If not a good value heatsink wouldn't be a bad idea to push it a little harder to help carry you over, if you haven't got one already. It is rumoured that Haswell will take 1155 socket coolers, so if you do get a Haswell mobo bundle there is a chance you can take the cooler along with you

My overclocking skills are about as good as.. well they are terrible!

I can't get a stable OC on it at all, so I've kept it stock. I have an Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 pro rev. 2 on it.

Hence why I'd rather pay to have that all done for me.