The i7's?

[LabbaGames]

hey everyone, i'm running on a MSI Z77A-G45 MOBO, and i was wondering can it run with a Sandy bridge Intel i7 2700k?
and not only "run", but does it run good!! you know : )? or should i go for the i7 3770K although it is more Expensive

 

[kyraiki]

you should be fine. Z77 is just an updated Z68. If you use a Sandy Bridge based chip (like the i7 2700K) you'll lose PCI 3.o support until you use an Ivy Bridge chip.

 

[LabbaGames]

so if i run with a i7 2700K i cant use a PCI 3.0 Video Card, although the motherboard supports it?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

so if i run with a i7 2700K i cant use a PCI 3.0 Video Card, although the motherboard supports it?

You can absolutely use a PCIe 3.0 card, it would just run at 2.0 speed, but that's not even anything you should worry about. PCIe 3.0 only really makes a difference when you go Tri and Quad SLI/CF.

 

[jackichan101]

Like "DJDeCiBeL" said, PCIe 3.0 is only really utilised when running large SLI/Cross Fire setups, and when using large resolutions. However, even then the FPS difference is within a few percent, barely even noticeable. See for your self

Here is an picture of some benchmarks of PCIe 2.0 and 3.0 at 1920x1080p and 5760x1080p
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038589760&postcount=247

 

[jackichan101]

I would recommend the 2700k, because I have heard of heat issues with ivy bridge processors when over clocking, and the performance seem about the same with only a few % in it.

 

[jaguarskx]

I would go with Ivy Bridge over Sandy Bridge. Sure it gets pretty hot when OC'ed and the recommended max OC is lower than Sandy Bridge (4.5GHz vs. 4.8GHz), but Ivy Bridge is about 5% more powerful than Sandy Bridge which helps offset the max OC, it also consumes about 15w - 20w less power on full load.

Note that max OC varies from chip to chip.

IB CPUs will allow you to fully use the bandwidth on a PCI-e 3.0 slot. However, no current video card can max out the PCI-e 2.0 slot's bandwidth. It probably will not happen for another 2 or 3 years and then only the high end cards ($500+) will be maxing out the PCI-e 2.0 bandwidth.

 

[jaguarskx]

I forget to mention that if the sole purpose of this PC is to play games, then you should get a Core i5 CPU instead of an i7 CPU.

The i7s have Hyper Threading, but games do not use it. There have been benchmarks which should that with HT activated, it actually reduces game performance by about 1% - 2%.

 

[LabbaGames]

I would go with Ivy Bridge over Sandy Bridge. Sure it gets pretty hot when OC'ed and the recommended max OC is lower than Sandy Bridge (4.5GHz vs. 4.8GHz), but Ivy Bridge is about 5% more powerful than Sandy Bridge which helps offset the max OC, it also consumes about 15w - 20w less power on full load.

Note that max OC varies from chip to chip.

IB CPUs will allow you to fully use the bandwidth on a PCI-e 3.0 slot. However, no current video card can max out the PCI-e 2.0 slot's bandwidth. It probably will not happen for another 2 or 3 years and then only the high end cards ($500+) will be maxing out the PCI-e 2.0 bandwidth.

What about Ram?, i have read on Intel Webside, that The I7 2700K does not support 1600MHz, and only 1333Mhz ?(and ivy supports them both)

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

What about Ram?, i have read on Intel Webside, that The I7 2700K does not support 1600MHz, and only 1333Mhz ?(and ivy supports them both)

1600 RAM will work just fine with a 2700K (assuming that it's 1.5V), but it does technically void the stock warranty because it's technically OC'ing. Not a huge issue though. 1.65V RAM is the REAL problem with SB CPU's.

 

[LabbaGames]

1600 RAM will work just fine with a 2700K (assuming that it's 1.5V), but it does technically void the stock warranty because it's technically OC'ing. Not a huge issue though. 1.65V RAM is the REAL problem with SB CPU's.

Why, I'm really curious actually

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Why, I'm really curious actually

Because 1.65V RAM is harmful to the IMC of SB CPU's.

 

[LabbaGames]

What is IMC ?

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Integrated Memory Controller on the CPU die. 1.65V RAM degrades the IMC to the point of killing the CPU relatively quickly.

 

[amuffin]

Why I run my Patriot Sector 7 modules at 1.5V^^

 

[kyraiki]

You can absolutely use a PCIe 3.0 card, it would just run at 2.0 speed, but that's not even anything you should worry about. PCIe 3.0 only really makes a difference when you go Tri and Quad SLI/CF.

right, and even then its only a penalty of a few percentage points.

OP, I would personally go with either the i7-3770k or the Ivy Bridge i5. If your primary purpose is to game on your PC, the i5 will more than suffice and is a really good processor for the money. The Ivy Bridge i5s and i7s do run hotter when you get a certain point (Over 4 Ghz, iirc) but are faster than the sandy bridge based processors at the same clocks and use less power. If the "old" gen of processors are the same price as the new tech, I would go with the new tech most of the time. Also, it is a really good idea to run your memory at 1.5v or less, as has been previously stated. I remember reading something about higher voltage memory (more than 1.5v) causing degradation of the IMC and chip over time.

When you get down to it though I would be more than happy with either generation of i7s or i5s. Sorry if I rambled; its late here.