Upgrade timeline?

[Tebor0]

My long in the tooth E6750 has decided that my standard OC of 3.2GHz is over so I'm looking to upgrade.

What's the foreseeable future looking like? Would now be a good time to pick up an i7 or is there something coming in the next few months that I should wait for? My system right now is enough to last me for a while so my worry is buyers remorse and not the need for an upgrade.

TIA

 

[Edrick]

SB in Jan. 2011 is looking like a great reason to upgrade. I will be upgrading my i5 to a SB 2600 as soon as I can click the Order button from Newegg.

 

[Tebor0]

Is January a set release date for Sandy Bridge or just rumored? Will it require a new motherboard or will existing i7 or i5 boards work?

 

[darckhart]

afaik, SB will require new socket (hence new board). Anand also mentioned that the SB chips may not be overclocker friendly for certain models. And we dont know the price breakdown between those yet.

if you want ultra performance and ultra oc, i'd still recommend socket 1366. if you want massive overclocks but dont need some of the fancy features, then go socket 1156. if you want latest and greatest features, wait for SB. or if you're in the amd camp, bulldozer should be heading out soon. (although that six core $245 chip is looking mighty tasty.)

 

[Martimus]

Is January a set release date for Sandy Bridge or just rumored? Will it require a new motherboard or will existing i7 or i5 boards work?

To be honest, this is the first time I have heard January. I only heard early 2011, and that was just a rumor as well. I don't know when SB will be released. If it is released in January, then that will likely be my next processor since that is my currently planned time to build a new computer (I had originally planned on building one this past spring, but I waited for the 5870 price to come down, and it never did, then that money ended up getting used for other things).

EDIT: I looked through the Sandybridge Preview again, and they said Q1 2011. So it should be out before summer time.

 

[khon]

Is January a set release date for Sandy Bridge or just rumored? Will it require a new motherboard or will existing i7 or i5 boards work?

It is set for CES 2011, which is in early january, and it will require a new motherboard.

 

[RussianSensation]

Last time I read January 6th or 9th or so for Socket 1155. The summer version is Socket 2011 with 6- and 8-core CPUs.

 

[electroju]

At this time, it is not a good time to get a new processor if your processor is stated as high-end. There is AMD's Bulldozer processor coming and as well as Intel's Sandy Bridge. Stick with your present setup and upgrade other components because Sandy Bridge requires a new motherboard. Also the Bobcat core shows that it has performance to compete against the i5, so the Bulldozer core should be at least double. This means the Bulldozer core might actually be enough to compete against Sandy Bridge. I would wait for third quarter of 2011 to get the best deal if you want a processor that is two times faster.

 

[Edrick]

It is set for CES 2011, which is in early january, and it will require a new motherboard.

I have read this from numerous sources as well.

 

[epidemis]

It will be out at CES2011

 

[khon]

At this time, it is not a good time to get a new processor if your processor is stated as high-end. There is AMD's Bulldozer processor coming and as well as Intel's Sandy Bridge. Stick with your present setup and upgrade other components because Sandy Bridge requires a new motherboard. Also the Bobcat core shows that it has performance to compete against the i5, so the Bulldozer core should be at least double. This means the Bulldozer core might actually be enough to compete against Sandy Bridge. I would wait for third quarter of 2011 to get the best deal if you want a processor that is two times faster.

That's a rather strange train of thought you got going there. It's true that the Bobcat core can compete against arrandale i5s as far as graphics goes, but how does that relate to the bulldozer core which has no graphics components ?

 

[ViviTheMage]

I am waiting on SB as well...I have a Q9550, works great. I plan on skipping hte i7/i5/i3 stuff all together, and just hop on the SB train. I'll wait for SB to release, and then give it even 3-4 months after, while the motherboards get a bit more mainstream/solid.