IB is a good improvement on SB.
Faster Clock-for-clock - Not a major leap, think most results are about 5-7% overall, but it IS an improvement nevertheless.
PCI-E 3.0 - OK not needed yet, but it's there.
HD 4000 IGP with DX11 support - Maybe you dont use it for video encoding, but I want to use it for Virtu MVP, so thats an improvement.
Memory Controller - A huge improvement from the controller on SB.
Uses less power - Not gonna save you loads of cash, but an improvement all the same.
Runs cooler (until you increase the voltages). - Hardcore OCers account for 0.000000000000000001% of sales. OK maybe a slight exaggeration there but you get the idea.
And the 3770K is the same price as a 2700K. I see nothing but benefits to IB. If you want to overclock the chip to 100Ghz, stick with sandybridge.
For everyone else though, Ivybridge is just...better. Plain and simple.
A 3770k is 5-7% faster than a 2600k when both are at default clocks, but the default clock of a 3770k is 100 mhz over 2600k, so it's probably closer to 5% really if you OCd the 2600k to have an equal clock as the 3770k. And for people who are maxing out their OC, the higher headroom on SB is probably going to negate the minor clock-for-clock improvements in IB. eg. a 4.8 GHZ SB would probably perform almost equally as a 4.4 IB
I've yet to see where Virtu MVP has provided a benefit when you need it, most of the benches I've seen from it are things like:
1600x1200 150 FPS > 180 (no one benefits from this improvement)
2560x1600 45 FPS > 35 (this actually impairs performance when you actually need it)
If you can give me show me a good amount of benches of Virtu MVP increasing FPS when you're at borderline-playable FPS, then I'd appreciate Virtu MVP. But from what I've seen so far, it just impairs your performance at borderline-playable.
I think it's unfair to disregard enthusiasts opinions, especially considering that they're the ones doing the complaining, which is what this thread is about.
After all, how many 'system builders' manufacture over-clocked machines? Ever seem an over-clocked Dell?
...
After all, OCUK manage a 4.5 GHz overclock just as they did for Sandy.
I'm pretty sure, in this context, 'system builders' are not the same demographic as people who buy pre-configured Dell Machines.
The argument that 'IB bundles are clocked just as high as SB bundles' is pretty poor, it doesn't consider most of the factors that people are worried about; heat (and thus noise), how much farther you can clock it, etc.
