How upgradable is Intel CPUs

[jiewmeng]

So I think what most people seem to recommend is "buy now". Instead of waiting to Ivy Bridge or AMD Fusion. So suppose I get Intel i5 2400. I wonder what are my upgrade options?

I read that Intel has a bad reputation of too many sockets or processors. So I wonder what socket will Ivy Bridge use and will the hardware be compatible?

I suppose Motherboard/Chipset may not? What about RAM (say I get DDR3 1333, this is the default in most MB without Over Clocking?). Then I suppose SATA3 will remain ... same for GPU (PCI-E x16)? What other hardware would change? I am looking at say 2 years ... or Ivy Bridge at least

 

[venjhammet]

Grab the 2500k (Overclock well good) and a high end gpu like gtx570 or 6970 and you're good to go for 2 to 3 years

 

[jaguarskx]

Ivy Bridge will be initially released as socket 1155.

However, there has been nothing mentioned about current chipset (Cougar Point) support. Ivy Bridge may require a different chipset than what is currently available.

I haven't done much research since I am not looking to upgrade yet and Ivy Bridge is still several months away, but I believe it should come with PCI-e v3.0 slot(s). I don't think there will be much change for RAM.

Intel hinted IB will arrive either late this year or early next year. I plan on upgrading next year even if IB is released in November/December. That's plenty of time for me to do research.

Since I upgrade every 3 - 4 years I actually don't mind building an entirely new PC. Sure it's a bit inconvenient, but as long as the performance/price ratio is favorable to me then I won't mind too much.

For a more stable socket platform, I would stick with AMD.

 

[jiewmeng]

Grab the 2500k (Overclock well good) and a high end gpu like gtx570 or 6970 and you're good to go for 2 to 3 years

If I dont overclock? Do I still get that? Or will 2100/2400/2500 surfice?

 

[JordoR]

If you really wanted to save a few dollars (and I mean a few the difference between the 2500 and the 2500k is about $20) then you could. However, I would suggest invsting in it just in case you decide to do any overclocking in the future once your CPU becomes outdated. It is very easy to do with the new sandy bridge chips and you can overclock quite a bit without any impacts on temperatures.

The 2100 is the lower end chip which is recommended more for office PC builds. The 2400 is a bit higher up, but for the price you may as well just go with the 2500... and in that case for the extra $20 or less just get the 2500k.

Honestly if you buy just the plain 2500 and no the upgraded version you will probably be kicking yourself in a few years.

 

[jaguarskx]

The i5-2500k probably costs about $10 more than the i5-2500. However, unless you are doing a very minor overclock (300MHz or so) it is generally recommended you buy a 3rd party heatsink for better cooling capabilities. That generally add at least $25 to your cost.

While you may not want to overclock your PC right now, you may want to do so in the future when you feel your PC is a bit slow. Therefore, spending the additional $10 on the i5-2500k and an additional $25+ when you do want to overclock can save you money in the long run. When Intel stops producing socket 1155 CPUs, the remaining stock will probably go up in price after a certain point in time.

Make sure the motherboard you buy uses a P67 chipset since it allows you to overclock.