Buy now or wait for Sandy Bridge?

[PC4Free]

So I'm thinking of building a new system and was wondering if I should buy an Intel i7 CPU now or wait until the new architecture is released.

I suppose i could wait and hope the i7 CPU and 1366 motherboards go down in price on the Sandy Bridge release.

Any opinions will be valued

[dirky]

Depends if its released Q4 or Q1 2011, remember VAT goes up..

[PC4Free]

Depends if its released Q4 or Q1 2011, remember VAT goes up..

Very good point; thanks. I'll look into the VAT rise

[kalniel]

Vat rise is only another 2.5% of the original ex-VAT cost. You'll be paying much more than that in early adopter inflation, or alternatively will save much more than that if you wait another 6 months. So it's not really that significant.

As for the question.. I'm in the same boat, and for me it comes down to whether I'm okay with my current set up until then. i7/1366 prices won't change much more than they already have, as Sandy Bridge is a different market (until Sandy Bridge E comes out, but that's an even longer wait).

For me, another important factor is the connectivity of the motherboard in terms of SATA 6gbps and USB3.0 etc. 1366 has this more or less sorted - lots of PCIe lanes. 1155 should be a lot better than current 1156 in this regard, but it'll be interesting to see what intel do with their southbridge.

Then there's also the fixed cpu-clock problem of 1155, meaning you have to get a K series chip to overclock.. but they'll no doubt have a huge premium over standard chips.. then do you want a system which can actually use the graphics core built into your processor.. if so you have to give up flexible memory dividers... it's all horrible artificial compromises with 1155 as Intel don't want to give great performance for less money!

[kingpotnoodle]

So I'm thinking of building a new system and was wondering if I should buy an Intel i7 CPU now or wait until the new architecture is released.

I suppose i could wait and hope the i7 CPU and 1366 motherboards go down in price on the Sandy Bridge release.

Any opinions will be valued

i7 on 1366 is supposed to still be the high-end & fastest even once SB shows up isn't it? SB supersedes 1156 i5/i7s IIRC...

Depends on your budget, what you have now etc really.

Personally I re-vamped my Q6600 rig, expecting it to last now until middle of next year when the dust has settled. Along with SB comes new chipsets etc, so I would wait for those, getting proper Intel integrated USB 3.0 and Sata 6Gb would be a plus in my book.

[badass]

It depends what your current system is and if it's doing OK at what you want it to do for now.
I have a Q6600 and having seen the early Sandy Bridge benchmarks, I'll not be getting one. I've worked out that in most situations a 3.1-3.2 GHz Sandy bridge will be 1.6-2 times the performance of the Q6600. Maybe Ivy bridge and once Intel release a chipset with both SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0 natively i'll consider, however it will need to be at least 30% faster than Sandy brige as a quad core or i'm not interested.
However by that point AMD should have released Bulldozer which could be faster.

[jim]

I would wait, and when your PC no longer meets your requirements, buy the best rig available.

There's no point waiting for Sandy Bridge if you need to upgrade now, and if you don't need to upgrade now, why are you worrying about it?

[Random_guy]

I think it depends entirely on your current situation. What is it that your current machine wont do or doesn't do fast enough? If we're being entirely sensible about it that should tell you when its time to upgrade. If by that measure then the rule of thumb I've taken from here is 'wait 6 weeks, not 6 months'.

Of course that's if you're being sensible. I'm not sensible, I'm a self-confessed upgrade junkie and it's been nearly a year since my last fix! I've promised myself a full rebuild in 2012 if I hold out on upgrading till then, but Sandy Bridge might break my resolve.

So my answer is if you genuinely need to upgrade now then don't wait, if you're an addict like me then hold out as long as your cravings allow and then get the best around at the time!

[simonw]

i7 on 1366 is supposed to still be the high-end & fastest even once SB shows up isn't it? SB supersedes 1156 i5/i7s IIRC...

