Is Sandy Bridge REALLY worth the wait?

[BoomerD]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_(microarchitecture))

Anand's SB preview also mentions it ($205-$216).
http://www.anandtech.com/Show/Index...=the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row

I've seen that...but apparently had forgotten those price estimates. Motherboards are the bigger question then for me.
There are no GOOD 1366 boards under $200 it seems. I'm hoping the 1155 boards will be priced more in line with the 1156 boards. I don't usually buy cheap motherboards...they're usually cheap for a reason...and often, undependable. I'd rather spend $150 or so and buy a better board. (although I realize they also have their share of problems...just fewer)

 

[CosmicMight]

I've seen that...but apparently had forgotten those price estimates. Motherboards are the bigger question then for me.
There are no GOOD 1366 boards under $200 it seems. I'm hoping the 1155 boards will be priced more in line with the 1156 boards. I don't usually buy cheap motherboards...they're usually cheap for a reason...and often, undependable. I'd rather spend $150 or so and buy a better board. (although I realize they also have their share of problems...just fewer)

If foreign prices are any sort of a barometer, there will indeed be several nice mobos to choose from in the $150-200 range. $200+ is going to be strictly high-end stuff. I'll go dig up some links.

As has been stated numerous times in this thread, one of the reasons that I feel x58 is not a viable option anymore compared to waiting is because the mobos are still too expensive.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

If foreign prices are any sort of a barometer, there will indeed be several nice mobos to choose from in the $150-200 range. $200+ is going to be strictly high-end stuff. I'll go dig up some links.

As has been stated numerous times in this thread, one of the reasons that I feel x58 is not a viable option anymore compared to waiting is because the mobos are still too expensive.

cheap boards arent necessarily bad. they may not have as many features but ive had lots of cheap boards i got through combo deals that have been very stable and have lasted many years. you dont have to spend 150 to get a good board

 

[Patrick Wolf]

cheap boards arent necessarily bad. they may not have as many features but ive had lots of cheap boards i got through combo deals that have been very stable and have lasted many years. you dont have to spend 150 to get a good board

Good point. More features and/or higher-end chipset = more money. Plus manufacturer's don't want RMA's so it's in their best interest to sell boards that last at any price point. I'd wager most board failures are due to a subpar PSU. Either by failure or sloppy voltage.

 

[BoomerD]

cheap boards arent necessarily bad. they may not have as many features but ive had lots of cheap boards i got through combo deals that have been very stable and have lasted many years. you dont have to spend 150 to get a good board

My experience has been just the opposite. EVERY inexpensive board I've ever owned has been buggy as hell.
My current P4 board, (ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe) has been rock solid for almost 5 years...it replaced an ECS board that was buggy right from the start...and died a painful death...taking out my video card when it went.

IF I stick with the i5-760, I already have an ASUS P7P55D-E Pro board for it...I'll want something similar for the 1155 socket if I make the change.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

IF I stick with the i5-760, I already have an ASUS P7P55D-E Pro board for it...I'll want something similar for the 1155 socket if I make the change.

Of course there will be. If not at launch then soon after. 1155 is meant to replace 1156 afterall.

 

[BoomerD]

Of course there will be. If not at launch then soon after. 1155 is meant to replace 1156 afterall.

I understand that...but a similar board for the 1366 processors is well over $200.

 

[CosmicMight]

My experience has been just the opposite. EVERY inexpensive board I've ever owned has been buggy as hell.
My current P4 board, (ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe) has been rock solid for almost 5 years...it replaced an ECS board that was buggy right from the start...and died a painful death...taking out my video card when it went.

IF I stick with the i5-760, I already have an ASUS P7P55D-E Pro board for it...I'll want something similar for the 1155 socket if I make the change.

OBL isn't wrong, but I'm with you; I'd rather spend the money on something that is more likely to last. That brings me to two other questions:

A. What do you use your comp for?
B. If the answer to A is anything more intensive than web surfing+DX9 games, then why not bring it all back? I hate to see anyone leave that much performance on the table...

 

[CosmicMight]

I understand that...but a similar board for the 1366 processors is well over $200.

You also have to remember those are the creme-de-la-creme. 1155 boards are more mainstream, and as such, will be more inexpensive.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

You also have to remember those are the creme-de-la-creme. 1155 boards are more mainstream, and as such, will be more inexpensive.

And unless you need 1336 specific features or need a 980x for work tasks (in which the faster CPU would increase productivity and increase profit) there's no reason to invest in it.

 

[BoomerD]

And unless you need 1336 specific features or need a 980x for work tasks (in which the faster CPU would increase productivity and increase profit) there's no reason to invest in it.

I agree. the 1366 wasn't really being considerred...well, just a bit... but not seriously.
Most of my use is surfing and gaming...and I have about 5 years worth of games to catch up on. (last game purchased was COD2) I know there are some VERY good games that have been released...buy my P4 wouldn't be able to do them justice...so I waited.

I DID consider the i7-875K...for a few minutes, but the price (about $319) sent me back to the i5-760.

