Sandy Bridge question

[acastro0318]

From what ive been reading the sandy bridge cpu offeres integrated graphics built from the ground up. Ive been researching motherboards that have good reviews on sli as well as the 1155 chipset. My question is this, why even get a sandy bridge cpu for gaming if i plan on running sli anyways? Can these be used simultaneously? What is this performance boost everyone is talking about from the sandy bridge? Everyone always explains it with frame rates and numbers. Someone please just break it down and tell me, what will it do for an sli system, is it even worth getting for strictly a gaming computer. I have a ps3 for my blu rays, decoding video is done at night when u go to sleep, so speedy encoding isnt a problem. What will this processor offer me? Would i be better off going with a 1366?

Proposed set up:
2 gtx56o ti in sli
Ram based on reviews and mb
Motherboard based on processor and sli fit for 560 ti
Processor based on the answers i get

thx

 

[rolli59]

The SB cpu's are the fastest to date, therefore they keep best up with multiple GPU's in SLI or Crossfire. That is good enough reason to go with SB LGA1155 CPU! LGA1366 is a deadend and about to be replaced by LGA2011

 

[enzo matrix]

You seem to be a bit confused. Integrated graphics has nothing to do with CPU performance. And no you cannot use the integrated graphics and your 560's at the same time. Also, your system will not work without the CPU.

I'll give you some advice based on your uses.
1. video decoding is done by your GPU (the nvidia cards)
2. What program do you use for encoding, can it us CUDA? (GPU) otherwise it will be based on your CPU performance
3. How much do you want to spend?
4. 1366 is an older platform that will be phased out in 2012. The CPUs on that platform cannot compare in performance to those on the 1155 platform in most cases.

My quick advice is to get a core i5 2xxx processor. 4 cores will be right for your uses at a decent price and good performance.

Be aware of stuttering issues with your SLI setup and make sure you understand them. Some people don't mind or notice the issues while others cannot stand it.

By performance boost I suppose you mean turbo core? When running tasks on only one or two of the 4 cores, those cores will speed up.