i7-3930K or i7-2700k?

[Katlan]

I know the 3930k is 3.2 turbo boost to 3.8 (sandy bridge 6 cores). 2700k is 3.5 to 3.9 (4 cores).

I am looking for mainly gaming. I know the 2700k OC's better then the 3930k, but the price difference isn't that much and it determines the MB and everything since different chip sets.

What I'm looking for is input on if the 3930k is better for future proof? And if the 2700k is better because it has a higher base clock? And I guess another other input would be nice.

oh yeah, would you all recommend 580 3g SLI or HD 7970 3GB xfire?

[Jojimbo]

If you are OCing then base clocks/turbo doesn't matter (you disable turbo when OCing anyway), that said the options for gaming are 2500k, or 3930k if you have too much money and don't know what to buy. 2600/2700k offer too little of a boost over a 2500k to warrant the extra costs unless you are going to make use of Hyper-Threading (games don't).

However the 3930k is also pretty pointless, an OCed 2500k is more than enough for any game and the price jump between it and the 3930k when you include MB/RAM is pretty huge (~270 more than a 2700k isn't exactly small, and it's 380 more than a 2500k). The extra money could be spent on better GPU/SSD/HDDs/case/anything or just end up as saved cash.

Don't bother trying to 'future proof' a PC, you will only end up disappointed and have spent an awful amount of money on it. Buying top of the range CPUs isn't worth it now anyway with most of the focus on GPUs, but even the 2500k can beat the $1000 i7-990X in gaming.

EDIT:: On GPUs, wait until 600 series is released, current rumour is that the 680GTX (or what they were going to release as the 670Ti) is coming out on the 22nd. At the very least it could cause a price drop in current cards. But I think the 580GTX is better at <=1920x1080 while 7970 is better at higher resolutions (not sure how 3GB 580 changes things), which you best be playing at if you are considering dual top end cards lol

[Isiolia]

Possibly wait for Ivy Bridge and shoot for a 3770K? Same basic clock speeds as the 2700K, but a bit faster with lower power use.

Right now very little benefits from six cores, though some games do (here for example).

Frankly though, for gaming the price/performance really isn't there anyway, and you'd likely be nearly as well off spending a fair bit less on an i5. If you look at those results, most really aren't far removed from a stock clocked i5 2500K anyway - and that's with low settings to avoid being GPU limited. With higher res, settings, etc, the difference will be even less.

It might also be prudent to consider your typical upgrade cycle alongside "future proofing". Chances are fairly low that things will shift rapidly enough to favor 6-core CPUs that a current 6-core model will still shine. Look at the benchmarks I linked above - in the few games where hexacores actually pull ahead, newer quad cores still stomp the older AMDs.

If you're not in a rush, I'd hold out for Ivy Bridge (should be around May last I heard). Depending on budget, you might also want to consider that either CPU would be overkill for gaming, since most of the time you'll wind up GPU limited.

[Katlan]

I didn't realize the new Ivy chip set or that the 600 series cards were close to release. I'll try to hold off and wait then. This is of course assuming that the Ivy Bridge isn't a 1k processor lol.

Thanks for the input

[Jojimbo]

The Ivy Bridge CPUs will be replacing the i3/5/7 line, there won't be any hex core (IB-E) for quite a while.

[Isiolia]

I didn't realize the new Ivy chip set or that the 600 series cards were close to release. I'll try to hold off and wait then. This is of course assuming that the Ivy Bridge isn't a 1k processor lol.

Thanks for the input

3770K has an estimated retail approximating the 2700K. As mentioned, it's a revamped lineup that's basically expected to net 5-15% performance gains while using less power, for the same basic cost as the current Sandy Bridge lineup.

[Boyiee]

I know the 3930k is 3.2 turbo boost to 3.8 (sandy bridge 6 cores). 2700k is 3.5 to 3.9 (4 cores).

I am looking for mainly gaming. I know the 2700k OC's better then the 3930k, but the price difference isn't that much and it determines the MB and everything since different chip sets.

What I'm looking for is input on if the 3930k is better for future proof? And if the 2700k is better because it has a higher base clock? And I guess another other input would be nice.

oh yeah, would you all recommend 580 3g SLI or HD 7970 3GB xfire?

