Some questions -Sandy Bridge -Bulldozer

[AtusSephin]

I'm going to be building a GAMING PC and I have a few questions.

Dont really know what to do. I have to decide between x4 965 BE, i5 2500k and a Bulldozer.

Should I go with a sandybridge processor straight away because I have read that the bulldozer is going to have more than 4 cores and no games use more than 4 cores? So I am guessing from that, that the sandy bridge is going to be better for gaming the the bulldozer, or is it ?

How does the i5 2500k compare to a x4 965 BE ??

Is it worth spending the extra £60 on the is 2500k, how much more future proof is it than the x4 965 BE ?

How much does a good motherboard for the i5 2500k cost ?? any suggestions .

I am planning to overlock my CPU.

Thanks in advance !!

 

[o1die]

Futureproof is strictly in the minds of the builder. If you prefer bulldozer, give amd until April to release it, then decide what you want. Better to have the cpu released first before buying an expensive board that may not support it. As far as which cpu to use, either one will work fine. In my area, microcenter sometimes has the i7 950 for $199, which makes more sense to me than spending $299 for the 2600K. But your vender prices may be different.

 

[loneninja]

I don't think an overclocked Phenom II X4 can beat a stock 2500K, but regardless the 2500K is better at stock, and better when both are overclocked. It'll last longer, how long, no one can say as we can't see into the future.

Just because Bulldozer has more cores doesn't mean it'll be worse for gaming than Sandy Bridge, what matters is the per core performance. If a game only uses 4 cores, are the 4 cores on Bulldozer going to match Sandy Bridge, well we won't know until we get Bulldozer benchmarks.

Oh, AMD's road map shows Bulldozer in 4-8 core configurations with Llano in 2-4 core configurations, so Bulldozer isn't an 8 core only architecture.

I would either grab Sandy Bridge now, or wait until Bulldozer releasing to see which is actually better. It really depends on how soon you need the system.

 

[AtusSephin]

What !! Prices of the i5 2500k in the usa are so much cheaper . At microcenter the i5 2500k cost $189 (about £120) the cheapest i have found in uk is £170. The i5 is such a bargain in th USA (

 

[gamerk316]

The current thinking seems to be that AMD's cores will be weaker then Intel's cores. If true, we could have a situation where SB remains better then Bulldozer except in highly threaded environments, which games typically do not fall into. And after that, we have socket 2011, and its 6-core Sandy Bridge chips, which could take the lead back.

Right now, the 2500k and 2600k are the consensus top two chips on the market. I wouldn't even consider a PII X4 (or even a X6) for a new build right now. Either wait and see for Bulldozer, or hop on the SB bandwagon.

 

[simon12]

2500K £183.95 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/251596 = 153.29 exc. VAT = around $230 so $41 difference not £50 if the £170 was inc VAT then its even smaller. Anyway for gaming if you can afford it get the 2500K and a P67 board it is a mile better than any Phenom. If your budget is smaller you can get a 955BE around £70 cheaper and save around £50 on the motherboard and put the money into your graphics card.

 

[Seli]

You can't just compare the prices of CPUs as you need a MB too. AMD motherboards are little cheaper, but the Sandy Bridge is very impressive. And probably Intel will be able to develope somewhat faster CPUs for the same LGA1155 socket, so you can put some value on probably good future upgrades also.

I would suggest you take 2500K now if you are upgrading. They won't become much cheaper in a little time, even already they're selling a lot from what I've looked the statistics on a webstore, once the main croud chooses to upgrade and the demand goes high, they might even increase the prices to meet demand.

AMD has been doing poorly in the competion for many years now, they would need a significant improvement in order to compete with anything but lower to middle end segment with Intel. Because of that, I can't imagine how they've come up with the money to develope such an improvement. Personally I find that sad but that's just the way it is. Maybe they could come up with some serious improvement with graphics&CPU integratement.

I'm thinking about upgrade to Sandy Bridge too, except I'm sure I'll settle well for i2300 and maybe H67 or at most the cheapest possible P67 board. Off the top of my head that was about 440 euros for board, cpu, 4 GB memory and desent 120 euro graphics.

In europe the cheapest OK boards are about 100-120 euros, with H67 chipset there's more possibilities in that price. (Of course that depends a lot on what you consider OK or decent
Of course, many fork over maybe 150e or morefor a MB and get the 2500K or maybe even the 2600K.

I don't know the prices in England, but you might look at some German sites. From one site I prefer, the 2500K is 223 euros. And it's OK price, but probably not the best.
I think they might release a lower end unlocked Sandy Bridge at some point, like 2300K.

