New Gaming rig for 12 months time !!!

[escribblings]

OK, I am getting planning early and I appreciate that what would consist a good build today may be handed it's bottom on a plate in 12 months time.

I do have a specific reason for this time-scale.

I currently have a perfectly adequate (for what I currently do) storage heater AKA a 3.0GHz P4E Prescott based machine which is approximately 7 years old.

Now this, and my laptop will see me through until the end of the year, but that is when things change.

Elite IV aka Elite Dangerous (the long awaited, long thought vapour-ware, sequel to Elite, Frontier Elite II and Frontier Firs Encounters) successfully attained funding via Kickstarter earlier this month. I am in for a fair amount, and have Alpha Access. Now this is estimated to hit in December 2013.

Now I am basing my current thoughts around the i5 3570k and the GTX 660 (possibly the Ti) and I am liking the look of the Asus Z77 Sabertooth as a base for it all.

I appreciate that ATi cards currently offer, in general, better bang for buck - but I am a nVidia fan. Similarly I am an Intel fan too. So whatever system I finally end up with will be an Intel/nVidia pairing. The rest I am less fussy about.

So firstly, what do you think on a system based around a Z77 Sabertooth, an i5 3570k and a GTX 660/660Ti?

How outdated / cheaper do you expect this to get in the next 12 months?

What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months that might be better.

One thing I do want is to make it as future proof as possible, as you might be able to tell from the age of my current machine that I like to splurge and then sit on it for some time, with the odd minor upgrade.

 

[tiny voices]

Don't even worry about anything for 11.5 months.

Everything will cost different amounts and new GPU's and CPU's will be released and change everything.

Planning right now is sort of hopeless.

 

[casper1973]

It really isn't worth planning so far in advance. You are just wasting time as you will no doubt change it several times before the time finally comes to purchase it. But I shall answer what I can.

A build based around those components should make a very nice system indeed, especially with the 660 ti. It might be "outdated" in a sense that newer components exist but performance wise it will still dominate.

Intel are due to release a new range of CPU's in June. These will feature a new chipset called Haswell which will no doubt beat the performance of IvyBridge. I would imagine the price of IvyBridge CPU's (3570k is IvyBridge) to lower as they try to sell off 'older stock.'

Nvidia aren't due for a new architecture (Maxwell) until 2014 but they will no doubt be releasing more cards on their current architecture (Kepler). As new cards are released, the old ones naturally get cheaper.

 

[escribblings]

Don't even worry about anything for 11.5 months.

Everything will cost different amounts and new GPU's and CPU's will be released and change everything.

Planning right now is sort of hopeless.

It really isn't worth planning so far in advance. You are just wasting time as you will no doubt change it several times before the time finally comes to purchase it. But I shall answer what I can.

A build based around those components should make a very nice system indeed, especially with the 660 ti. It might be "outdated" in a sense that newer components exist but performance wise it will still dominate.

[snip]

I 100% agree with you on that, was really testing the water though.

[snip]

Intel are due to release a new range of CPU's in June. These will feature a new chipset called Haswell which will no doubt beat the performance of IvyBridge. I would imagine the price of IvyBridge CPU's (3570k is IvyBridge) to lower as they try to sell off 'older stock.'

Nvidia aren't due for a new architecture (Maxwell) until 2014 but they will no doubt be releasing more cards on their current architecture (Kepler). As new cards are released, the old ones naturally get cheaper.

Excellent news, this is most definitely the sort of information I was looking for.

 

[montosaurous]

Get Haswell not Ivy Bridge. Much better.

 

[escribblings]

Been doing some thinking - and so I have some more questions.

When Intel released the 3rd gen core i5 & i7, how much did the price point of the 2nd gens drop? I am specifically thinking of the effect the 3570k had on the 2500k.

With that in mind, how much do you expect the 3570k and 3770k to drop in price?

Also, I am presuming the Haswell's will be LGA 1150 and not LGA 1155 - so how much effect do you expect this to have on the z77 chipset prices?

Lastly - considering current availabilty of 2500k's, and assuming that I will stick with IB over HW to save some pennies to put towards GFX (on the basis a 3570k should keep me going for at least 3-5 years comfortably) - should I bite the bullet and build it now, or should I wait till Q3 / Q4?

Can you tell I am itching to get my hands dirty and struggling to restrain myself?

 

[escribblings]

Replied to wrong post.

 

[casper1973]

Haswell chips will use socket 1150.

From what I have read the main improvements will be in power consumption and on-board graphics. Claims of "twice the performance of HD4000" have been thrown around. Unfortunately, none of this really matters for a desktop with dedicated graphics. Performance gains over Ivybridge in like for like clock rate are claimed to be at least 10% which is nice, but not mind blowing. I believe the Haswell chips were designed with tablets/ultrabooks in mind.

The defining factors in IB vs HW for me will be how well they overclock and the price.

I'd say overall waiting until Q3/Q3 will save you maybe 10-15% on the cost. I can't see any drastic drops in price even with new tech coming out. Look at the i5-2500k still going strong at $220.

 

[escribblings]

Cheers, that is what I was kind of thinking.

We all know how well the 3570k clocks at, I can't see the point of spending out for the 3770k ATM.

Best price I have so far for my desired bundle (z77 Sabertooth, 3579k, 8GB Vengeance LP CL9 and Corsair H100i cooler) is ~£470 GBP through Dabs!

But that is before I add in a new HDD, SSD, Case, PSU, Optical drives, &c...