Official Intel Ivy Bridge Discussion

[jayarte]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-overclocking-core-i7-3770k,3198.html

Ok, thanks.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

But fazers, comparing SB to IB would HAVE to be like comparing Phenom I to Phenom II, since it was only an arch tweak. Comparing PhII to Zambezi would have to be like comparing IB to Haswell (which, we sure will).

Actually what I meant was the enthusiast expectations for BD and for IB - both were pretty high although many here cautioned IB would be just a die shrink for the CPU anyway. In contrast, those who cautioned that BD may fall well short of expectations & hype were labeled fanboys.

If you add up the pros and cons of BD vs IB, it's pretty clear which was a big disappointment to a lot of enthusiasts. IB falls flat in just one area - extreme overclocking - and even that will improve with time. In all other areas, it is anywhere from a minor to major improvement - what's not to like? 😛

I agree with Mac that Intel actually focused a little more in the graphics department than the CPU itself, just like AMD did on Llano vs Phenom II (tweaked K10 and included an iGPU) or Trinity and Llano (IB to SB, since they're both APUs, like it or not).

Well Haswell is also slated for a major graphics upgrade, but I expect the CPU to show more relative improvement this time as well, due to transactional memory and possibly L4 cache for it, as well as the GPU.

However my rig before 2PM today was a C2Q, so I got tired of waiting and pulled the trigger. Now I have a huge pile of boxes piled around my desk, and will be busy this weekend with the build. My wife just got home, so I'm waiting for her to walk in the door and her eyes pop out a couple inches or so 😀 😀.. Luckily I already told her I was gonna build a new rig sometime "soon" 😛..

 

[fazers_on_stun]

Its a little more complicated than your facts make out, you can prove anything with facts, that's way too easy

With BD you need to take into account that the motherboard was out a ways before the chip was so I would think a lot of those that "decided" to go with BD did so because they already had the Motherboard.

If we go back to the silly facts for a moment we also need to take into account that you can get SB chips just about anywhere. the same cant be said of the P2 chips which AMD removed from the channels pretty fast.
For clarity I am in the UK and can only say it as I see it from here, US and other countries may well have had a different transition.

Personally given a free choice I would rather have a P2 or a SB if picking from either side.

Mactronix

IIRC AMD EOLed the P2s sometime in December, so I'd imagine given the demand for them (in part due to BD's lackluster advantages), no wonder they've run short. Personally I think it was short-sighted of AMD to try and force their customers onto BD, but I guess they think it's better that way in the long run.

With IB, you get USB 3.0, PCIe 3.0, lower power consumption at most frequencies except the extreme oc's, QS2 with faster speed and better control of quality, yadda-yadda. To me the choice was obvious since I plan to oc at 4GHz and no more.

Unfortunately, today I had to settle for a Gigabyte 7970 since nobody in town has a GTX680 (hell, I can't even find a 670!). Main problem with AMD is the drivers - seems like they break a lot of legacy stuff.

 

[EXT64]

That is why you keep old rigs around 😀

 

[fazers_on_stun]

That is why you keep old rigs around 😀

Exactly! Unfortunately the old rig is showing signs of age and the GTX-8800 already died last summer, so I'm using an AMD 5770 or some such on it now. Kinda weird stuff like all the system fonts being a lot smaller after I exit DAO or DAA, which didn't happen with the NV card.. However I can live with that - it's the occasional messing with the games itself that I don't like..

 

[EXT64]

I find my 5850/470 do OK on mid age games. For old games, I still have a couple working 6800GTs.

 

[ebalong]

IIRC AMD EOLed the P2s sometime in December, so I'd imagine given the demand for them (in part due to BD's lackluster advantages), no wonder they've run short. Personally I think it was short-sighted of AMD to try and force their customers onto BD, but I guess they think it's better that way in the long run.

With IB, you get USB 3.0, PCIe 3.0, lower power consumption at most frequencies except the extreme oc's, QS2 with faster speed and better control of quality, yadda-yadda. To me the choice was obvious since I plan to oc at 4GHz and no more.

Unfortunately, today I had to settle for a Gigabyte 7970 since nobody in town has a GTX680 (hell, I can't even find a 670!). Main problem with AMD is the drivers - seems like they break a lot of legacy stuff.