It looks like the "higher end" 1155 boards are going to be priced a bit higher than the 1156 boards, and about the same as the 1366 boards.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

and I have about 5 years worth of games to catch up on. (last game purchased was COD2)

Heh, I have about 50 old games (a couple released in '97!) I need to get through before a CPU upgrade would be helpful. But first I must get through my many PS2 and Xbox games. So don't feel too bad.

 

[BoomerD]

Heh, I have about 50 old games (a couple released in '97!) I need to get through before a CPU upgrade would be helpful. But first I must get through my many PS2 and Xbox games. So don't feel too bad.

:biggrin: I still have (and play occasionally with my grandson) Quake II and the original Half-Life...I think I got rid of everything older than those.

 

[CosmicMight]

Ahhh, you found that chart on XS that I was too lazy to dig up.
Edit: well, you would probably be fine with the 760 for what you've described...but I still think you'd be leaving way too much on the table, and for about the same money. Maybe $50? more, but for 30% across the board performance...

I believe the Gig UD4+P8P67 Evo are semi-high end SLI boards in the $175 range (I'm assuming those prices are Euro). More performance @ same money = win.

A little while back, I actually dusted off GT3 A Spec and played for a month or so. Still a fantastic game, and then there is GT5 that I have to buy at some point...I have all the time in the world at the moment and still not enough to play all the games I like. Way too many good ones out there.

 

[BoomerD]

To my surprise, Amazon offers one 1155 board:
P8P67 $172.19
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-P8P67-LGA...=17LWFY180WLO4

Not much information available for it though...

I think I'm going to return the processor and motherboard...and wait. Anyone know about the RAM for the i5-2500K yet?

 

[CosmicMight]

To my surprise, Amazon offers one 1155 board:
P8P67 $172.19
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-P8P67-LGA...=17LWFY180WLO4

Not much information available for it though...

I think I'm going to return the processor and motherboard...and wait. Anyone know about the RAM for the i5-2500K yet?

DDR1333. For your budget and what you're using it for, that will be plenty. Higher-end boards will have the usual 1600+ avail, check out the wiki link that someone posted on this page. Already have 4g ready to go myself :biggrin:

 

[Anomaly1964]

Has newegg said when they will have SB for sale?

Are they doing pre-orders?

 

[Axon]

It's unlikely to sell out. Just buy on launch day. I think it's January 9th.

By the by, I've seen the 1155 CPUs up for sale. I have no idea about this place's reputation, so ymmv: http://www.neobits.com/intel_bx8062...uad_core_1_mb_l2_6_mb_l3_p548317.html?atc=gbs

 

[Anomaly1964]

With SB, will you have to disable the video to make whatever card you have work?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

My experience has been just the opposite. EVERY inexpensive board I've ever owned has been buggy as hell.
My current P4 board, (ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe) has been rock solid for almost 5 years...it replaced an ECS board that was buggy right from the start...and died a painful death...taking out my video card when it went.

IF I stick with the i5-760, I already have an ASUS P7P55D-E Pro board for it...I'll want something similar for the 1155 socket if I make the change.

i dont know much about p4 generation but i got a bunch of g31 combos for the office (msi and ecs) and ALL of them have worked flawlessly for almost two years and are all fully linux compatible as well. ecs is supposed to be the cheapest around (the one i have sells for $25 at amazon i think) but theyve been great and they even support quad core chips (the msi's dont). id rather spend $50 on a board and replace it every couple years than spend $150 and keep it for 5 years

 

[Axon]

With SB, will you have to disable the video to make whatever card you have work?

No, it just takes the discrete GPU that you install. At least that's how my i3 540 works.

 

[steve wilson]

Haven't read the whole thread... but I'm waiting to upgrade my e6600 rig and have been waiting a few months now. I'm pretty confident that it's going to be worth the wait... I'll probably get an extra year maybe two years out of the rig, with a graphics card update somewhere a long the line.

 

[Acanthus]

I just wanted to chime in and say that if you are looking for a 3 year life on a PC build, you will have to do at least one graphics card upgrade.

28nm cards are in the works from both AMD and Nvidia. This is important because their primary supplier TSMC had a lot of trouble with their last shrink, so much so that they actually scrapped it and have bumped forward the schedule on next shrink.

Because the high end cards are bumping up against both size and power constraints, the transistor density is a huge impact on performance for gpu's.

Long story short... there will be a MASSIVE leap in performance when they go 28nm. We are talking 80% or more.

 

[toyota]

28nm may not be as magical as you think. going from 65nm to 55nm to 40nm has been a modest increase in performance at the same level of some cards. in other words a 40nm 336sp gtx460 is only about 30-40% faster than even my old 65nm 192sp gtx260. thats pretty freaking poor on my book.

 

[BoomerD]

One of the members at the ASUS forums posted these links for 1155 boards currently available (or for order) in Europe and Australia:

http://www.skycomp.com.au/category/Motherboards/Intel-Socket-LGA1155---H2.aspx

http://ijk.com.au/branch/ijk/index.p...page=1&sort=2a

Prices don't look TOO bad...just a bit higher than the current 1156 boards, but not quite as bad as the 1366 offerings.