Upgrade choice

[Knytestorme]

Currently rolling with an i7-930 and 12Gb RAM but feel the urge to change things up after tax return (will be replacing the 460's with 3Gb 580's)

Choices are to keep current mobo and get an i7-970 and 24Gb RAM or to switch to a 2600K with new mobo + 16Gb RAM. Both options will cost pretty much the same so it's more about getting the most effective option for the next 2 years.

Main uses are development (Vis Studio/Dreamweaver/SQL Server for app and web dev), VM's for servers/testing, audio work (DAW), online poker and WoW.

My current thinking is that more cores + ram is likely better for my situation then extra speed but I haven't had a chance to play with Sandy Bridge yet so not sure if it will actually bring more to the table then just a faster clock speed.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Personally, I'd go with the 2600K option. Fenril's testing has shown that this CPU is a beast for boxing applications. You can always add more RAM later. ;)

[Sajuuk]

Dump both options, go with a dual-hex setup with 48GB ram.

least that's my plan when I return to the states. :p

[Noids]

Wait for the sandy bridge e release. The current 2600k is a great chip but the chipsets are not as powerful as the X58 currently. The update for this is due end of this year. Will have quad channel memory instead of tri channel with up to 40 PCI Express lanes for multi GPU goodness (I am assuming from the plural of 460s that you are looking at MultiGPU). If you really want something now then I would say go the 2600k direction as you mention the most effective option fo the next few years and hopefully the sandy bridge chipsets will accept a CPU upgrade or two if you so choose.

[Kekkerer]

I'd go with a i7 980/990 and keep the triple channel memory that you have, no point downgrading to a sandy bridge chip.

[MiRai]

Dump both options, go with a dual-hex setup with 48GB ram.

least that's my plan when I return to the states. :pSam can help you build that.

Wait for the sandy bridge e release. The current 2600k is a great chip but the chipsets are not as powerful as the X58 currently. The update for this is due end of this year. Will have quad channel memory instead of tri channel with up to 40 PCI Express lanes for multi GPU goodness (I am assuming from the plural of 460s that you are looking at MultiGPU).What makes you say that 1155 is not as powerful as X58? I'm also curious as to what benefits more PCIe lanes
and quad channel memory will provide to people over what we currently have. Real world benefits not the idea
that more is better.

I'd go with a i7 980/990 and keep the triple channel memory that you have, no point downgrading to a sandy bridge chip.I do believe you need to look at a few benchmarks before you tell someone to upgrade to an outdated
processor which costs $1,000.

[Umbaalo]

Agreeing with Fenril, I have the 980x chip... Wish I would have waited a lil longer for the 2600k. The benchmarks say it all, and now I'm stuck with a $1k chip until my next upgrade/build in a couple years.

[MiRai]

Agreeing with Fenril, I have the 980x chip... Wish I would have waited a lil longer for the 2600k. The benchmarks say it all, and now I'm stuck with a $1k chip until my next upgrade/build in a couple years.
The 980/990 is definitely a nice chip and I'm not knocking it, but to recommend it at this stage of the X58 and
1155 chipsets is slightly amiss. I almost went the 980X route back in November but decided not to and see
what Sandy Bridge had to offer. I actually was trying to hold out for LGA2011 but after seeing Sandy Bridge
benchmarks I just couldn't wait any longer.

[Kekkerer]

6 physical cores are ideal for multiboxing 5 accounts because there is a high level of parallelisation and significant memory access.

The OP, already has a 1366 motherboard and DDR3 ram therefore getting a new motherboard, cpu and memory may not even be cheaper.

Edit: a lot of benchmarks are not designed to take into account multithreaded jobs which is what multiboxing is. Multiboxing has a similar load distribution to video editing, though this is my opinion.

[MiRai]

6 physical cores are ideal for multiboxing 5 accounts because there is a high level of parallelisation and significant memory access.
I don't know what that means.


The OP, already has a 1366 motherboard and DDR3 ram therefore getting a new motherboard, cpu and memory may not even be cheaper.
The 2600K processor, which costs $320, is the most expensive item of the three which would need to be
purchased. As for whether he believes he currently has poor performance or not with his X58 i7 is for him to
decide. I believe he would be able to stick it out until Ivy Bridge is released, though.

[Umbaalo]

Well, it is actually 12 cores with HT ;)

I'm happy with the performance, just wished I could have waited and saved a few hundred in cash. Regardless, ivy bridge is going to put a lot of chips to shame in the next year.

[Kekkerer]

Indeed, I would wait for a DDR3 & 6+ core Ivy Bridge as well but if you're looking to upgrade now I wouldn't go down to DDR2.

