CPU upgrade

Luffy321

Hey,

Built my pc in 2011... it was my first pc build and I made a couple mistakes im not happy about.

Basically I need to upgrade my CPU. My current CPU is i7 960 but I realise the socket has been discontinued by intel meaning I need to replace my motherboard if I want to upgrade.

Can someone suggest an intel cpu/motherboard upgrade combination that is futureproof for atleast 3 years. Also what other parts do I need to change as well? For example do I need to change my psu as well?

If anyone has some suggestions that would be great.

Cheers.

pmartin86

Hiya

What are the specs of the rest of your machine? why are you changing it?

Regards
Paul

Luffy321

i7 960
660ti GTX
12 gb ram
650 psu

I'm changing it because I want a better CPU and a socket that isnt discontinued for upgradable options.

pmartin86

Is that the socket LGA1366 one?
How much are you willing to spend?

pmartin86

Also, are you set on sticking with intel? AMD offering some decent bang for the buck so to speak at the moment, for example a AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core wich is socket AM3+ should last a good while
, looking around the £150 mark for the CPU plus another £100 or so for a compatible motherboard.

Edit:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-8350+Eight-Core&id=1780

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=AMD+FX-8350+Eight-Core&rh=n%3A560798%2Ck%3AAMD+FX-8350+Eight-Core

Luffy321

Yea it is 1366.

I dont like AMD.

Intel/Nvidia for me. I am willing to invest.

Do I also need to change my cooling system?

closed

Luffy321 wrote: »

i7 960
660ti GTX
12 gb ram
650 psu

I'm changing it because I want a better CPU and a socket that isnt discontinued for upgradable options.

why???????

Johnmcl7

Intel aren't very good with future proofing as their sockets in general (not just your 1366 socket) don't tend to be used for long before they're replaced with another so there is unlikely to be an Intel processor that can be guaranteed for three years.

The replacement for the socket 1366 processors such as yours is LGA 2011, first Sandybridge-E and recently Ivybridge-E. This is the workstation based platform and the main advantages it offers are six core processors, quad channel memory and more PCI-E lanes. The update from Sandybridge-E to Ivybridge-E was very minor without even a new chipset and as far as I'm aware there's nothing confirmed as to what socket the replacement for Ivybridge-E will use.

The other option is a Haswell based processor such as the top end Core i7 4770K, it's a newer architecture although there's not much in the way of big performance improvements over Ivybridge. These processors use socket LGA 1150 which is confirmed the next processor (Broadwell) but that doesn't guarantee compatibility and it's entirely possible knowing Intel that existing Haswell motherboards won't be compatible with Broadwell processors.

I had a Core i7 940 system and replaced it with the Sandybridge-E system as I wanted the additional two cores but in hindsight I'd probably have gone with an i7-4770K - the platform is much cheaper and even software that claims to be well optimised for multiple cores doesn't tend to use all the resources on the SB-E processor.

John

Uxb

My understanding from what I'm seeing is that Broadwell WILL require a new motherboard although it may use the 1150 socket layout as there are going to be incompatibilities resulting in a new socket chipset (9 series) being needed.

Luffy321

closed wrote: »

why???????

I eventually want to buy a gtx 780 but worried my cpu will be a bottleneck. Plus, I like being on the bleeding edge ( I know it is a sickness).

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

The replacement for the socket 1366 processors such as yours is LGA 2011

So are LGA 2011 chips compatible with 1366 or does that require a new board?

Johnmcl7

Luffy321 wrote: »

So are LGA 2011 chips compatible with 1366 or does that require a new board?

It requires a new motherboard, it's a physically different socket as well as a different chipset.

John