To Sandy Bridge-E or Ivy Bridge: That is the question....

SuperChip64

Well, it's time for an upgrade to my beast. Four years and a mid-life update are now starting to show with my monster. Currently, I'm on my trusty Q9550 LGA775 box.

The real question is whether or not to go to LGA2011, or LGA1155.

So, here's my S2011 Build (case and video card excluded):

GIGABYTE GA-X79-UD3 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813128532 - $269.99 -$30.00 Instant $239.99

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139021 - $139.99 -$30.00 Instant $109.99

Intel Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 2011 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80619i73820
Item #:N82E16819115229 - $299.99 $299.99

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #:N82E16820226236 - $149.99 -$50.00 Instant $99.99

G.SKILL Ares Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9Q-32GAO
Item #:N82E16820231557 - $189.99 $189.99

Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822148834 - $139.99 -$20.00 Instant $119.99

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And my LGA1155 (case and video excluded as well):

GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813128545 - $199.99 -$20.00 Instant $179.99

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817139021 - $139.99 -$30.00 Instant $109.99

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
Item #:N82E16819116504 - $229.99 $229.99

Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Item #:N82E16820226236 - S149.99 -$50.00 Instant $99.99

G.SKILL Ares Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-1333C9Q-32GAO
Item #:N82E16820231557 - $189.99 $189.99

Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 2TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Item #:N82E16822148834 - $139.99 -$20.00 Instant $119.99

anerky99 · Rated XXX Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 218 Location: UK

Id be going for the 2011 build but I seem to go bit overboard on builds :s. Wanting to upgrade my 1366 setup currently but I was wanting to get the hexcore CPU so would end up at ab out £650 for just the mobo and cpu which is abit much. Depends what you are mainly using it for though I guess, reckon the quad memory would give too much of a boost?

SuperChip64 · Posted: Sat, 07 Jul 2012 09:09:31 Post Subject:

Not really a big gamer (Train Simulator is my most 'intense' game I play).

Mostly using this for music editing, music video grafting (taking videos with 'breaks' in the music or talking and imposing CD tracks over, then syncing the video back).

I was thinking along those lines of starting with a Quad LGA2011, then graduate to a hexacore. But then again, that's what this current build was going to be - going to a Core2 Extreme way back then...

anerky99 · Rated XXX Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 218 Location: UK

Suppose the extra cores/memory bandwith would help for music and vid editing. I am hoping they release another hexacore and EOL the quad so they all drop in price as it has been out a while now :s. Problem with maybe upgrading later is they could end the socket lol, thats whats happened to mine, cant get anything better than the i7 920 because they dont make them now haha Sad

slugbug · Rated XXX Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 724 Location: Canada

I went with an LGA 2011 based system mainly because I already had an MSI X79A-GD45 motherboard from a Facebook contest win. I bought a core i7 3820 and used a gift card I had to buy a Corsair Vengeance 16gb memory kit.

anerky99 · Rated XXX Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 218 Location: UK

That's pretty cool. I made the stupid descion a few months ago to buy one of those corsair kits so atm I have a stick just lying round till I sort my pc out and get another couple of sticks.

oasis789 · Rated PG Joined: 21 Jun 2010 Posts: 14

Are these Newegg prices? You can shave off at least fifty bucks from the CPU and mobo each if you live near a Micro Center.

eunoia · Rated NC-17 Joined: 31 Dec 2009 Posts: 116

Not to confuse the issue, but a 3770K stacks up nicely vs. a 3820:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/523?vs=551

Because you mention applications beyond just gaming, my vote is 3770K with a top air cooler (Phanteks PH-TC14PE) at around 4.2 MHz for all around bang for buck. Nothing to pick at with your other hardware choices, all top-shelf kit.