Upgrade cpu or socket?

[CAYCE_VII]

So I'm currently running an i7 950 and I'm thinking of upgrading soon, but I'm not sure if I should just upgrade to a Intel i7 990X EE or jump ship to a new socket type. I would like to take advantage of my 680 having pcie 3.0, I do overclock, I currently have a triple channel memory setup (3x4gb) which I'm sure means I'd have to upgrade that too. Opinions and suggestions are appreciated, please no AMD CPUs. Thanks guys.

 

[13thmonkey]

you'll have virtually zero benefit.

I'd leave it alone.

 

[CAYCE_VII]

Aww. Well I'm not too bummed about that. I guess I'll just max it out as a 1366 system since that's almost obsolete, and start on a new system. Can you suggest what socket I should use and the benefits of that socket vs others? I'm kinda between 1155 or 2011.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Can you suggest what socket I should use and the benefits of that socket vs others? I'm kinda between 1155 or 2011.

Wait until Haswell (LGA 1150) around the middle of next year.

LGA 2011 is too expensive and basically pointless for gaming, and LGA 1155 is a dead socket right now, with Ivy Bridge, so the best option is to just wait.

That i7 950 isn't exactly slow or old by any stretch of anyone's imagination. You could wait a couple more years to upgrade, if you really wanted to.

Edit: Also, don't get caught up in the PCIe 3.0 hype. It doesn't mean anything for any single card configuration (and not for most dual card configurations, either. It's just window dressing and something to advertise, at this point).

 

[InvalidError]

Edit: Also, don't get caught up in the PCIe 3.0 hype. It doesn't mean anything for any single card configuration (and not for most dual card configurations, either. It's just window dressing and something to advertise, at this point).

He could still want to upgrade for USB3, SATA3, SRT and other stuff introduced after LGA1366 CPUs.

But my general recommendation is the same as yours: better off waiting if your existing system still is plenty fast for most of what you do.

 

[CAYCE_VII]

He could still want to upgrade for USB3, SATA3, SRT and other stuff introduced after LGA1366 CPUs.

But my general recommendation is the same as yours: better off waiting if your existing system still is plenty fast for most of what you do.

My board actually supports native USB 3.0, sata 3gbps and sata 6gbps. Not too sure what SRT is I'm still learning.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

My board actually supports native USB 3.0, sata 3gbps and sata 6gbps. Not too sure what SRT is I'm still learning.

SRT = Smart Response Technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Response_Technology

Its use is questionable, though. It's just caching data to a small SSD for better performance, but using a larger SSD as your actual boot drive is a better way to go about that.

 

[DJDeCiBeL]

Well I have Windows installed on a 250GB OCZ Vertex I SSD, so I think I should be good there. Thanks for the info though.

Yeah, you're all set in that department, then.

 

[CAYCE_VII]

SRT = Smart Response Technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Response_Technology

Its use is questionable, though. It's just caching data to a small SSD for better performance, but using a larger SSD as your actual boot drive is a better way to go about that.

Well I have Windows installed on a 250GB OCZ Vertex I SSD, so I think I should be good there. Thanks for the info though.

 

[rds1220]

Just wait for now and wait for the next major CPU change, Haswell. If it is what it is suppose to be it will be smaller and faster than the current Sandy Bridges and Ivy Bridges CPU's.

 

[CAYCE_VII]

Best answer selected by CAYCE_VII.