Update on Intel chipset and gaming motherboards

[Gate9er]

Hey guys

I am currently looking forward on upgrading my mobo and cpu. I need to know what's going on with Intel chipsets as it's been a while since I last updated my pc. A small research convinced me that 'Intel socket 2011 - Intel X79' is one of the latest and more valuable for gaming. I also took it a step ahead and found a motherboard and this is the Asus Sabertooth X79.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/asus-sabertooth-x79-intel-x79-s-2011-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-sata-raid-pcie-30-(x16)-atx

My main question is that should a go for the newly 2011 socket or should I stick to the old time classic 1155 one? And which chipset is best for gaming Z77,Z68 or X79?

Thank you guys!

P.S. I am aware that Z68 and Z77 use Intel 1155 sockets only and that X79 uses the 2011 socket.

 

[Valentine680]

Well it depends what kind of CPU you want. Both sockets are dead because the haswell will have a new socket 1150 and so will the broadwell. Right now the CPUs that are on LGA 2011 are more expensive and perform better than the 1155. It depends how much u want to spend. the 1155 has i5s and i7s. the best procesors right now are on lga 2011, so it's more expensive they are also better for gaming.

 

[Gate9er]

Well I am looking forward on spending around 250-270 pounds for mobo and around 450 pounds for cpu. The i7 3930K is my most probable choice

Thanks!

 

[dudewitbow]

gaming wise, theres a point after the 2500k/3570k where the cpu price/performance is terrible, as the cost can be allocated to another part of the build. Higher end cpus like the lga 2011 are primarily for heavy multitaskers, and being able to use 16x/16x/16x pci-e lanes, which has very little performance difference between 8x/8x sli/crossfire because modern gpus havent fully utilized the 16x speeds as well as not utilize pci-e 2.0 lanes to the fullest(3.0 only offers ~1 fps difference)

 

[Gate9er]

Well I am currently running a i7-920 overclcoked to 3.3Ghz, but I am looking forward on upgrading it. I also have a GTX580 EVGA, and I am not looking forward on SLIing in the near future. If your question is how much gaming I do, I will simply answer the better I have the more I make use of

Thanks for replying!

 

[dudewitbow]

the reason why I'm saying the stuff I am now is the fact that CPU performance in gaming isn't linear. theres a point where price/performance is such a bad choice. LGA 2011 boards are designed in mind for heavy cpu peformance tagged along with multi gpu setups(hence its multiple cpu lanes). the gaming performance on a single gpu build is insignificant past cpus around the 2500k level, where that money should be going into a better gpu for better gaming performance. In general, to balance out performance, you want as much as the budget to go into a gpu and to balance it with a cpu that is strong enough to handle it so that it wont bottle neck.

 

[Gate9er]

So what you basically saying is that it is a waste of money to buy say the Asus SABERTOOTH X79 along with a 3930K, if you just want your pc to be better on gaming as you won't even notice any significant difference on gaming performance..

 

[dudewitbow]

So what you basically saying is that it is a waste of money to buy say the Asus SABERTOOTH X79 along with a 3930K, if you just want your pc to be better on gaming or it you want even notice any significant difference on gaming performance..

itll only be better, at an insignificant amount compared to its cheaper counterpart. Tom's quote explains what im trying to say a bit better:

Diminishing Returns Kick In:

CPUs priced over $230 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to game performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-3570K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor can be overclocked to great effect if more performance is desired. Even at stock clocks, it meets or beats the $1000 Core i7-990X Extreme Edition when it comes to gaming.

But now that LGA 2011 is here, there's certainly an argument to be made for it as the ultimate gaming platform. LGA 2011-based CPUs have more available cache and as many as two more execution cores than the flagship LGA 1155 models. Additionally, more bandwidth is delivered through a quad-channel memory controller. And with 40 lanes of third-gen PCIe connectivity available from Sandy Bridge-E-based processors, the platform natively supports two x16 and one x8 slot, or one x16 and three x8 slots, alleviating potential bottlenecks in three- and four-way CrossFire or SLI configurations.

Although they sound impressive, those advantages don't necessarily translate into significant performance gains in modern titles. Our tests demonstrate fairly little difference between a $225 LGA 1155 Core i5-2500K and a $1000 LGA 2011 Core i7-3960X, even when three-way graphics card configurations are involved. It turns out that memory bandwidth and PCIe throughput don't hold back the performance of existing Sandy Bridge machines.

 

[Gate9er]

Best answer selected by Gate9er.

 

[Gate9er]

So if I want to stay with my 920, what will be the best choice for an upgrading mobo? I currently have the Intel DX58SO.

 

[Gate9er]

Ok I will post a new discussion on the subject. Anyway thanks for your time!

 

[dudewitbow]

My knowlege on slightly older mobos is quite limited, as most of my experience are with lga 1155/am3+ and newer boards.

 

[nikorr]

This topic has been closed by Nikorr