If you wanted the 680, why don't you just ride it out on the IGP until more stock comes in? What do you do that the "improved" Ivy graphics can't handle in the short-term?

 

[Reynod]

JJust put together a brand new 3570k together tonight and its bedding in at about 29C ... dropped to 26 after 20 mins ... stock heatsink.

Moved it from 3.4 to 4Hhz ... no increase in Vcore ... runs smooth as ice and no appreciable thermal ramping.

Once I install the OS I'll do some tests ... so far no issues.

Stuck a 570 in it so it should be good for the lad to play games with a CMStorm case and 2X4Ghz 2.4Ghz GSkill ... probably a bit overkill there ... meh.

Scratching my head over the fan speed controller cables tho ... man I'm getting old.

 

[jayarte]

This is my final (hopefully) proposed build. I've spent over two months researching components lol and am sick to death of the ruddy thing! Advice, comments and/or suggestions welcomed.

Corsair Carbide Series 500R, Black, Mid Tower Gaming Case
Asus P8Z77-V Z77
Intel Core i5 3570K (or possibly 2500K if much cheaper)
CM Hyper212Evo or Noctua NH-D14 (is the extra cost of the Noctua really worth it? OC will not be above stock voltage)
8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600Mhz (£32.16)
Gigabyte 2gb GTX 670 Windforce
PSU LN37705 750W Corxair TX V2
LN38164 OCZ Vertex 3 240gb

I'm trying to balance performance with cost, power consumption and noise. My pc is mainly used for gaming and browsing, nothing more intensive than gaming. Has taken me weeks to decide between IB and SB, but depending on price difference (which isn't much atm in UK, I think), I'll probably go with IB.

 

[ddan49]

^Please take that to the "New Builds" section of the forums. I and many other members would be happy to help you there, but this is definitely not the place for reviewing new builds

 

[Guest]

well . .it does have a kepl . .ivy bridge in the build . .damn even i get these threads mixed up!

 

[Reynod]

^Please take that to the "New Builds" section of the forums. I and many other members would be happy to help you there, but this is definitely not the place for reviewing new builds

I read it and thought (incorrectly) he had built one and was going to give a bit of feedback on it.

This is the place to give a bit of feedback on any IVB build ... particularly benchies and thermals.

 

[Appsch909]

This is my final (hopefully) proposed build. I've spent over two months researching components lol and am sick to death of the ruddy thing! Advice, comments and/or suggestions welcomed.

Corsair Carbide Series 500R, Black, Mid Tower Gaming Case
Asus P8Z77-V Z77
Intel Core i5 3570K (or possibly 2500K if much cheaper)
CM Hyper212Evo or Noctua NH-D14 (is the extra cost of the Noctua really worth it? OC will not be above stock voltage)
8Gb (2x4Gb) Corsair Vengeance LP, DDR3, 1600Mhz (£32.16)
Gigabyte 2gb GTX 670 Windforce
PSU LN37705 750W Corxair TX V2
LN38164 OCZ Vertex 3 240gb

I'm trying to balance performance with cost, power consumption and noise. My pc is mainly used for gaming and browsing, nothing more intensive than gaming. Has taken me weeks to decide between IB and SB, but depending on price difference (which isn't much atm in UK, I think), I'll probably go with IB.

Not a bad build, just a few things I'd say.

1) If silence is key, spend the extra on the Noctua cooler. Maybe not the D-14, but at least one of them.
2) Again, for silence, the 500R isn't that good. Maybe have a look at the Fractal Design Define series ( I got one, they're awesome

)

Besides that, a really nice build

 

[ddan49]

Just one thing. Keep in mind that going with a Fractal case (or any "silent" case) will affect your temperatures. A typical computer build isn't all that loud, though... it's not SILENT, but you can still hear things over it. Also, I've heard of some problems with OCZ SSDs. Do you have an HDD for storage? I'd get a 128GB or 64GB SSD for OS, games, and applications, and an HDD for stuff like video files, documents, etc.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

If you wanted the 680, why don't you just ride it out on the IGP until more stock comes in? What do you do that the "improved" Ivy graphics can't handle in the short-term?

After talking to the salesman at Microcenter, others at local computer shops, etc it doesn't seem likely they will get any significant numbers of 680's in stock anytime soon. MC gets maybe one or two and they are gone within minutes. I would have to hang out at the shop for maybe the better part of a week, or try bribing one of the salesmen to set one aside for me 😛.