Parallisation: CPUs are optimized to run a single thread per core therefore they have a lot of cache and are able to perform complex processes such as solving partial differential equations. Wow in essence is a single thread process, yes i know they've patched it so that it can split into multiple threads however the main reason you're seeing performance increases is because load has been taken off your cpu cache not because your cpu was running out of clock cycles. (this is a guess because there seems to be no fps difference between running wow on ultra on 1 core as opposed to deafult settings, i've got a 990x that has 12MB of cache in comparison to 8MB on the 2600k.) Wow is not truly a parallel process and you are also wasting resource on communication when using multiple cores.

Umbaalo, you are looking at benchmarks that do not represent what multiboxing is in reality, be very happy with your 980x.

[Sam DeathWalker]

HT can maybe get you 30percent more CPU speed under ideal conditions. Its far from clear if multiboxing will take advantage of this but Fenril tests seem to say that it will. Multiboxing is a very nich application though and most benchmarks are not going to tell us how we will do. Best to let someone else buy something and report here as to how well it is for multiboxing (lol).

It would appear on its face though that if you have 6 real cores and are 5 boxing on that computer and you can assign 2 cores to your main and 1 core to each alt that you should be doing well, but that is just speculation. Not sure if running an application on a real core and a virtual core is going to help at all.

I would not consider DDR2 at this point prices are falling on DDR3 and are dirt cheap ($10 a G with 4G chips). And DDR2 will go up in price as more manufacturing facilities move from making DDR2 to DDR3.


The new chip sets will be better but if you only use one video card nothing earth shaking.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4318/intel-roadmap-ivy-bridge-panther-point-ssds/2

[Noids]

What makes you say that 1155 is not as powerful as X58? I'm also curious as to what benefits more PCIe lanes
and quad channel memory will provide to people over what we currently have. Real world benefits not the idea
that more is better.


Yeah poor choice of words with the sandy bridge/X58 comparison. The point I was trying to make was that the various Sandy Bridge chipsets offer no significant advantages over X58 other than being able to utilise the new generation CPUs which are definitely superior.

With regards to the potential (who actually knows until we can test the gear) benefits of the sandy bridge e chip/platforms, I would suggest they may be similar to the benefits seen upgrading from the OPs current system to a 2600k.

I am not generally one to recommend waiting for new technology before upgrading but in the OPs case he has what is a pretty amazing system to start with. The upgrades he is considering are probably only slightly more than side grades and I think in this particular case it would be better to wait another 6 months for a new generation of hardware before investing in it.

Saying that if you absolutely want to upgrade now, knyte, definitely go sandy bridge as I mentioned initially and seems to be the general consensus of this thread. On a sidenote, I have absolutely no idea how talk of DDR2 memory got started considering none of the platforms we are discussing support it...

[Knytestorme]

Thanks for the replies all, some good points made that echoed my own feelings as I thought more about the question.

I think that the upgrade is just a case of wanting to spend money and having the newest toys but it is effectively a side-grade at the moment from what I have...hell, even a single 580 is the same benches as the 460sli according to Anand, though I think the 3Gb framebuffer will give a bigger impact then they test for in the case of boxing.

Going to a Z68 chipset was enticing as Ivy Bridge will slot in to the mobo when released but do I really want to spend the time and money now for a 6-9 month stop-gap?

I think unless a really overpowering argument comes out I will likely just replace the 460's with a 580 and maybe switch the 60Gb SSD for a 120Gb SATA 3 SSD and call it a day until after Ivy comes out.....unless I wilt and go with 580 SLI for BF3, Rage, Skyrim, etc

[MiRai]

I am not generally one to recommend waiting for new technology before upgrading but in the OPs case he has what is a pretty amazing system to start with. The upgrades he is considering are probably only slightly more than side grades and I think in this particular case it would be better to wait another 6 months for a new generation of hardware before investing in it.
Exactly. If you wait for Ivy Bridge... then Haswell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_%28microarchitecture%29) will be right around the corner. I normally recommend going
with an upgrade every other generation of CPU.

Going to a Z68 chipset was enticing as Ivy Bridge will slot in to the mobo when released but do I really want to spend the time and money now for a 6-9 month stop-gap?
Unless the Ivy Bridge CPUs for the 1155 chipset prove to be beasts, I'm sticking with this 2600K until a dual
CPU LGA2011 motherboard is released.

I think unless a really overpowering argument comes out I will likely just replace the 460's with a 580 and maybe switch the 60Gb SSD for a 120Gb SATA 3 SSD and call it a day until after Ivy comes out.....unless I wilt and go with 580 SLI for BF3, Rage, Skyrim, etc
That sounds like a good plan and then start an Ivy Bridge fund now in time for an extra sexy upgrade next
year. I have been toying with the idea of picking up another one of these 3GB cards for SLI testing. We'll see
what the next few weeks bring. :)