Upgrade to i7 980/990x or another 1155 socket cpu?

[Ben Johnson]

I've been using a 920 in my pc for the past few years, and I seem to have hit a wall in terms of processing power and would like to get some more life out of this setup.

Just wondering if it would be worth it to max out with a CPU that is compatible with the current motherboard, or spend more for a current cpu AND board.

Any thoughts?

 

[kev]

Hey Ben. I've still got the 6 core. I can tell you nothing stands in its path still for now. I am holding fire on any upgrades. Unless there are any major performance increases with the new haswell architecture I am going to run it into the ground. Worth a punt if you can pick one up at a decent price.
The beauty of these is being able to pop them up to 4ghz in a jiffy of course, stable as a rock and run cool as you like.

From what i've seen, i'd avoid ivy bridge btw. If I recall correct, the new $1k ivy bridge benchmarks at stock about the same as the currently $400 980x/X5650 @ 4ghz.

tip: look for the x5650 as it is essentially the same chip as the 980x but as it is the server equiv you'll be able to get it a little cheaper. Chances are high your bios will support it if it can take a 980x.

 

[Ben Johnson]

Thanks for the info. I'm not entirely sure if the xeon is compatible, so I'd probably rather play it safe with the 980 or 990 if the price is right.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1366/P6T/

I've attempted to overclock in the past without much success. I'd probably be more inclined now that I'm using a Corsair H60.

 

[Temps]

where are you finding the 980x that cheap?

the new "common" sandy bridge stuff benchmarks the same or faster as the older 980
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/15

the i7-2600k is a very fast chip. even the 2500k is quicker. that's older sandy bridge stuff too.

if you can find a 980x that cheap go for it but otherwise, just go sandy or ivy bridge

 

[Ben Johnson]

We're talking used, although I haven't seen the 980x for much less than $500 US.

 

[kev]

Damn thats a spanner in the works, looks like they may have only released xeon bios for the P6T pro and beyond. At $500 thats a bit of a tough pill to swallow. You can pick them up for just over $400 if you are lucky, but $400 i was really referring to the x5650.

I would bet the chip holds its value though. The top dog processor (of any given socket) has always tended to keep very good 2nd hand value in my experience. It's a difficult decision but If you have to do it I would probably keep the feelers out for a 980 as close to the 400 dollar mark as possible, and look to sell the bits off in spring next year upon the release of the haswell processors.

If you do go the ivy/sandy route, at least you wont have to buy any memory as you'll already have ddr3.

My real answer though Spend nothing (well maybe a decent cooler), overclock the 920 up to the 4ghz region to get the raw power you're after (plenty of settings about there for the asus you've got, even videos as this is a good popular board and plump for a shiny haswell windows 8 build in March.

 

[Ben Johnson]

That seems like sound advice. Thanks.

It's mostly out of laziness to print tracks that I'm looking into more power, now that Slate VCC and VTT are devouring all of it.

But I think I'll give another crack at overclocking.

 

[Josh Burgess]

From what i've seen, i'd avoid ivy bridge btw. If I recall correct, the new $1k ivy bridge benchmarks at stock about the same as the currently $400 980x/X5650 @ 4ghz.

Where are you getting that info? The $350 i7 3770K Ivy Bridge is at the very least just as powerful as the 980, if not more so.. The same can be said of Sandy Bridge CPUs (2700K, 2600K, 2500K)...

I'm looking into a build now, and people on Gearslutz seem to say the i7 3820 (2011 socket, x79 boards) is better for pro audio stuff.

http://www.adkproaudio.com/benchmarks.cfm

 

[kev]

My X5650 is still eating the stock 3770K actually.

 

[kev]

Nice Edit Josh

 

[Josh Burgess]

Didn't see you had posted when I edited, but from your chart, it looks like the 3770K still edges out both the 980x and 980 for significantly less money than either. I don't know much about server CPUs or anything about your X5650. I'd go with the 3770k for most things right now, but some people are claiming the 3820 sandybridge-e CPU is better for DAW use. I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I'd like to just hold out for Haswell, but I'm still on a Q6600 and pretty sick of it now.

 

[MatrixClaw]

My X5650 is still eating the stock 3770K actually.

How do you figure that?

Based on the full version of that chart, your X5650 is 42 ranks BELOW the 3770K...

The 3770K rates at 10,406 and your X5650 rates at 7,951.

 

[kev]

If I recall correct, the new $1k ivy bridge benchmarks at stock about the same as the currently $400 980x/X5650 @ 4ghz

 

[MatrixClaw]

I don't understand how comparing an overclocked CPU to a stock CPU is at all fair.

The 3770K completely rapes when OC'd, and is also $650 cheaper.

 

[kev]

I don't understand how comparing an overclocked CPU to a stock CPU is at all fair.

The 3770K completely rapes when OC'd, and is also $650 cheaper.

Obviously, stock speeds it spanks it . The idea behind this was to demonstrate if we can lengthen the life of Bens system. IMO, upgrading now after seeing the cards that Intel dealt with ivy bridge is a bad move. May as well have jumped on Sandy bridge a year ago for all the extra it offer- for your outlay now you get a dead socket & a gash oc ceiling. I didnt advocate buying the 980 either, just showed what you could get out of it.

But my logic does pin all hopes on haswell being decent. It could of course turn out to be a (tera) flop. Ouch that was bad.

Didn't see you had posted when I edited, but from your chart, it looks like the 3770K still edges out both the 980x and 980 for significantly less money than either. I don't know much about server CPUs or anything about your X5650. I'd go with the 3770k for most things right now, but some people are claiming the 3820 sandybridge-e CPU is better for DAW use. I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I'd like to just hold out for Haswell, but I'm still on a Q6600 and pretty sick of it now.

I used to run a good old q6600 but I was a bit glutenous and moved straight for the next socket when I was a real enthusiast for it. Admittedly you'll be doing well if you ride that out til' the Haswell release!

 

[Ben Johnson]

Just thought I'd chime in and report that I stopped being a little bitch and tried overclocking again. A modest boost up to 3.3Ghz, and I was able to get the little bit of extra juice I was looking for (with load temps in the 50s).