IB's IGP would be fine for anything but I have my doubts it'll suffice for 1080P gaming at medium to high quality settings and high frame rates, which is what I would like to do for a change (the old 8800GTX handled games of its time, but it died last summer after 4.5 years of use). I've switched between NV and ATI (now AMD) GPUs various times over the years, esp. liked the AIW series back before the cable companies routinely scrambled all their channels. However I've had better luck with NV drivers as I mentioned. Will see how the Intel drivers do on the HD4K..

BTW, my new system specs:

i7-3770K with Zalman 9700 cooler (like the looks)
Asus P8Z77 Deluxe mobo
16 gigs Corsair Vengeance 1866 CL9
Gigabyte HD7970 3GB factory oc'd
Coolermaster HAF932 case (older case but lots of huge cooling fans included - should be pretty quiet)
OCZ ZX1000 "gold" series PSU
WD Velociraptor 600GB 10Krpm drive for games
2 x WD 2TB storage drives
LG Supermulti Blue optical drive
Soundblaster Recon3D sound card with quad-core processor
Altec Lansing Octane7 2.1 speaker system
Samsung 27" Syncmaster Series 3 display with 2ms GtG

Total price after the stupid mail-in rebates 🙂() was a bit over $2550, including a backlit keyboard & wireless moose - er, mouse

I'll be getting probably an Intel 330 or 520 series SSD 120GB or 180GB boot drive today, unless somebody talks me into a OCZ Agility 3 😛..

 

[jayarte]

^Please take that to the "New Builds" section of the forums. I and many other members would be happy to help you there, but this is definitely not the place for reviewing new builds

Sorry, I will re-post over in new builds. The title "Official IB Thread Discussion" misled me somewhat.

 

[jayarte]

Not a bad build, just a few things I'd say.

1) If silence is key, spend the extra on the Noctua cooler. Maybe not the D-14, but at least one of them.
2) Again, for silence, the 500R isn't that good. Maybe have a look at the Fractal Design Define series ( I got one, they're awesome http://imghost909.comeze.com/imgs/signature_wink.jpg)

Besides that, a really nice build

Thanks for the suggestion re the Fractal. I did research the 500R quite comprehensively, including watching a couple of youtube reviews (which I find tedious) and given that I want a sleek, subtle look combined with great cooling and not too noisy, I thought the 500R fit the bill (plus it has two usb 3.0 ports on the front, which is good). Taking a quick look at the Fractal Design Define, it also looks sleek and subtle, but no USB 3.0, and larger gpu's might not fit.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Fractal_Design/Define_R3/6.html

Corsair carbide 500R has a slightly higher review on same website:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Corsair/Carbide_500R/6.html

 

[jayarte]

Damn, why do I always get the "you are not allowed to edit this message" on my own posts?

Just wanted to add that I agree regarding Noctua and decided to go with that one, despite the extra cost.

 

[EXT64]

It can be glitchy sometimes too.

 

[jayarte]

you can edit, look for the options in the lower right corner of your postings.

Yes, I use the edit button, click it, type my edit, press enter and up comes "you are not allowed to edit this message" every time. Can't work out what I'm doing wrong. I mean, I'm logged in ... can't think of any other requirement.

Ok, quick edit seems to work. Thanks

 

[Guest]

or you can just send me a i5-3450 and i'll fix it for ya
😗

 

[jayarte]

try 'quick edit' and see if that works...
(curiosity..)

^

 

[anxiousinfusion]

Just one thing. Keep in mind that going with a Fractal case (or any "silent" case) will affect your temperatures. A typical computer build isn't all that loud, though... it's not SILENT, but you can still hear things over it. Also, I've heard of some problems with OCZ SSDs. Do you have an HDD for storage? I'd get a 128GB or 64GB SSD for OS, games, and applications, and an HDD for stuff like video files, documents, etc.

So my rig isn't unusually loud? Whew. What is typical in terms of decibels?

 

[Guest]

So my rig isn't unusually loud? Whew. What is typical in terms of decibels?

WHAT!?!?!?

 

[anxiousinfusion]

How loud are most custom computers? That's all I'm asking.