Sandy Bridge Buyer’s Guide
by Zach Throckmorton on June 17, 2011 3:20 PM ESTClosing Remarks
As discussed in the introduction, right now is an especially wise time to buy into a Sandy Bridge system given that the platform is mature, offers lots of options for all sorts of users, and is unlikely to get knocked off the top of the performance hill for many months. Sandy Bridge-E will come out around Q4, but the primary target will be workstations and users running highly threaded workloads; for dual-core and quad-core setups (including Hyper-Threading), socket LGA-1155 should last well into next year. As a final recap, here’s where we see the markets heading in the near future.
At the low-end, we have Intel’s Core i3 parts. From the early numbers, including pricing, it’s unlikely that AMD’s Llano CPUs will best the Core i3s in terms of sheer computational prowess; however, it also seems clear that Llano’s graphics will be substantially better than Intel’s integrated offerings. In other words, if you are not going to be using a discrete GPU, it would be wise to wait a few weeks and see how desktop Llano shapes up. Considering that the vast majority of desktop users do not need a discrete graphics card now, most of your family, friends, and customers could use Llano as a do-everything, entry-level gaming setup; if they don’t care about games at all, Core i3 likely wins out.
Moving up to the next tier, those who want more capable CPUs and discrete GPUs can jump to or near the top of the performance pile now and stay there for at least a couple month. Come September, AMD’s Bulldozer will finally show up, hopefully providing an answer to Intel’s higher-end Core i5 and Core i7 processors. We’re still a few months away from Bulldozer, however, so if you’re itching to buy or upgrade now is as good a time as any we’re likely to see.
At the very top of the performance heap, we still don’t know what to expect from Bulldozer, and Intel will have a potential counter with Sandy Bridge-E. Depending on the workload, either or both platforms will likely surpass the current crop of i7-2600K systems. While we’re not quite sure where Bulldozer pricing will fall, it’s a safe bet (judging by where LGA-1366 launched) that LGA-2011 platforms will carry a significant price premium over today’s LGA-1155 offerings. If you’re still hanging on to an early Bloomfield X58 setup, though, you should be able to wait for the SNB-E launch before deciding whether to jump onto the mainstream bandwagon or stick with Intel’s high-end enthusiast platform.
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ericloewe - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
I think Virtu is actually by Lucid, not Intelodditude - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
It also doesn't require Z68 - I just ordered an Intel DH67GDB3 that supports it.Termie - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
You linked to the EVGA GTX460 1GB "SE" model, but in your writeup and linked benchmark, you are referring to the non-SE model. The SE model is not comparable to the HD6850, and is not a good deal at $115 after rebate. May I recommend the ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU TOP 768MB, which is currently on Newegg for $115 after $30 rebate? If you're willing to go over $1000 pre-rebate, the EVGA GTX460 1GB non-SE model is also available for $170 with a $40 rebate.cobalt42 - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
True, that is the SE model, and that fact should probably have been mentioned. I think it's still definitely a good deal though. It's factory overclocked, with a higher clockspeed than the 768MB, and the extra RAM and memory bandwidth can make a big difference even at 1920x1200 resolutions and moderate AA, so for about the same price I'd pick the SE 1GB over the 768MB, personally. The only thing you're getting by going up to the non-SE is an extra SM's worth of shader processors. (Non-SE 1GB is probably the best deal, but the extra $20 here would have put them over budget.)JarredWalton - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
Sorry, that was my bad. Zach had the 6850 in there initially, but after discussing it with Ryan I switched out for the GTX 460. Unfortunately, I accidentally snagged an SE instead of the full 460; I've updated the prices and text accordingly, but it's only a $10 increase after MIR (and $5 increase before MIR).GatoRat - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
Why jump from sub 1000 to 2000? For about 1200-1400, you can build a pretty good Core i7 2600 based system.DanNeely - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
The first paragraph of the $2k build discusses a $1400 build (upgrade the GPU + PSU on the $1k build)StormyParis - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
I'm all for spending money on fancy things (not !), but could we at least get a handful of benchmarks to know what that extra cash is buying ? A very appreciated extra would be a CPU vs GPU upgrade tryout, where we can see for the 2 lower builds where extra money would be well spent (my guess, GPU, always ?)Apart from that, thanks for a nice article, especially the first page which helps understand the ungodly mess that Intel's CPU/GPU/Chipset catalog is.
another user - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
> Unlike the Core i3 models, however, the Sandy Bridge Pentiums do not support Intel’s Quick Sync Video technology or DDR3-1333 RAMAccording to http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=53490&pro... Pentiums G8xx do support DDR3 1333.
Shadowmaster625 - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
Reminds me of Cramer pumping up stocks in the summer of 2008. Oh yeah, great time to buy! Why would any sane person recommend an i3-2100 + a 6570 for a combined $180 when you will be able to get a llano cpu and motherboard for less than that, and it will game better?Of course llano isnt out yet, and of course this is a "sandy bridge" buyer's guide. But gimme a break... who you foolin? The timing on this is laughably conspicuous. Right now is an especially wise time to buy! No, it's not.
It's ok to kiss the hand of your master, but jeez you dont have to lick it.