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Convince me not to go Nehalem

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Hey guys, it's getting close to the time when I'm gonna be rebuilding my system and it's all the more pressing now as it's out of commision and needs a reinstall. I want an i7, I know that. I also know I want as much RAM as I can afford. But the form of i7 I'm still debating on.

Back in the summer when I was first considering this, Nehalem was still a viable option. Between now and then, prices have fluctuated wildly; from £260 for a 960 to below £200, back up to £250, down to £214 and finally now up to £240. I'm also considering the 990x purely for the sheer awesomeness of the beast and the lilelihood I won't need to upgrade for about five years with it. xP

But something still niggling at me like it was then, but even moreso now with the intervening launch of SandyBridge-E and the impending launch of IvyBridge. So basically, I want some advice on what I should do. For reasons I cannot fathom, I find myself drawn to the Nehalem series when there are potentially more appropriate solutions for me. Either sell me on something else or back up my instinct to buy a Nehalem please.
 

JrRacinFan

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What exactly does your personal usage consist of?
 

FordGT90Concept

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Nehalem is 45nm, Sandybridge is 32nm. Sandybridge are clock for clock faster, consumes less power, and produce less heat (my 920 /w stock cooling hit 85C running BOINC). A 2600K beats a Core i7 920 by pretty much every measure. You should really be looking at Sandybridge. If you're going to want >4 DIMMs and lots of graphics cards, I'd look at Sandybridge-E.
 
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My personal usage consides of gaming (with some very CPU-intensive games), general productivity and fairly regular use of virtual machines. The latter I had been having problems with lately due to a lack of RAM and CPU grunt. I also use the PC to watch A LOT of videos, mainly in HD that have in some cases bogged down my system.

And Ford, it would be either the 960 or 990x I'd get.
 
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What exactly does your personal usage consist of?

This first. Then, Nehalem is old tech now and will be even older in 3 months when Ivy will be out. It doesn't matter how many cores you have except in some applications. Better IPC, faster clock per clock, higher overclockability, less power usage, I think that's important.
 

JrRacinFan

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The latter I had been having problems with lately due to a lack of RAM and CPU grunt.

Seems enough reason to go Sandy based. The HD video problem could be defeated with different codec configurations or even purchasing CoreAVC. DDR3 is inexpensive right now, might as well do it and fill the ranks (either way you decide). I won't attempt to convince you to go either route.
 
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A 2600K sounds about right as that has HT. I wouldn't bother with Nehalem as price and performance the Sandybridges are better.

If you go Sandy its Ivy bridge compatible.

Also there is intel quick sync which if using a compatible program, it uses the IPG in conjunction with the cpu and its very fast!
 
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I think right now going to Nahelm or Sandy Bridge is a bad option. Ivy Bridge is coming soon and your CPU is more than enough for games. With GTX580 you wont get bottleneck. CPU is important in low resolutions. In 1680x1050 it just does not matter.
 
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Actually, the Phenom II DOES bottleneck the 580.
 
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If you can wait, wait for Ivy Bridge.
 
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But that means I'll be without my main rig for another three months at least.
 
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Do you buy the 2010 hot rod, 2012 hot rod, or wait for the 2013 hot rod?


You want to know what Hehalem has above SB? Tri-channel memory and 6 core processors. That is it.

What does SB have? Better overclocking, lower power usage, faster DDR3 controller, better IPC, and better pricing structures.

What does SB-e have, beyond a huge cost? Everything SB has, but it trades low power/temp for QUAD channel memory. That means you can have (in a practical an not theoretical way) 64 GB of RAM if you had an unlimited budget.

The best of all, both of these sockets will support the Ivy Bridge die shrink. You can have a rig that will last very well for 3 years, and still be able to upgrade processors. This is entirely unlike LGA1156 and LGA1366.


There are 0 reasons to favor Nehalem in the current market. It may save a little money now, but between power usage and computational power you'll wind up way behind the curve.
 
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Too bad your across the pond from me. There is a I7 920 on my local CL selling for $130. If you were in the states, I would be willing to pick it up for you.
 

brandonwh64

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Too bad your across the pond from me. There is a I7 920 on my local CL selling for $130. If you were in the states, I would be willing to pick it up for you.

Stinger may need this, PM him he is looking to start a new cruncher.

I believe the you should get a nice SB/SB-E and then when IVY releases, you will be able to just buy the chip and be mostly up to date.
 
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There is no reason to buy nehalem over sandybridge unless you can grab an C0 or is it D0 (sorry I digress)920/930 for around £100-£120 and a cheap Mobo/Tri-channel RAM kit. for a £200+ you would be mad to not get an 2600k/2700k, RAM is so cheap you can grab 4x4GB for £80 or less
 

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To me Sandy is your solution, Nehalem holds it's own pretty well in so much as it's not vastly inferior but to be honest why go for older tech when you don't need to, you will also probably get a better choice of motherboards at better prices than S1366.

From what you have said i don't even think you really need 8 threads, I would probably go for the 2500K and use that saving towards the lots of ram you want (16GB?) and probably go for higher speeds/tighter latencies..... maybe even throw a smallish boot SSD in there for good measure.
 

qubit

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So, your current hardware works, but you just need to reinstall the OS?

Definitely wait for Ivy Bridge. It's much newer tech and has all the advantages that people have pointed out.
 
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Yes, just the OS is an issue. But at the weekend I tried to get a temporary 7 setup installed as my laptop is now on the fritz. When I got to installing the GPU drivers, it now refuses to boot. Hoping that's just a software issue and not my 580 dying...
 

qubit

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Yes, just the OS is an issue. But at the weekend I tried to get a temporary 7 setup installed as my laptop is now on the fritz. When I got to installing the GPU drivers, it now refuses to boot. Hoping that's just a software issue and not my 580 dying...

Eek, that would be inconvenient. However, all 580's are still under warranty, as all cards come with at least 2 years warranty afaik, so get it RMA'd if you have to. If you don't have a temporary card to tide you over, then I recommend getting something super cheap and bottom end like a GT520 just to give you a picture.
 
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cadaveca

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Hmm,


i7 970 6-core, or


i7 Gen 2 3930K 6-core.




FIGHT!


bip


bop


POW!!!


FATALITY!!!


3930K WINS!!!

Flawless Victory.




mmm...s'ok for you, no? You buy winner, yes? NO loser for you, amiright? Why you want to buy the bloodied loser? You feel pity for him? You wanna make him yours, make him grow how you want? You know, he's like a pitbull, might just be too much to manage. It seems you are not trusting your gut instinct to buy nehalem. Perhaps you should heed your own warnings?
 

brandonwh64

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Every time I see a post from dave I have to smile cause he so damn awesome!
 
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