Solved I feel a little bit dirty but need your help !

[linnemeyerhere]

Ok I confess I'm a AMD guy, but I've ordered my first Intel mobo at a crazy discount ....which is how I do this hobby and why I've leaned strongly towards AMD for so long. So I bought the MSI P67A-GD80 (b3) see link: MSI USA ? Mainboard - P67A-GD80 (B3)
Now I'm shopping for ram and the CPU. Of course I want to give a modest overclock a go. I'd like peoples opinions and if they are actually running something similar their input would be great.
I'm leaning towards only Sandy's:
i5 2550k @ $239.99 usd
i7 2700k @ $319.99 usd
Corsair Dominator Platinum 4x4 @ 2133 @ $249.99usd
G.Skill Ripjaw X's 4x4 @ 2133 @ $175.99usd
Time is on my side so I will watch the ram but is time short to grab a Sandy? Will Intel continue to make these chips or have they moved on the Ivy and the supply out there is it?
Please help me to make a good next move as I feel a little like I've just cheated on a best friend.....lol Is feeling a little dirty a bad thing?

 

[fireberd]

My new system, that I built primarily for my Sonar recording studio is using an i7 3770 and 16GB of GSkill ripsaw memory (type listed as compatible by motherboard vendor). The motherboard is a Gigabyte Z77X UD5H.

 

[Wishmaster]

Honestly, Intel is where its at currently. I wish AMD was more competetive at the higher end, but sadly they just aren't.

Nothing wrong with a SB build. They are still quite powerful and a good choice. The 2700K is a heck of a CPU too, especially if you do things that can take advantage of its HT.

In regards to the RAM, you may also consider 1866 speed. You will not be able to tell the difference in world use anyway. Although certain apps may perform ever so slightly better with the faster RAM though.
CAS latency will not make a difference on SB. With Intel, its all about raw clock speed.

1600-1866 is the sweet spot for SB. 2133 is a good choice, but it starts getting much more difficult to notice the gains in performance at these speeds. Diminishing returns I suppose is the term Im looking for, once you get over 1600 under SB.



Look at these prices at the Egg.
Newegg.com - Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623i72700K

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL

I really like Mushkin Redline RAM myself. IMHO, its superior to Dominators. But just a opinion.
I paired my 2700K with Redline Ridgebacks, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226224 and it performs very well. No issues or complaints.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

fireberd & Wishmaster, excellent information. I will strongly consider 1866 ram with great timings and that should save me some coin as well. Does anyone have an idea on the availability of the i7 2700k, is it something I should grab sooner than later of will it continue in production or inventories for a good while (1-3 months) ?

 

[essenbe]

Alan, I have no idea about inventory's, but I am running a 2600K on an Asrock P67 (B3) as we speak. I am running G Skill Ripjaws X 1866 ram in it. I have run the 2133 in it also. Either works very well, but as Wishmaster said, I can tell no difference in speed. I guess technically, there must be a slight difference, but nothing that you will notice except in benchmarks. I was an AMD guy too before I went with the Intel CPU's. I can tell you that I really don't understand, but 4.5GHz is one heck of a lot faster on an Intel than the same frequency on an AMD. And, BTW, I think the Corsair Platinum is overrated and overpriced.

EDIT: after thinking about it, I would suspect that Intel will be pushing the Ivy bridge chips and there will be dwindling stocks of Sandy Bridge. Just my opinion, not based on any fact. But, it is Intel and AMD does pretty much the same.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Thanks Steve, all this info is great to know and with any luck I'll score a discounted 2700k and then move on to watch for the ram to hit a discount along with other needed items.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

OK so the more I read about the i7 3770k Ivy Bridge the more I'm liking it....what do folks think of the real world differences between a 3770k and a 2700k i7's?

 

[bigmck]

Please help me to make a good next move as I feel a little like I've just cheated on a best friend.....lol Is feeling a little dirty a bad thing?

You disgust me.............

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Yes I'm feeling a bit naughty bigmck ! lol

 

[Wishmaster]

No hands on experience mind you, but from what I can gather, in a nutshell ...

They run a bit warmer at the same speeds vs a Sandy Bridge but perform slightly better clock for clock.


Im sure someone thats had both will be along shortly that can give a detailed comparison.

 

[essenbe]

No hands on experience mind you, but from what I can gather, in a nutshell ...

They run a bit warmer at the same speeds vs a Sandy Bridge but perform slightly better clock for clock.


Im sure someone thats had both will be along shortly that can give a detailed comparison.

