Intel Tick Tock, is it better to buy a new die shrunk size, or new microarchitecture?

Dugzor · May 5, 2013

And which is likely to have the best longevity in terms of support and future compatibility.

Will the successor to Haswell, Broadwell (die shrink) I believe, use the same socket and therefore be compatible with the same motherboard as Haswell? Or will the socket change with Broadwell and then be the same for its successor, Skylake?

I buy a system quite rarely, but with the intention of being able to upgrade the cpu later. My current system started with an e4500 and I upgraded to a q6700 a couple of years later. So I would like my next system to be able to be able to be upgraded in a similar fashion.

I use my rig for gaming, all modern games run fine on high settings with my gtx460 so I'm not in a rush.

I hope that makes sense! Thanks.

diellur · May 5, 2013

It can't be guaranteed what the future socket types will be in comparison to Haswell. What I would consider is that the recent CPUs have been broadly similar in terms of capability with improving performance with onboard graphics and power efficiency. For instance, my i5-2500K is just as capable as running games as an i5-3570K and will be just as capable as the Haswell i5 counterpart to those two CPUs. Yes, the newer CPUs will perform better but you're talking % performance upgrades in single figures, and when your CPU can overclock as well, the bottom line is you won't notice the difference.

Effectively, S1155 has reached the end of its upgrade life as no more CPUs will be made supporting that socket type. But, you can probably expect it to last a good few years on a gaming system if you bought one now.

Valentin_N · May 5, 2013

Dugzor :

Broadwell will only come for tablets, ultrabooks and maybe laptops. For the desktop there will come Haswell and haswell refresh

If I were you I would invest my money on a LGA 2011 socket; This motherboard will support Ivy Bridge, Haswell-, and Skylake-E meaning only the cpu has to be bought. Haswell- as well as Skylake-E will come with DDR4, which isn't a must if a high-end DDR3 (2133MHz or above) is enough.

The cheapest upgrade for this will be 600$( 200$ motherboard, 260$ i7-3820 quadcore cpu and 100$ 8GB of ram) but upgrading to haswell (120$ motherboard, 180$ quadcore i5 and 60$ 8GB DDR3) won't be cheap either. On the long term LGA 2011 may be cheaper

diellur · May 5, 2013

S2011 is aimed more at enthusiasts. Certainly more powerful than S1155/S1150 but perhaps not worth the cost? The majority of gamers currently have either S1155 or an equivalent AMD platform; the performance increase that S2011 gives over those is not necessary for current games. However, it may give you more longevity than a current system would...I would doubt if it is more cost-effective though.

Valentin_N · May 5, 2013

diellur :

once you have the system you may need to pay 250$ for the cpu upgrade which is okey compared to the mainstream that needs to "upgrade" cpu and mobo every second year which will costs more; cpu+ mobo replacement.

the i7-3820 is my eyes not enthusiast cpu but more worth than i7-3770K.

diellur · May 5, 2013

Since newer CPUs are focusing more on energy efficiency and onboard graphics, I doubt that's the case now. For a gaming system, I'd expect to see a GPU replacement every couple of years and a CPU upgrade every 4-5. CPUs on gaming systems last a good deal longer than you're giving them credit for...for instance, the i5-2500K is over 2 years old and is still in the top tier of Tom's CPU hierarchy, despite subsequent CPU releases.

Dugzor · May 5, 2013

Thanks guys, really useful and interesting points. I think the s2011 might be the way to go then having read the comments here. It would support a longer line of processors so as long as I got a full featured motherboard that should be pretty long lasting.

I use my machine for software development including vms, occasionally multiple ones, so I would probable stump up the cash for an i7. I also didn't realise that Broadwell was limited to those platforms.

I'm inclined to agree that gaming processors last a long time, I got my q6700 about 6 years ago and tbh it still runs everything, in that time I've been through 3 gfx cards though.

Great food for though, thanks both.

Valentin_N · May 5, 2013

Dugzor :

You can buy i7-3820 (it can be overclocked until the multiplier reaches 39 and the BCLK can be increased by 125, 166 and 250MHz, compared to the current S1155 has BCLK at 105MHz as best. So you can set BCLK on 125MHz and then decrease the multiplier from 39 to 35.

i7-3820 Overclocking review - ASUS Rampage IV or ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Professional is what comes in question from what I have read.

diellur · May 5, 2013

As an exercise, work out how much it'll cost to but a S2011 motherboard and CPU, then compare it to a S1155 system. Or S1150, if you decide to wait for Haswell. Assuming a S1150 gaming system will last 4-5 years without a CPU refresh, you can get an idea of its cost compared to a S2011 system and how much the respective upgrades will cost. By the time you're set to upgrade, the S2011 will be defunct also, and all you'll have done is spend more money.

Dugzor · May 5, 2013

Bah! I just wrote a reply and it lost it. I will go and do a pricing up of the options, I enjoy spreadsheets.

I agree, if it's only a small increase in longevity for a large amount of money then it's not so worth it.

I'll probably look at all of the chips, and all the overclocking options too, I do like playing with that.

Thanks.

Valentin_N · May 5, 2013

Dugzor :

You have my LGA 2011 setup and I really hope it will last long once you have it.

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