Haswell or i7?

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jaguarskx
Since the primary purpose of the PC is for games, I recommend simply going with an i7 CPU (assuming AutoCAD makes use of HyperThreading).

The difference in gaming performance should be pretty low since most games are bound by the GPU, not the CPU. An example is Crysis 2... it doesn't care if you have a Core i5 @ 2.5GHz or 4.5GHz, the difference in performance is only a few frames per second. However, Skyrim does benefit from a faster CPU, but it will not be night and day. You will likely need to run benchmarks to notice the increase in frame rates.

If you are fine with your current PC then just wait for Haswell. If the performance of your current PC is less than acceptable, then upgrade to a core i7.

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Hello,
I'm thinking of upgrading my existing computer, but I'm stuck in the middle of upgrading two things. An i7 or Haswell. The upgrade will be worthwhile as my current is CPU is very low spec with Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.4GHz with 2GB RAM.


Well moving on, I heard that Haswell will be releasing next year on March, so I'm thinking will upgrading to i7 now be worth or should I just wait? Please note that all I'm planning to do is play graphic intensive games and maybe AutoCAD too. I have already got my eyes on GTX 550 Ti, PS:- I dont want to hear any suggestions about my graphic card 😛 will just confuse me in the end
 
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Yeah 2x is a 'little' off ... if it were to be the case I don't think Intel would sell many chips until Haswell is released.

Just bear in mind that your existing motherboard will need to be replaced due to different sockets. As I recall Haswell will use a different socket again vs Ivybridge.
 
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"Haswell" is a processor family or generation, like Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge. "i7" is a group of processors within each family generation, generally the top end of performance, and with the i5 group one step below that. The Haswell desktop family will include i7's, i5's and i3's, as well as server Xeons and mobile CPUs. So the thread title really should be "Haswell or Ivy Bridge" :).

As for waiting on Haswell, it is supposed to be out next March but then so was Ivy Bridge originally slated to be out this past March, and it got delayed a couple months to May. However Ivy's delay was probably due to the new 22nm tri-gate transistor process, which Intel has mastered by now, and Haswell will be on the same process so it won't be delayed on that basis. Haswell is supposed to be an architectural upgrade over Ivy Bridge, over 10% faster ipc on the CPU side, and a whopping 3X or 5X on the GPU side (due in part to having an L4 cache mounted on top of the GPU using a "through silicon via" or TSV interposer that provides huge bandwidth and low latency compared to conventional GPU memory which is on an ordinary bus connected to the GPU). At least, that is what SemiAccurate says..

For gaming you'll probably want to keep your 550ti as I doubt Haswell's integrated GPU will come close performance-wise, but such a strong iGPU can contribute a lot of processing power using something like Virtu MVP (which I use on my i7-3770K and HD7970 setup).

From what I've read, the Ivy Bridge "E" or enthusiast CPUs won't be out until about a year from now, on LGA2011, so Haswell desktop CPUs will be out first.
 
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A new generation being twice as fast as the prior generation has never happened in 40 years of Intel history. I think you were having a dream.
 
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As was pointed out in the Haswell sticky thread, the only official pronoucement (i.e., from Intel) was 7X the SB HD3000 igp. Since the HD4K is about double the 3K, that would mean about 3.5X the HD4K.

Extremely impressive if it actually turns out to be that huge a jump. And proof that Intel is taking graphics very seriously.
 
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As allways... if you need new computer now, buy it now... If you don't need... Then you don't need a new computer. There is always one that is better and cheaper in the future. (Well at least it has been so ;-)

Seriously it is hard to say anything About Haswell yet. It should be more efficient, is it allso faster we will see. And if it is faster is there any reason for Intel to sell it cheaply? What I am afraid that Haswell will become upper end CPU and Ivy will reamain as an "cheap" alternative. They are made in same production node, so there is not so big hurry in production to move to newer CPU.
 
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Since the primary purpose of the PC is for games, I recommend simply going with an i7 CPU (assuming AutoCAD makes use of HyperThreading).

The difference in gaming performance should be pretty low since most games are bound by the GPU, not the CPU. An example is Crysis 2... it doesn't care if you have a Core i5 @ 2.5GHz or 4.5GHz, the difference in performance is only a few frames per second. However, Skyrim does benefit from a faster CPU, but it will not be night and day. You will likely need to run benchmarks to notice the increase in frame rates.

If you are fine with your current PC then just wait for Haswell. If the performance of your current PC is less than acceptable, then upgrade to a core i7.

 
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Solution
I stumble on this thread while looking for info on the Haswell as I am looking at upgrading as well.
My understanding is that Haswell is going to be "2x" the performance of Ivy Bridge at the "same" power level. My guess is that Haswell will come out with less power consumption rather than massive jump in performance. The integrated graphic core will see 2-3 x improvement in performance.
Apparently Haswell will have a different socket (again?!) to the LGA1155 for Ivy Bridge. I think Intel officially state that Haswell will be using LGA1150. It means it's a different path for desktop upgrade you are looking at.
If I were to get an laptop or ultrabook, I would wait for Haswell. Desktop-wise, it would be little difference between a Haswell and Ivy Bridge, especially if you already have a decent graphic card.
 
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Based on years of Intel history, you'll never see a 50 percent jump in performance from one generation to the next. Under the best of circumstances, probably 15 percent. It just will never happen. Improvements are made in baby steps, rarely great leaps. Intel may greatly improve the onboard graphics, but only because honestly they're very far behind in that department. And both AMD and Intel are a very long, long journey away from integrated graphics replacing stand alone graphics cards for high end systems. Possibly never.

In regards to power consumption, honestly I've never seriously considered that a selling point. Yes yes, save the planet and all is nice, but unless you live somewhere like Hawaii with astronomical electricity rates, you're talking a mere few dollars a year in savings on your bill. In some cases, it might find yourself running your system 2 years before you break even on what you paid for the more efficient, newer gen CPU. (i5-2500K vs 3570K for example is on average about $15-$20 more for the Ivy depending on the merchant)
 
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