Should i keep my sandy bridge?

[oabornezo]

Hi all,

So i'm a case modding enthusiast and currently starting a enthusiast high end water cooling system in an expensive case. I have a H61 Mobo that is really outdated and im planning on getting an ASUS Sabertooth Z77 because it has the nicest aesthetics and im planning on over clocking my i7 2600k to about 4.5ghz.

What i was wondering was is it worth upgrading to haswell or should i build my i7 2600k onto the Sabertooth Z77. I feel that it should be sufficient and i shouldnt have to upgrade my cpu untill broadwell or after. I was going to upgrade my GPU to replace my GTX 560 but only towards the end of this year as i know i will only do a full overhaul when DDR4 and PCI-e 4 Come out. ( proposed build is below )

Opinions?

Thanks in advance

Current build: Proposed build:
i7 2600k @ 3.4ghz i7 2600k @ 4.5+ ghz
H61 Mobo Sabertooth Z77
16gb 1600mhz Ram 16gb 1600mhz
GTX 560 GTX 680 or Radeon 7970 or next gen.

 

[jaguarskx]

Yes, you should sell it!!!

I'll give you $1.

 

[jaguarskx]

Seriously, unless you feel that the CPU is too slow for your needs, there is no real need to build a PC around Haswell in my opinion. Ivy Bridge is about 6% faster than Sandy Bridge on average. I'm guessing Haswell will be around 8% above Ivy Bridge; have to wait until late May / early June to get a better estimate.

Assuming the same clockspeed, a Haswell CPU will be about 15% faster than a Sandy Bridge CPU. To me that's not enough to justify building a new PC. I think you may be better off buying a Z77 mobo so that you can OC your i7-2600k.

 

[logainofhades]

I second just getting a different motherboard and overclocking that 2600k.

 

[oabornezo]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping i would get that response as my i7 2600k still runs all games i want but i think my graphics card is letting me down so i think ill upgrade that later this year. As far as i'm aware Sandy bridge is compatible with PCI-e 3.0 too so i shouldnt have any problems im hoping

 

[jaguarskx]

While Sandy Bridge is compatible with PCI-e 3.0, when placed in a Z77 chipset mobo the PCI-e 3.0 slot will be operating as a PCI-e 2.0 slot. The PCI-e controller is in the CPU itself and only the Ivy Bridge i5 and i7 CPU have them.

This should not be a big deal unless you plan to buy the flagship GPU from AMD or nVidia in the Radeon HD 9xxx or GTX 8xx series. They will probably be slightly bottlenecked by PCI-e 2.0.

 

[oabornezo]

Yeah that is true. My GTX 560 can still handle most games so i guess even if i went up to a 7970 it will keep me going untill i do the full system overhaul at the end of next year or 2015. I may even try keep my 560 for as long as possible