Intel core i7 980x vs Sandy Bridge

[fARARIES]

I am planing to go for a new custom build for which I am trying to find out a good processor. I will be choosing the latest Intel based processor. I have two models in my mind which are Intel core i7 980. But recently Intel will launch Sandy Bridge processor. So I want to know that should I go with the cpu that I had mentioned or should I wait for the Sandy Bridge. I hope that would be under the budget as I am expecting. But I am still not sure about the cpu that I want to go for. Its a huge confusion to choose what I am looking for.

[Aloke]

If you can afford then it is far enough to go for 980X. This cpu is a high end and it will be quiet enough for your usage. Sandy Bridge is just announced and it might take time to appear. And it will be also costly. If you go for a Core i7 level cpu in that then you might have to pay quiet a high amount for the same. I think still the existing model which you had mentioned is more than enough with a pair of good graphic card.

[addie]

The overclocking ability of sand bridge is limited, this allows a lot of players down. After all, if you overclock, you have to buy the top of the K series of products, or high-end Z68 games, no matter how the cost will be expensive and a lot of players usually cannot afford. If you still want to overclock to get a better price performance, Sandy Bridge is perhaps not a good option, you can current purchase select LGA 1156 processor. From this perspective, for those who have purchased LGA 1156 processors, this may be good news, because it is not necessary to obtain a new processor sand bridge to buy a new motherboard and new processor.

[Balamani]

The SandyBridge is going to appear late 2010 or early 2011, the core Core i7 and Core i7-2600K-2600 processors will be the highest performance processor available at the time of release. While i7 i7-2600K and 2600 are the 95 watt parts, the Core i7-2600S is a low power of just 65 watts TDP. Part i7-2600K is specially designed for overclockers and have enabled the overclocking. The Core i7 and Core i7 2600K 2600 are 3.4 GHz parts while the Core i7-2600S is a 2.8 GHz parts. All these processors are four key parts and hyperthreading is enabled on all of them. This means that we have eight thread at a time.

[gbmaryland]

The SandyBridge is going to appear late 2010 or early 2011, the core Core i7 and Core i7-2600K-2600 processors will be the highest performance processor available at the time of release. While i7 i7-2600K and 2600 are the 95 watt parts, the Core i7-2600S is a low power of just 65 watts TDP. Part i7-2600K is specially designed for overclockers and have enabled the overclocking. The Core i7 and Core i7 2600K 2600 are 3.4 GHz parts while the Core i7-2600S is a 2.8 GHz parts. All these processors are four key parts and hyperthreading is enabled on all of them. This means that we have eight thread at a time.

I've been looking for information on the new i7 motherboard and CPU combinations, but it's fairly clear now that the new i7 series is not truely superior to the i7-980x CPU.

Primarily this is because the i7-980x actually contains 6 CPU cores, and 12 hypertreads.

Now, this is assuming that money is no object.

Obviously the latest chipsets will be better, but I tend to think if you already have a i7-980x and a top of the line x58 series motherboard, such as the Gigayte X58A-UD5 (ICH 10R)... you're not likely to see any significant speed advantages.

What you will see, if the number of CPU cores is important to you, is a lack of support for things like VMware Workstation, where you have more cores and a better abililty to sustain load on the system.

I'v got the following:

- i7-980x CPU (six cores)
- Gigabyte X58A-UD5
- ATI 5970 Video card
- 24 GB of low CAS DDR3 RAM
- 3Ware 9650 RAID controller w/ 2 x Velociraptor 300GB drives
- LSI / 3Ware 9750 RAID controller w/ 2 x Velociraptor 600GB drives

Running Windows 7 x64...

Frankly, it's a beast, and it's ability to handle load and not slow down (bog down) is astounding.

What I'm not seeing with the newer CPUs are SIX cores... which from an OS perspective may be fairly significant.

It seems that the newer i7 CPUs are not nudered Xeons, like it appears that the i7-980x is. So maybe Intel has decided that most home users don't need the additional cores. (I'm using virtualization, as well as gaming, so it's very helpful to me.)

However, I should state that I did not purchase all of those items at the same time. I slowly added parts as I noted a need.

For example, I ran an i7-920 for awhile, and it was plenty fast until I needed more cores. (At which point I noted that I might was well get the top of the line i7-980x and get it over with, as the rest of the platform was about to become obsolete when Intel came out with the new CPUs.)

What I am a little upset about is that I'm not seeing the i7-980x compared to the top of the line newest i7 CPUs... which are only 4 cores.

I suspect there will be little difference in most applications, etc.

Anyone see any decent reviews that include the old top of the line CPU to the newest one?