What does your next CPU need to deliver for you to upgrade to it?

[Arachnotronic]

Thread title should be self explanatory

For me, I would ideally like something such as Coffee Lake 6-core -- latest architecture, many cores, and hopefully overclocking headroom to ~5ghz.

In other words a hex core Kaby Lake-S (though I may be tempted by a 7700k for the 5GHz factor).

How about y'all?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

50% IPC increase and 6+ cores would sell me immediately. However, since that is probably still several years away, I'll likely go KabyLake or Skylake X.

 

[Chaotic42]

50% performance increase over my 4790k.

 

[bbhaag]

It has to outperform my PII 965 that is oc'ed to 3.7.

 

[Rifter]

6 cores, 5+ghz, newest instruction sets. Not cost more than $400.

 

[Phynaz]

3x performance over I7-870

I only upgrade CPUs when I can get a 300% performance uplift.

 

[severus]

Normally I upgrade every 5~ years. Duron 1.1 - Athlon XP 2200 - c2d E6750 - i5 2500k. However, there doesn't seem to be a significant performance increase in my current CPU to more modern ones. I want an upgrade like my Athlon XP to my c2d, otherwise I just don't see the point. I could probably upgrade the video card in this i5 machine once more before needing to get a new CPU.

 

[VirtualLarry]

3x performance over I7-870

I only upgrade CPUs when I can get a 300% performance uplift.

Wow, tough crowd. What did you have before that CPU, a Pentium 166 MMX?

 

[Arachnotronic]

3x performance over I7-870

I only upgrade CPUs when I can get a 300% performance uplift.

Interesting! Single thread performance or multi-thread?

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

What context are we talking in?

In the context of any device with an x86 cpu, I will be on the lookout for 35/45 watt 6 core intel CPU's as the marker for when I need to upgrade my laptop. Although a quad core 15 watt part for the Surface Pro might convince me to upgrade that way instead.

For desktop, short of a technology requirement to upgrade I will be waiting quite some time. Primary desktop is a 5960x and backup is a 4770k, both overclocked pretty well. I'll be expecting a 50-75% single-threaded performance increase over the 5960x at 4.5 ghz with at least as many cores. I imagine I will be waiting until around 2020/2021 for a combination IPC and frequency increase to make that a reality.

 

[Nothingness]

- AVX-512
- >40% more IPC than my i4770K
- >30% more turbo boost frequency for single thread
- at least six cores

I guess I'll get that within 2 years if Intel don't get their acts wrong

 

[CHADBOGA]

There needs to be at least one PC game I want to play, that my existing CPU isn't powerful enough to run it at acceptable frame rates, when I am not GPU limited.

Otherwise, what difference does it make if I have to wait twice as long for a file to unzip or whatever?

 

[DeathReborn]

As I said in the Zen version of this thread, it has to beat my 4770K @4.8GHz in ST & MT. I would prefer at least 12 threads and be on a consumer grade platform (Z370?) but I am not 100% sold on that for personal use.

LAN rigs will stick to i5's for the foreseeable future so 4670K with + 20% or better performance would be nice in 2017 for them.

Server is currently 32 core so would like to switch to 48/64 next year.

For all options either AMD or Intel, it's whatever gives me the upgrade I want (or closest to it).

 

[Wuzup101]

I'm very seriously considering building a 6800k based system as an upgrade over my existing 2500k. I would expect that it would last me for a while. I've had this 2500k since right around when they were released, and it's served me well. Honestly, it continues to serve me well. Which is why I haven't pulled the trigger. It's been what - 5 years? And I still don't really feel the "need" to upgrade. I just kinda have the itch to upgrade lol... must buy shiny...

 

[The Stilt]

After recently upgrading to a HCC Haswell-EP, it is hard (but not impossible) to better that:

- AVX-512
- >= 10 cores at 4.0GHz+ clocks (through overclocking is fine)
- >= 15% higher IPC than on Haswell

 

[jones377]

Unless my usage scenario changes radically due to some new killer-app/game I don't see myself upgrading from this 4770K until it actually breaks. I bought it almost fresh off the fabs back in 2013 and it still feels brand new.

 

[Shehriazad]

Tbh what I really want is a DESKTOP CPU that has 4-6 threads at about 3-4 Ghz that are at least 10-15% faster than Kaveri clock for clock(per thread)...BUT...here's the but...need 25W or less TDP so I can easily passively cool the system.


In addition to that I want GTX 960/RX480 perf level at no more than 60W so it can be passive as well.


Basically I want a mini PC that is also eco friendly but has enough oomph to actually play anything I throw at it...while making no (audible) sound at all.


Not sure how many years we're away from that.

 

[Justinbaileyman]

I would like something like a AMD x4 880K times two on one chip but with 8-16mb L3 at something like 35-65w tdp. would also like it to be 20-40% stronger and faster then the 880k clock for clock.Oh and it would be nice if it had a starting clock speed of 4.0Ghz.Would love to see this with a price point of no more then $200.00 as well.Doesn't matter if this comes from Intel or AMD I just want a strong but power efficient CPU.

 

[Ken g6]

At least 2 more cores. With HT.

Spoiler

I have an i3 now, if it's not still in my sig.

Also, 5GHz at <100W would be nice. But I'd probably also like it to fit in my current Z170 board. I'll consider Kaby Lake and maybe Cannonlake.

 

[moonbogg]

At the moment my current CPU would have to BREAK and stop working. I'll reevaluate when Skylake-X shows up.

 

[superstition]

Indium arsenide with terahertz transistor speeds.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I want an APU with DDR4-3200 or HBM2 (or both). If I can get my DDR4 there via bclk OC then so be it.

 

[ninaholic37]

100% better single-threaded IPC than current Atom at the same price and power.

 

[crashtech]

My next CPU needs to deliver temptation that I am unable to resist.

It seems likely that this will be a Coffee Lake mainstream hexacore. I don't think HEDT has been all that great of an investment.

 

[RussianSensation]

My last upgrade was from i5 2500K to i7 6700K:

81% faster application performance

~50% faster gaming performance

I'd like a similar upgrade next time around, which I estimate will come in 5 years or around 2021 or so. I roughly estimate that with Intel's 3-year cadence, I will jump 2 true next generation IPC architectures (Icelake in 2018 and "Icelake 2" in 2021) and likely move to a 6-8 core CPU for good by then. The Z170 platform is pretty stacked with features such as USB 3.1, PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2, DMI 3.0. I'd like meaningful platform updates too such as PCIe 4.0 x4-8 M.2/U.2, DMI 4.0/5.0. I plan on getting a 4K gaming monitor too which should shift the bottleneck even further to the GPU. For that reason I doubt there would be a meaningful CPU upgrade for me in the next 2-3 years. Games are also lagging way behind when it comes to 6-8 core CPU utilization, which makes the prospect of a 6-core Coffee Lake based on refreshed Skylake/Kaby Lake architecture (aka Cannonlake) somewhat uneventful for me. I may consider Icelake in 2018 if I manage to sell the 6700K for a good price, but otherwise my plan to coast until 2021 or around that is set in stone.