If you aren't running 2560x1600 or eyefinity across 3monitors at 3000xwhatever then sli/xfire those cards is a waste of money, and a waste of a lot of money at that. You'll end up with microstuttering and a pretty hot case, not utilizing the full extent of the cards. If you REALLY must sli/xfire and are willing to deal with the microstutter, back down a card or two to 570's or something else. Otherwise 1 7970 is all you need. Unless you are gaming at obscene resolutions, sli/xfire isn't all its cracked up to be. The cons that come with it definitely outweigh the pros. If a single card can handle it, always go single.

The first reports of the nvidia cards coming out aren't very good. Looks like their real line is coming out later this year or early next year. You could wait to see, but pulling the trigger on a 7970 is very safe to do.

I would wait on the processor though.

[Katlan]

I was thinking nvidia because I always heard SLI is better than xfire, but is that still true? and i was planning to buy a 2560x1440 monitor, though not sure if its worth it. thanks for all the input. I'm definitely gonna try waiting for the new chip set

[Boyiee]

No nvidia has been behind for a while now especially in the price vs performance area. Nvidia is just raping wallets this go around, the 600 series isn't even going to be that good.

You won't need sli/xfire 3gb cards to max out a 27 inch. If you ran 1.2gb 570's you'd need to run sli.

[Reality]

well, the 3930k is Sandy Bridge-E which is LGA2011, and supports quad channel memory (8 dimm slots!)
the 2700k is just sandy bridge, LGA1155

I talked to Kyle Bennett at hardocp, his advice right now is to move to 2011 if you're upgrading from a 775 setup, apparently LGA1155 isn't going to be around much longer after ivy bridge

If you have the money to build a LGA2011 setup, I'd go that round.. I love the quad channel memory config

now, your question about SLI 580 vs 7970 xfire, well that's a no brainer. the 7970 is just a faster card than the 580. but right now is the wrong time to upgrade, wait until the GTX680 (or 660, whatever NVidia decides to call GK104 Kepler), prices on the 580 will surely drop

[Reality]

If you are OCing then base clocks/turbo doesn't matter (you disable turbo when OCing anyway)

no.

[Jojimbo]

no.

Yes? Turbo Boost can push the CPU over it's limit if it's already OCed, there seems to be a few MBs where turbo boost is used to OC the system but other than that you disable it (or sometimes the MB will for you) for stability

[Senji]

Yes? Turbo Boost can push the CPU over it's limit if it's already OCed, there seems to be a few MBs where turbo boost is used to OC the system but other than that you disable it (or sometimes the MB will for you) for stability

You can set the threshold for turbo higher than your system can handle, but you can use both to proper effect.

[Reality]

Yes? Turbo Boost can push the CPU over it's limit if it's already OCed, there seems to be a few MBs where turbo boost is used to OC the system but other than that you disable it (or sometimes the MB will for you) for stability

http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overc...beginners.html

Most people overclock sandy bridge by overclocking the turbo ratio, this really isnt debatable

But yeah it can be done by disabling turbo but isnt the popular method

[Katlan]

This is good to know because I was gonna disable it.

[Boyiee]

Turbo/HT off ftw when overclocking.

[bluefan]

Got hyperthreading enabled with my 3930k @ 4.7Ghz. I rather have HT then the extra 300Mhz.

[Katlan]

Got hyperthreading enabled with my 3930k @ 4.7Ghz. I rather have HT then the extra 300Mhz.

What type of water cooling do you use?

[Jojimbo]

http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overc...beginners.html

Most people overclock sandy bridge by overclocking the turbo ratio, this really isnt debatable

But yeah it can be done by disabling turbo but isnt the popular method

Ah, I wasn't aware that it was much different now, haven't really looked into how to OC SB (i7 920 here) before, although my original point that the base frequencies don't matter is still valid I think? Wouldn't using turbo to OC effectively disable turbo it though (or rather, disable the process of overclocking individual cores for <4 threaded applications)

[bluefan]

What type of water cooling do you use?

Extreme. A dual rad and a triple rad. Swiftech MCP35x pump with EK top reservoir. 2 Koolance 7970 GPU blocks. Asus Rampage IV Extreme motherboard block. Koolance CPU 370 block. Various fittings and nozzles.

Idle is low/mid 30c with an ambient temp of 25c. Full load it gets to just under 60c. With ~800rpm fans. A virtually silent PC, except for the soft hum from the pump.