 

[simon12]

Forget Sandy Bridge it looks like there is going to be a recall see http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/intel-hit-with-chipset-design-flaw-in-sandy-bridge-rollout/44257

 

[gamerk316]

^^ Only the chipset, and only a very limited batch from what I understand. I'm not even sure of non-Intel boards [ASUS, Gigabyte, and the like] are effected by this...

 

[simon12]

^ I would still recommend you wait for clarification as I think its all boards as intel supply these chips to all motherboard makers.

 

[Kewlx25]

I don't think an overclocked Phenom II X4 can beat a stock 2500K, but regardless the 2500K is better at stock, and better when both are overclocked. It'll last longer, how long, no one can say as we can't see into the future.

Just because Bulldozer has more cores doesn't mean it'll be worse for gaming than Sandy Bridge, what matters is the per core performance. If a game only uses 4 cores, are the 4 cores on Bulldozer going to match Sandy Bridge, well we won't know until we get Bulldozer benchmarks.

Oh, AMD's road map shows Bulldozer in 4-8 core configurations with Llano in 2-4 core configurations, so Bulldozer isn't an 8 core only architecture.

I would either grab Sandy Bridge now, or wait until Bulldozer releasing to see which is actually better. It really depends on how soon you need the system.

AMD said BD will be weaker per core than current AMD offerings, but will make it up with more cores and better scalability with more cores.

 

[simon12]

AMD said BD will be weaker per core than current AMD offerings, but will make it up with more cores and better scalability with more cores.

I'm not saying you are wrong but where did you get this from?

 

[jf-amd]

AMD said BD will be weaker per core than current AMD offerings, but will make it up with more cores and better scalability with more cores.

NO THEY DID NOT.

Please post your source.

 

[geekapproved]

What !! Prices of the i5 2500k in the usa are so much cheaper . At microcenter the i5 2500k cost $189 (about £120) the cheapest i have found in uk is £170. The i5 is such a bargain in th USA (

It has nothing to do with USA, only Microcenter. They are the only ones that sell cpu's that cheap and you have to live near one to pick it up. The point is to get you into the store so they can sell you other stuff.

 

[EXT64]

kewlx they definitely did not. The architecture is changing quite a bit, so I doubt general statements like that really apply. Wait for the chips to come out and see how they perform in the applications/games you run.

 

[o1die]

That recall is going to affect all motherboards regardless of brand. So hold off on sandy bridge. Reading about it on anandtech.

 

[AtusSephin]

Aaaahhhhh!!! :S What processor and mobo should i get now then? Also , couldn't i get a sandybridge and use the sata 6gb/s ports instead of the 3 gb/s ones and once the problem
has been fixed get a replacemant ??
What do you think i should do now ?

 

[o1die]

Wait for the new motherboards with the fixed chipset. This will take at least two months. You may get a recall notice from msi as soon as the new boards are available. Some of the current p67 boards work pretty well; some of those may get dumped on the market for bargain prices, but I wouldn't buy one.

 

[AtusSephin]

Its just the sata 3gb/s that is affected by this ptoblem ,right ? Can't i buy the sandy and use the 6gb/s ports ?

 

[o1die]

If you haven't bought one yet, I would avoid them. Get an i7 1366 combo instead if you just can't wait. I've seen some used for around $300. But if you have a spare pc to use now, why waste money. If you want sandy bridge, just hold on to your wallet for a couple of months.

 

[emmanuelxian07]

You can't just compare the prices of CPUs as you need a MB too. AMD motherboards are little cheaper, but the Sandy Bridge is very impressive. And probably Intel will be able to develope somewhat faster CPUs for the same LGA1155 socket, so you can put some value on probably good future upgrades also.

I doubt Intel will be producing new processors that will fit the 1155 socket MB's. This is one of the reason's why I am hesitant to get an Intel processor. Intel component upgrades are very limited, unlike AMD who always try to make new products compatible with already existing products. Nontheless, Intel processors outperform AMD processors in every aspect, so it's not that bad either.

 

[AtusSephin]

buy a xbox then

I'd never do that !

 

[warmon6]

buy a xbox then

I got an original xbox that red ringing. You want to buy it? (joking)

 

[gamerk316]

Intel component upgrades are very limited, unlike AMD who always try to make new products compatible with already existing products.

Well, when you put out a totally new architecture every 2 years, thats what tends to happen. Lets face it, AMD's been riding the same horse for almost a decade now, and it shows in performance.