And that would be me again. First temps. Temps are a real problem when running stress tests. During normal useage, there is no difference between a 2600K and a 3770K. FWIW, I have a friend with a 2600K Overclocked the exact same as my 3770K. We benchmarked them on several tests. The 3770K always came out better between 13-15%. So they are faster. As for the rumors that they don't overclock as well as sandy Bridge, not true in the least. I have had this one over 5GHz, and believe it could go higher if I wanted to push it. But I have seen CPUz validation of some with serious water cooling hitting 5.6GHz. But again, the temps are only a problem with stress testing. I game on both my rigs. And on both of them the highest temp I see is 55. Now, if you run prime, temps will be about 15C higher with Ivy Bridge, but then again their TJMax is 7C higher.

 

[kbrady1979]

Do you want the i7? Because most people find the 3570K to be a much better value, though it does lack HT. If you need the HT, then go for it. The 3770K will outpace the Sandy Bridge 2600/2700K clock for clock. You can hit higher numbers, easier with SB, but an IB will physically perform better with a slightly lower clock rate. The Ivy Bridge platform also utilizes RAM a little more efficiently than SB, so that is a bonus. Right now, I am running Corsair Vengeance 1866MHz(specs below) and just using the OC Tuner built into my Sabertooth board am OC'd to 1923MHz. Enough for a 7.9 WEI. According to Anandtech and plenty of other hardware reviewers, when it comes to Ivy Bridge, 1600-1866MHz RAM is the sweet spot as they saw no real advantage with faster RAM for the price difference.

As far as choosing RAM, I really wanted to go with a Dominator set, but couldn't justify the extra cost with ABSOLUTELY no bump up in performance. I tried and tried to tell myself that it was worth it for the looks, but honestly, with 4 DIMMS populated with the black Vengeance, it looks rockin as-is. It's your dime though, if you want the Dominator, I know very well where you are coming from!

I have the 3570K, OC'd to 4223MHz(stock OC using OC Tuner) which is a 20% OC, and I actually UNDERvolted it and running 12+ hours of AIDA64 I stay between 50-53*C. I am sure with some tinkering, I could keep it below 50*C at full load, but I'm not fooling with it for a couple degrees. There is about a $100 difference in price between the 3570K and 3770K. Both are excellent overclockers, both can be overclocked AND undervolted at the same time, and both are 10-15% faster clock-for-clock than Sandy Bridge. If you do any kind of video encoding/decoding etc, I would recommend IB for the Intel HD4000 graphics with Quicksync 2. It will encode/decode faster than any video card out there by a significant margin. You can also use the HD4000 with a discrete video card with the 2nd generation Lucid Virtu MVP.......all things to consider.

Edit: This is the RAM I went with, and it is solid, especially at less than $100! ................Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4X1866C9

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Thanks for all the great info Kelly ! Much appreciated.

 

[CB]

Good thread. Will keep it as reference.

 

[kbrady1979]

Thanks for all the great info Kelly ! Much appreciated.

Anything else you wanna know about it, just ask.......I'll give you as much info as I can.

That being said, Haswell will use a totally new socket......socket 1150. Ivy Bridge-E has still yet to emerge, but will use Socket 2011. If you are ready to build a system now, don't think 1155 and Ivy Bridge will be "outdated" anytime soon. It is still a hell of a platform and a solid performer. Also, I don't feel like you need to go the Sandy/Ive Bridge-E route, or you wouldn't be considering 1155.

A good IB cpu/mobo will be a great backbone for a system that will last most people for quite awhile. They just run so good and have so much power...I've yet to perform any task that I've noticed using more than 15-20% of my total CPU power!

 

[DeaconFrost]

There hasn't been a good reason to go AMD (other than a low end budget build) for what seems like a decade now. There's nothing to feel dirty about....not at all. Intel hasn't been called the "Evil Empire" in at least that long, and they have actually became VERY enthusiast friendly.

The main reason I have always built Intel systems is the chipsets. Intel builds chipsets that AMD never can compete with in terms of performance and stability.

 

[essenbe]

Alan, one thing. If you have purchased a P67 board, make sure there is a bios update to allow you to run Ivy Bridge, if you are considering IB. P67 boards require a bios update to enable them to run IB.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Thanks Steve,
In visiting MSI the bios version for all of my CPU options are all the same, so unless the board comes with an outdated bios which the IB i5 or i7 chip can't boot from (a real possibility) then I should be OK.

 

[essenbe]

Sorry, I didn't look before the last post. The last bios version for your board states for Ivy Bridge, so you should be fine.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

I'm getting my wagons in a circle so I can decide i5 or i7 it looks like saving 100.00 and going with the i5 3570k @ 229.99 usd could be the ticket but if I can locate a i7 3770k for anything under 319.99 then I could have a dilemma again.