Socket 2011?

Soldato
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Simply put, what is so good about them, compared to a 1366 or 1155 mobo?

I've googled it but can't seem to find a simple answer....
 
There are a few areas that offer tangible benefits to different users:

Quad channel memory (useful if you run applications that need a lot of memory bandwidth)

Eight RAM slots on most boards (useful if you need a LOT of memory)

40 PCIE lanes (good for running multiple graphics cards or multiple PCI-E bandwidth heavy cards like 8 port RAID cards, capture cards etc.)

Supports Hex Core Sandy Bridge architecture CPUs (for highly multithreaded applications this offers a lot more performance than a quad core enthusiast system and is usually cheaper than a server-grade system with similar performance)

Native PCI-E gen 3 support (currently not much use, but as graphics card get ever more powerful will become required tech)
 
Simple Answer:

Good for Multi threaded Applications/video encoding etc etc.

Pointless if its for a gaming rig. It gets like 5% better fps over a stock i5 2500k.


Its all down to what u wil use ur pc for.

here's the benches in various scenarios between a sandy-e i7 3960x (£799.99)and a sandy i5 2500k(£179.99):

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/443?vs=288

here's the benches in various scenarios between a sandy-e i7 3960x(£799.99) and a sandy i7 2500k (£239.99):

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/443?vs=287



Worth the price? You decide.



:):):):):):)
 
The system I'm planning on building is going to need to last me a few years, through the remainder of my course and then be good enough to to only require minimal upgrades through a comp science degree.

Although I probably will do some gaming I'm currently more pre occupied with photoshop, teaching myself web design too and am hoping to do some CAD. Baring in mind I have an overall budget of £2,600.00 for everything...

What route would you gents recommend?
 
What route would you gents recommend?

You'll get more advice by creating a "spec me" thread in General Hardware.

Specify exactly what you want to use the PC for, your budget and what you require for the money, e.g. a complete base unit, operating system, monitor(s), speakers, keyboard, mouse etc.
 
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Surveyor, i am well aware that i chose the most expensive sandy-e cpu. i chose it for a good reason. it shows that even the most powerfull sandy-e available is almost on par (GAMING PERFORMANCE WISE) with a sandybridge i5 2500k.

The point i was making was that if the new pc he was building was gonna be mainly as a gaming rig, then its not worth buiying a sandy-e. If its a pc for multithread applications and such. then yes, it would be worth it.

You mentioned the cheaper alternative sandy-e cpu's. Just checked a few reviews, and for Gaming, they perform WORSE than an i5 2500k. And they still are more expensive.


Like i said, it depends what he'll use it for.
 
Although I probably will do some gaming I'm currently more pre occupied with photoshop, teaching myself web design too and am hoping to do some CAD. Baring in mind I have an overall budget of £2,600.00 for everything...

What route would you gents recommend?




Considering that what you say you'll use it for CAD etc, another option would be bulldozer, AMD is usually cheaper to buy the components than intel.

Top of the range Eight core AMD processor £211.99.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-311-AM&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1942

Top Mobo available £191.99.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-461-AS&groupid=701&catid=1903&subcat=2046

Pretty cheap for what you get really.


Food for thought
 
On the surface AMD bulldozer seems like a really nice deal - since you get a modern octo core CPU for the price of an Intel quad core.

However, looking at real world performance, the 8 core Bulldozer doesn't do as well as previolusly hoped. For example, looking at this page of benchmarks the 8150 consistently loses to the i7 2600K Sandy Bridge quad core, in fact it usually doesn't beat the i5 2500K.
 
To be honest I want the option to game, but most of my gaming is going to be done on my PS3 for the time being...

Thinking about it realistically; I am for the forseable going to be focusing on assignments, photoshop, web design, programming and animation looking at my course modules

I want to learn CAD for my own personal enrichment
 
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With your budget I would personally go with a Sandy Bridge E system: ~£200 X79 board, a Hex core i7 3930K and 32GB of RAM.

An i7 2600K/Z68/16GB system would also give you good performance and offer better value in terms of performance/price - but if you can afford a hex core i7 system and will make use of the power then it makes sense to recommend that.

This will give you excellent performance in the CPU-intensive multithreaded applications you are using, the ability to overclock really far and the option to upgrade the CPU to Ivy Bridge -E if needed.

Couple that with a nice graphics card (I would recommend a £240 HD 6970 2GB at the moment) and you will have a very nice gaming machine as well.

Then you just need to throw in a PSU - a Corsair AX-750W would be my recommendation since it is a very efficient, very stable and very quiet PSU that comes with a 7 year warranty and all the power you need to run an i7 3930K + HD 6970 system, even if you overclock.

You may also consider going for a large, quiet CPU cooler - something like a Noctua NH-D14, Thermalright Silver Arrow or Thermalright HR-02 (with or without a fan) would be good options that provide great cooling (so overclocking won't be limited) as well as very quiet operation.
 
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