Wait or get Sandybridge

Jimfowler82

Jimfowler82

Jimfowler82

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16 Nov 2010
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49
Hi guys,

I'm 2 days away from ordering a Intel i5 2500k with z68 mobo, but i'm wondering if i should wait for the Ivybridge CPU's coming out at the end of this month?

Now i'm upgrading from a tired AMD 6400+ CPU which is struggling on a lot of my tasks, but it can wait another month easily.

I'm very sure the i5 will do all my needs for many years to come, from what other people say about this chip, my only worry is that if i order now, next month when the new chips are released it will be loads cheaper. I'm upgrading for games mainly (Battlefield3, Deus EX HR) those kind of games, should i wait for ivybridge or will i see a minimal performance increase from sandy>ivy.

From my experience you can wait for ever as soon as you buy something next week/month better is here.

Im not worried by power consumption really thats no big deal for me.

Thanks in advance for replies

Jim
 
As you can hold on I would wait, the 2500k probably won't become cheaper.

Also go with a Z77 motherboard :)
 
I would wait, I am waiting for ivy bridge. The 2500k will go down a bit too I think, so best to see how much ivy bridge is before you wish you waited.
 
Wait does seem the sensible option, although the i5 2500k will be more than enough for me, and i dont think they prices will drop that much on it yet.

If i did get this setup, will the z68 motherboards support the newer ivybridge cpus in future? via a bios update ?
 
Is the new ivybridge range likely to be similar pricing as the current sandy then? Because i cant go much more on what im spending without the wrath of my girlfriend
 
I'm waiting too, so I'd obviously wait. IB will be a bit more performance which might not be so important to you in the short term but may give your new system some extra time before you feel it needs upgrading again.
 
Yeh, it seems a no brainer! must remember i'm 29years old and not 10years old waiting for Christmas lol.

Think i might invest in a new monitor first and wait till next month for new computer stuff.
 
I know exactly how you feel. I now have a pile of new parts which I wanna play with but at the moment are just sitting in a pile just like they should be under a xmas tree. Bought PSU and SSD due to spring offers, Intel cashback. Com'on IB CPU's!
 
i would wait for IB but for the games you are playing i don't think there will be much difference in performance you are looking on average of 15% speed increase and a die shrink and that's it overclocking might be slightly better as well SB has proven to be a very worthy chip capable of being well overclocked even to 5Ghz in some cases i would go for the z77 board as it is the latest board and is able to be upgraded to IB later on in the future if you wanted to, as for pricing i dont think SB will drop down in price that much
 
Im thinking long term its well worth the wait, but ive never gone for such a powerful cpu before, ive always gone for AMD chips for the price.

Last build was an AMD 6400+ which has served me pretty well for nearly 4 years, ive never been to worried about latest/greatest, as long as it does what i want pretty well.

But if waiting a month means i get another 15% performance for no extra $$ it seems silly to get now, but on the other hand will 15% performance really matter that much to me i cant see that prolonging the life of this computer, they seem to usually last me 4/5 years.

I will probally get the Z77 board as that seems a good idea for future, if i got the i5 2500k now & in 3/4 years time i decide to upgrade the CPU is it likely that the Mobo will require replacing again or will the Z77 take "newer" cpu's.

Really as long as this computer lasts me 4 years of gaming(doesnt need to be really high end) and a bit of Programming i will be happy.
 
Well the Z68 and Z77 are compatible with Ivy Bridge, but we are only lucky in that Ivy Bridge supports socket 1155 like Sandy Bridge but this is rare, Intel usually change pin sets between generations.

Ivy Bridge is a die shrink of Sandy Bridge so you're looking at 5-15% (max) speed increase across the board but I don't know how that will translate into gaming performance, minimal increase I expect personally but we'll have to wait and see!

i5's have dropped 20 pounds since December, so if I were you I'd pick one up with a cheap p67 or z68 mobo and wait for Haswell in 2013 which no doubt will use a different pin set than 1155 and a different chip than Z77.

Haswell is the 'Tock' in Intel's tick-tock notation, so performance over Ivy Bridge will be greater than Ivy Bridge over Sandy Bridge, check it out here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Tick_Tock

Ivy Bridge will have ~500Mhz increase on clock speed for Sandy Bridge but since 2600K's only use ~65% usage in BF3 MP (most CPU intensive game I've seen) the increase to Ivy will be marginal unless you use the iGPU which is vastly improved!

Just my 2 cents ;)
 
Whether or not the 15% will affect you, you might as well wait a few weeks and check prices.

Worse case scenario you go 3 weeks without an upgrade and then pick up what you specced in the first post.
Best case? For the same price you get a performance upgrade that will serve you well for a number of years to come.

If you were looking for a 1 year pc, i'd say it doesn't matter. But since it has to last 4 or 5 years, get the best deal for your money.
 
If you're gonna wait..... once ivybridge comes out you'll have to wait for the next upgrade 6 months down the line... and so on etc lol.

It's technology - doesn't wait for anybody.

Saying that though - this is coming from the most impulsive person ever lol. :D:p

If i want it, i buy it.... then regret it lol. Then love it.... :D
 
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