Supposedly Sandy Bridge will have 2 sockets - 1155 (mainstream) to replace 1156, and 2011 (enthusiast) to replace 1366.

Like kalniel, I'm still not certain if 1366 prices will drop too much though. I had similar thoughts when 1156 was released, I thought 775 cpus would get cheaper but as you know the quads and higher-end C2D are still pricey.

I don't think it will be a disadvantage buying a 1366 platform now, because the performance is still plenty fast. I wouldn't worry too much about waiting for new tech, because there is always something new around the corner. Like the others, it really depends if you need a new PC now or are prepared to wait.

[PC4Free]

Thanks to everyone for their opinions

Basically to explain my situation:
My desktop motherboard fried taking with it the the graphics card (admittedly, it was fairly old AM2+)
I am now solely on my Laptop - 1.3ghz 4gb ram

I mainly use my computer to edit my videos for YouTube (I do technology reviews on my channel) and now rely on my laptop.

I am leaning towards an i7 930 as the Sandy Bridge Extreme, if thats what its called, seems so far away. I'll try and cope with my laptop as long as I can.

I guess ill just have to build a new system when integrated Sata 6GB/S and USB 3 comes along

Once again, thanks to all who have contributed. =)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks to everyone for their opinions

Basically to explain my situation:
My desktop motherboard fried taking with it the the graphics card (admittedly, it was fairly old AM2+)
I am now solely on my Laptop - 1.3ghz 4gb ram

I mainly use my computer to edit my videos for YouTube (I do technology reviews on my channel) and now rely on my laptop.

I am leaning towards an i7 930 as the Sandy Bridge Extreme, if thats what its called, seems so far away. I'll try and cope with my laptop as long as I can.

I guess ill just have to build a new system when integrated Sata 6GB/S and USB 3 comes along

Once again, thanks to all who have contributed. =)

What working computer parts do you have left from your old computer??

[jim]

I guess ill just have to build a new system when integrated Sata 6GB/S and USB 3 comes along

I'd buy an AMD 6-core rig to be honest, with integrated SATA 3 and USB 3.

No point waiting if you're trying to do video-editing on a laptop. It could be ages until Sandy Bridge properly appears, and even then it might not do what you want at the price you want anyway.

[PC4Free]

Well to be honest I dont think anything is worth salvaging from my old computer except the Hard drive.

However, i do have some review products i've been allowed to maintain:
Huntkey X7 900W PSU
Crucial C300 64GB SSD
4GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer 1600mhz
InWin Dragon Slayer MicroATX Case (Their upcoming ATX case has also been promised)
And some SilenX products on the way.
Gainward have also promised me a GTX 460, but im not sure if it will ever come.

As soon as I get the money ill grab a new motherboard and processor; and so it again boils down to i7 vs Phenom

I was thinking either an Asus P6X58D-E and i7 930
OR
Asus ROG Crosshair IV and Phenom II x 4 955 - 3.2ghz

Any thoughts?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I did not know you could get Huntkey PSUs in the UK!

I would probably get a Phenom II X6 1055T or 1075T and either an Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 or an Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H. These also have the HD4290 IGP and do symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X. If you don't need Crossfire I would get an 880G based motherboard such as the Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 which also has the HD4250 IGP. All three motherboards have SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 too. There is also a 95W version of the Phenom II X6 1055T although this harder to find.

[PC4Free]

I did not know you could get Huntkey PSUs in the UK!

I would probably get a Phenom II X6 1055T or 1075T and either an Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 or an Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H. These also have the HD4290 IGP and do symmetrical Crossfire at PCI-E 2.0 8X/8X. If you don't need Crossfire I would get an 880G based motherboard such as the Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 which also has the HD4250 IGP. All three motherboards have SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 too. There is also a 95W version of the Phenom II X6 1055T although this harder to find.

Well as I mentioned I got the Huntkey PSU directly from Huntkey. When I had a look around online to see where you could buy them from I couldn't find anywhere in the UK.

Thanks for all of the suggestions