Upgrade to IB?

[Hobo82]

Hey folks,

With the release of Ivy Bridge only a few hours away, I have a question.

I currently have a 2500k on an AsRock Extreme4 Gen3 (z68). I know from a "gamer's" perspective, there's not going to be a huge difference with IB over SB, but I've got 2x7970 in my PCI-e 3.0 slots but only running at PCI-e 2.0 (8x/8x). Will replacing SB and enabling PCI-e 3.0 make a huge difference? or even a moderate difference? And if so, worth the price (not to mention the pain the a** of draining/removing all my water cooling components to replace the processor)?

To be honest, I'm looking for confirmation that it WILL make a difference because I really want IB, but if it legitimately will not matter, I'm open to the truth. lol.

Thanks in advance!

 

[WR2]

Hello Hobo82;

No Ivy Bridge for you.
Seriously..... will not matter. And very seriously - not worth the cost.
It would be at most sideways 'upgrade'.

 

[Hobo82]

WR2,

I assumed as much. Thank you for your input. So you don't think the PCI-e 3.0 interface will have any noticable difference?

 

[WR2]

I'm looking for confirmation that it WILL make a difference because I really want IB, but if it legitimately will not matter, I'm open to the truth.

The truth will be out there in a couple days time when all the dust and angst has finally settled.
As for the 'I really want IB'? You'll probably do what you want anyway.
And be back here next year asking the same thing and saying you really want Haswell.

If you can get a good price selling your 2500k it will take some of the sting out of changing.

 

[WR2]

So you don't think the PCI-e 3.0 interface will have any noticeable difference?

Would a noticeable difference be one of those it's a 'different meaning to me than to you' type things?

 

[13thmonkey]

There is a graph somewhere showing measurable improvements with 2 cards on PCI-e3 compared to 2, i'm assuming thats a x16x16 compared to x16x16 setup, although thinking about it I don't know how they managed that (must be a high end mobo with an additional controller).

 

[Hobo82]

As for the 'I really want IB'? You'll probably do what you want anyway.
And be back here next year asking the same thing and saying you really want Haswell.

If you can get a good price selling your 2500k it will take some of the sting out of changing.

lol
While the temptation to have the biggest, baddest, newest widget is definitely there, I'm resisting the urge. If it won't be "noticable", I don't care.

Would a noticeable difference be one of those it's a 'different meaning to me than to you' type things?

Perhaps, but to be honest, I don't really know alot about the PCI-e interface differences.

 

[WR2]

We're pretty sure you can saturate a PCI-e 2.0 board with 3 or 4 HD 7970s.
I'm still not clear on the real world impact of dual cards on PCI-e 2.0.

 

[WR2]

To me - a noticeable difference would be like running BF3 with very nice playable framerates on High Graphics on PCI-e 2.0 and running on Ultra Graphics on PCI-e 3.0. And where the PCI-e 2.0 setup would not keep up running Ultra Graphics.

 

[salamakajakawaka]

Yes upgrade and sell me your i5 and mobo for cheap <.< >.>

But in all seriousness, you might see 8% improvement (from what I've been reading that's about right)

 

[Hobo82]

To me - a noticeable difference would be like running BF3 with very nice playable framerates on High Graphics on PCI-e 2.0 and running on Ultra Graphics on PCI-e 3.0. And where the PCI-e 2.0 setup would not keep up running Ultra Graphics.

I see your point. I can run BF3 on ultra with no problems. If there's an "improvement", it wouldn't be noticable to the naked eye.

Yes upgrade and sell me your i5 and mobo for cheap <.< >.>

Wouldn't need to replace the mobo. IB is 1155 socket. Hence, why they started featuring "gen3" PCI-e 3.0 technology on boards before a cpu was even available to utilize it.

 

[Hobo82]

Interesting article on PCI-e 2.0 vs 3.0 for 7970.

http://www.techpowerup.com/157253/P...e-for-Radeon-HD-7970-Tests.html?cp=2#comments

 

[salamakajakawaka]

I see your point. I can run BF3 on ultra with no problems. If there's an "improvement", it wouldn't be noticable to the naked eye.

Yes upgrade and sell me your i5 and mobo for cheap <.< >.>

Wouldn't need to replace the mobo. IB is 1155 socket. Hence, why they started featuring "gen3" PCI-e 3.0 technology on boards before a cpu was even available to utilize it.

No sense of humor ^

 

[Hobo82]

:-D

 

[salamakajakawaka]

:-D

Anyway, back to topic, I agree wthi hobo. Pcie 3.0 is pointless until more powerful cards come out that have the potential of saturation a 2.1 bus.

If you have a 2500k keep it. Wait till haswell to upgrade (at that point I would expect an at least 15-20 percent difference in i5 performance between the generations.

 

[WR2]

PCI-e Bandwidth: When do you have enough?

 

[sarinaide]

No reason to at all, there is a reason to upgrade to Z77 though, you do want the Lucid MVP.

 

[Hobo82]

No reason to at all, there is a reason to upgrade to Z77 though, you do want the Lucid MVP.

I hope you're joking

 

[WR2]

He's joking.

 

[sarinaide]

About what? the upgrade or Z77?

 

[Hobo82]

About what? the upgrade or Z77?

No, about wanting lucid mvp

 

[xionas]

does IB support 1333MHz ram?

asus mobo p8h77 states:

1600MHz and higher frequency memory is supported by Intel® 3rd generation processors.

 

[sarinaide]

Lucid MVP is a much more significant adaptation of Lucid Virtue, where supported it will give visible gains in gaming framerates.