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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GullLars - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
I agree on the 2500K + GTX 460 being a great build for "medium" gamers, so don't take the next part as an attack on that system.Regarding the last part of your post, if you already have a quad Phenom II / Athlon II, migrating to a LGA 1155 build will require you to get both a motherboard and CPU, combined cost ~$300-350. If you don't already have an SSD, a 128GB Vertex 3, M4, or 510 will give you a noticably better improvement than going to the 2500K system outside number crunching.
For gaming, an Athlon/Phenom II x4 >2,5GHz won't slow down a 460 noticably at 1900x1200 medium. There may be a few FPS difference, but both will be perfectly playable, and the GPU will be the determining factor.
marc1000 - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
for light use my c2duo is perfectly fine. I even do "almost medium" gaming because I invested in a radeon 5770 (it goes fine with my 1680x1050 monitor). but when I need to convert a blu-ray disc (legally bought), my system goes to its knees... it takes 5 to 6 hours for a single disk. at this task the sandy bridge cpus are faster than phenom II, and for anyone with even older hardware like me, it's about 5 times faster...JarredWalton - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
True. If you're upgrading a PC as opposed to buying new, the point at which it becomes important varies from individual to individual. I'm still running a Core 2 Quad desktop, and my wife is on Core 2 Duo -- only my gaming rig is running Core i7 (Bloomfield). My current go-to laptop is a Sandy Bridge quad-core that's actually faster than my Core 2 Quad desktop, but all my apps are still running happily on the C2Q.If you are already running in an AMD ecosystem, there's really no point to upgrading to Llano right now. Even if it's compatible with your motherboard, all you'd really get is lower power draw and a faster IGP. Considering you can get a much faster dGPU for $50, why bother? And as far as power goes, let's say Llano saves you 20W on average; at $0.15 per kWh (which is actually more than a lot of people in the US pay), you'd need to run 24/7 for five years to recoup the cost of a $100 investment. In five years, I can pretty much guarantee you'd have upgraded at least once if not twice from Llano.
ckryan - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
I decided to build a new system based on SB in part pretty much just cause I wanted to. A quad core Athlon/Phenom II isn't exactly feeble and it wasn't "holding me back". I didn't need to upgrade, I just wanted to upgrade. The 2500k/2600k might be a great deal ahead of the K10.5 architecture but it's not like AMDs are obsolete. Part of my decision to upgrade was based on the fact that I needed to build a system for a family member -- so I just upgraded my system and handed down my AMD system -- which is still way more powerful a system than was necessary. I bought an H67 and a 2500k which was great, but then I decided to get a P67 board. To be clear, in the few games I do play I get better framerates... but it's largely academic. I say if you're building a system for someone else, esp. if they're not a gamer than an H67/Core i3 is a great way to go. Which is what I'm planning to do with my "old" Biostar TH67+.marc1000 - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - link
yeah, giving away our older parts is a great reason to upgrade! =DI guess that this "upgrading cycle" is more of an addiction than a necessity. I'm planning to whom I will give my old system as soon as I buy that 2500k!
jjj - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
"an AWESOME time to buy an Intel desktop, because there's nothing coming out in the next three months on the Intel side "Why would anyone sane buy based on brand name,how does it matter if it's Intel or AMD side and how is 3 MONTHS !?! a significant period of time?
We have BD coming soon,you say september and it would be nice to tell us what makes you think it is september and not august since all public info suggests august,.There is SB-E this year and i guess we can hope BD will force Intel to price it better than it was planned and then Ivy Bridge could arrive in 7-10 months.It's maybe the worst time to buy a new desktop in YEARS.
That aside,there are a lot of "best Intel something" articles lately on the internets,i really do hope this wasn't a payed article,or written at Intel's request. You guys are already almost never criticizing any products you review,always looking for the upside and that's starting to be annoying.You might need to keep good relations with hardware makers but objectivity is way more important or you'll end up being the next THG.
marc1000 - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
I don't agree with you. I don't believe they are saying any of this because of brand names. It's because of real performance. See, I'm an AMD supporter - each and every GPU I used is ATI/AMD (since the times of geforce2mx ruling the market, I was buying the radeon9000). I even bought an Athlon 64 system when it was faster than any Pentium. but since the core2duo, the intel CPU's are the best performers. I really hope that AMD will deliver a capable CPU with the next iteration of bulldozer, but right now you can't go wrong when buying any of the new sandy bridge cpus.duploxxx - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
difference between initail buyers guide and this version :)In the end it's all about levelling a build, first of all you mention a pricerange, but you forget to add kyb-mouse-speakers and screens, so to what extend does a buyer only assign parts to the case and content..... never they look at the full picture.
THe budget 500$ is off for a SNB anyhow right now, it is totally out of balance, you have more then CPU power enough for general usage and you get an IGP that is worth é&é&é&é sure general desktop usage is fine, but not meant to play any decent game at all, so you need a GPU anyhow.
a very low budget mobo, the MSI -e35 has at least USB3 support....
the caviar blue is slow against black series and others like spinpoint....
THe 1000$ build is also not balanced. there is no need for the 2500K a 2400 will do more then ok for such a rig, for the difference in price you get a 6870 from asus or the his also in rebate with much better price/performance/power ratio then this 460. THe antec psu i would trade it in for a corsair anyday. cheap case that ain't really that looking unless you have a -25j old public. While the 60GB SSD does serve it's purpose here it is narrow on size and performance.... again balance the needs
The 2000$ build well nothing to add, but then again select all major parts doesn't always provide the best ratio price/perf/power. you could easily take the 2500K here (no need for those HT cores anyway in daily usage), go with a 570 or 6970. buy a faster and better ssd, intel 68 chipset that isn' t really added value beside higher price.... throwing with money but forget for a total complete build you actually need 500$ more for the peripherals at the same level.
last thing.... its nice searching for the cheapest prices everywhere on the net, but the chances that buyers actually go search for 3 different sites for the lowest $ cost for each part is hardly the case.
Sure you can mention the fact that AMD has nothing new to offer right now so you don't throw them in, but the 500-1000$ range is still a valid range to compare both where they will do more then well for any user. The non-intel PC users is just lack of IT mind, old school ready for retirement in this branche.....
hi87 - Saturday, June 18, 2011 - link
You're a joke Duploxx. Just stfu. Anything that is not pro-AMD you hate on.I'm not a fanboy, I'm just sick of your trolling on anything that's about Intel. Damn, how childish are you?
Broheim - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - link
+1