Which is better?

[gxavier38]

I saw these processors:
Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115229
Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E 3.2GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

Why is it that the 3820 has 3.6Ghz when the 3930K costs more?
I'm gonna buy one of those, so give me advice. Which is better?

 

[joedastudd]

The 3930 has 6 cores the 3820 only has 4.

What do you plan on using the system for?

 

[gxavier38]

Gaming and work. Cool, 6 cores?

 

[capt_taco]

Ask yourself if you need a $600 6-core processor for either gaming or work. Probably not.

 

[joedastudd]

For gaming the 3820 would be better, but for multi core tasks like video encoding the 3930 would be slightly better.

 

[diellur]

Why do you want a Sandybridge-E CPU? If you're wanting a decent system for gaming, go for an i5-2500K CPU. The Sandybridge-E range is enthusiast-oriented and might not be best for your aims.

 

[Raidur]

What kind of work do you do? Anything CPU intensive?

Games will not benefit from >4 cores. This includes CPUs with hyper threading.

i5-2500k is the best gaming CPU within reasonable margin (no other CPUs surpass it by more than a few frames due to games being poorly multi-threaded >3 cores/threads) at the very low price of ~$220.

Ivy Bridge is coming out in June introducing 22nm to the CPU world and you'll have a CPU capable of ~10%+ of OC headroom and ~5% IPC increase, with similar pricing to Sandy Bridge.

 

[gxavier38]

What socket is Ivy-Bridge going to use?

 

[amuffin]

Socket 1155 (same as sandybridge) . 22nm has been delayed until June though.

 

[gxavier38]

Ah, so I better get the normal 2500 one then, while waiting for Ivy-Bridge.

 

[Raidur]

If you really can't wait for 2 months you might want to purchase something low cost like an i3-2100. It may be enough to keep you going til then assuming you can't wait.

What GPU are you going to use? The i3-2100 is capable of handling any single GPU out there and mid-range SLI/Crossfire.

Then you can get yourself an i5-3750K (to replace the i5-2500K).

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Intel-Ivy-Bridge-CPU-LGA1155,14325.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-2100-phenom-ii-x6-1075t,2859.html

 

[gxavier38]

I'm thinking about single 590 for now, then adding another one in SLI in the near future.

 

[sarinaide]

I wouldn't buy a GTX590, I would buy a GTX580 or wait for Kepler if you want to stick to Nvidia.

With the money you will save not going with a 2011 build, you can throw a 2500K on a Asus Maximus Extreme Z and live the dream.

 

[wr6133]

If your waiting for ivybridge you may want to wait on the next gen of Nvidia cards too which should come soon. Maybe get something a little more basic from the 500 series now and then hold back to get a top of the line 600 series to go with the Ivybridge when you get that.

 

[gxavier38]

Sure, I was thinking of an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme to go with an LGA 2011 Socket, but I decided to wait for Ivy-Bridge.

 

[sarinaide]

Sure, I was thinking of an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme to go with an LGA 2011 Socket, but I decided to wait for Ivy-Bridge.

Totally wrong, I meant it in the Z68 (1155) platform that way you can upgrade straight with a ivybridge.

i7 2600K (if you really need the HT or a 2500K will more than surfice, there is not a game around nor foreseeable that will bottleneck this CPU)
Asus Maximus IV Extreme Z (Z68)
Antec HCP 1200
2xGTX 580


It will cost you as much as a Motherboard and CPU on the Socket 2011 platform and pretty much pwn it in price/performance. SBE is not really like the old 771/1366 platforms, its a desktop trim server platform with gimmicks like 3-4 way which has been seen in AMD motherboards for a long time and also prominant on X58 boards. In short you can blow $5000 plus on a X79/SBE and be rather disappointed down the line, certainly be out performed by a standard IB desktop chip.

 

[gxavier38]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[gxavier38]

Best answer selected by Gxavier38.

 

[sarinaide]

We are obviously not trying to tell you what to buy, however I feel money can be saved and put towards things that will notably improve your performance, a 3960X on a ASUS Extreme X79 may give you a 10% improvement at best over a 2700K on a Z68 ASUS Extreme motherboard. I will go further to say that you really don't need a ROG motherboard which will save you more, similarly you don't really need a 2700K when a $200 2500K will more than destroy any game around, all the dollars saved can go into the GPU side and/or PSU where the notable gains will be made.

Essentially it comes down to what you will be happy with, a x79/SB-e is a good platform, but maybe not as relevent as it may necessitate the cost of it. If you buy a SBE setup I am sure you will be pleased in the same manner as a SB setup. Whatever your final choice, enjoy your setup......I am sure you will.

 

[gxavier38]

Thanks, the rog motherboard was because of my graphics card. I was going for an asus direct cu ii card and that's the only one I found that supported sli with triple slot cards.

 

[amuffin]

I better see pictures of this beast later on Also the colors should match up pretty nicely, just get red/black parts (get black veangence ram for this one)

 

[gxavier38]

We are obviously not trying to tell you what to buy, however I feel money can be saved and put towards things that will notably improve your performance, a 3960X on a ASUS Extreme X79 may give you a 10% improvement at best over a 2700K on a Z68 ASUS Extreme motherboard. I will go further to say that you really don't need a ROG motherboard which will save you more, similarly you don't really need a 2700K when a $200 2500K will more than destroy any game around, all the dollars saved can go into the GPU side and/or PSU where the notable gains will be made.

Essentially it comes down to what you will be happy with, a x79/SB-e is a good platform, but maybe not as relevent as it may necessitate the cost of it. If you buy a SBE setup I am sure you will be pleased in the same manner as a SB setup. Whatever your final choice, enjoy your setup......I am sure you will.

I forgot to tell you, the SB-E CPU was for futureproofing. I want it to play BF3 type games in 3 years (Comparing BF3 to current hardware, If you know what I mean...). Will that help? I'm waiting for the top of the line Ivy-bridge.