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Socket 1156 Vs 1366 future upgrades?

Associate
Joined
27 Aug 2009
Posts
67
While I've been working out my first build. I've been looking closely at both the I7 and the newer I5's.

A major consideration for me is the ability to upgrade the CPU in a couple of years to keep pace with the demands of newer games/programs. I'm not looking to build a basic machine and my first stab at a system is closer to £2000 than the £700/800 most seem to opt for.

But one of the things that has had me scratching my head is the sockets 1156 and 1366. To my novice eye it looks like the 1366 socket is already being replaced by the 1156. Is that right?
I know the I7 920 is most peoples choice right now but in 2/3 years time will I find a shortage of newer 1366 socket CPU's?
I am not sure where I read it but I got the impression the next generation of Nvidea CPUs are set to use 1156 and if so is it foolish to build a system that has limited upgrade potential (except for replacing the board)?

Sorry if these questions are obvious for some people. But getting info like this will save my a few headaches down the road (its should also save me from spending roughly £1500 every 2 years with (removed)).

Thanks
 
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Associate
Joined
31 Aug 2006
Posts
965
Location
North West
the 1366 socket is in no way being replaced by the 1156 socket. 1366 is still the high end one and will remain so with i9 coming out on it later. Whether or not current x58 boards will support these i9 chips is another thing however. For the money your spending, your probably gonna be thinking about a dual gpu set up, which x58 is better for due to more pci-e lanes (16x and 16x instead of 8x and 8x on lynnfield)

Not sure where you read about nvidia cpus either!!!

Also remove the competitor name!
 
Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2009
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1,195
I personaly would go i7 920 and overclock it. Should last yew good 2/3 years and at OC'ed speeds if you get new DX11 GPU's there will be no bottleneck of the system
 
Associate
Joined
15 Sep 2003
Posts
223
Location
Surrey
Of the two, the 1366 socket probably offers the best scope for future upgrade ability (3 memory channels versus 2 and more PCI-e lanes being the notable differences).
 
Associate
Joined
10 Apr 2007
Posts
48
You're not very clear on exactly what you use your PC for.

Basing today's buying decision on tomorrow's potential upgrades is a mug's game. Who knows if the processors available in 2-3 years will either fit the socket you chose, or work with the chipset or motherboard you have.

Swapping out a CPU is simpler (and cheaper) than swapping CPU and motherboard, but it's not a huge difference.

You need to think of the whole system, not single components. Will upgrading to a faster CPU be sensible if the current motherboard or memory will hold back its potential? Or maybe I'm a game player and the newer games will bottleneck on the GPU, meaning a faster CPU is wasted.

For me, if it was primarily games, I'd get 1156 and the i5 750 since that combo offers a great price and performance. If I was doing stuff that was highly parallel (video encoding, etc) and memory-bandwidth intensive, then 1366 with an i7 920 looks great, with a possibly very expensive 6-core available next year as an upgrade.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
22 Jun 2006
Posts
11,393
A major consideration for me is the ability to upgrade the CPU in a couple of years to keep pace with the demands of newer games/programs. I'm not looking to build a basic machine and my first stab at a system is closer to £2000 than the £700/800 most seem to opt for.
This just isn't possible, even though LGA775 and AM2 have been out for many years the new CPUs in that time have still required new motherboards (due to power design changes and what not) so while yes in theory there might be upgrades available it is as reliable as measuring temperature by how sweaty you feel.

Buy something that suits your needs now (a high-end but not over-priced CPU) budget for a few graphics cards upgrades within the next year or two and then expect to replace the platform (mobo/cpu/memory) once it becomes obsolete.

Unless you are running a huge monitor you won't get much more benefit long-term out of £2000 (and paying flagship premiums) than the typical overclockers £700/£800 build.
 
Soldato
Joined
30 May 2009
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4,620
Location
Maidenhead
In my opinion, you should buy what you want, when you want, as long as you have the money. Within reason of course. The technology will only go out of date at the end of today. If it was me, I would go for the 1366 and maybe then buy an i9 next year. But then again, if your CPU lasts you 2-3 years, I'm sure there will be totally different socket out then. You can't really future proof your system past 1 year. Technology advances too fast.
 
Soldato
Joined
15 Mar 2007
Posts
3,387
You get a quad core 1366 i7 now and expect to be able to upgrade it to what exactly, the i9 I would imagine and be able to run x16/x16 SLi/Xfire rigs.

However the big issue is the number of cores. If a 8 core 1366 part is not coming then you are locked in to just speed bumps or cache size changes at present. Take a look at the previous core chipsets. 775 followed by a load of 775 improvements for quad core and higher bus speeds.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=668

It looks like its X58 all the way the Westmere 6c/12t ability sometime in 2010.
 
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