Upgrade Trends

[patrickjp93]

As much as I see games being able to take advantage of more cores and/or threads in the future I still have reservations about it becoming something that is going to be required to have a good experience. Meaning, say an engine can fully utilize 6-8 cores in the future, how many frames difference are we talking about between a CPU with only four cores and CPU's with 6 or 8 cores. Right in games like Crysis 3, Metro Last Light, and BF4 which are engines that utilize extra cores and threads we still don't see that big of a difference between a four core chip and a six core chip. So what exactly would have to change to force people to need a mainstream hexa-core chip for solely gaming. Cannonlake isn't supposed to arrive until about 2016 and is also supposed to be only a die shrink from Skylake like Haswell to Broadwell. I still doubt consumer/main stream hexa-core chips arriving by this time because I still find it unnecessary. Additionally, this is also only two years away, I don't see computing making a progressive turn this abruptly to where hexa-core chips even if possibly released catch on so quickly.  

Die shrinks have produced higher core-count chips before (Ivybridge-e being the most notable example being a die shrink of Sandy Bridge but getting 2 more cores on the 4930k and 4960x than the 39xx counterparts).

 

I think it greatly depends on where game AI goes. I suspect neural networks will be making their way onto the stage soon as long as they've been in academia and research. That's gonna require those extra cores to be at all snappy.

[SpecTre12345]

Die shrinks have produced higher core-count chips before (Ivybridge-e being the most notable example being a die shrink of Sandy Bridge but getting 2 more cores on the 4930k and 4960x than the 39xx counterparts).

 

I think it greatly depends on where game AI goes. I suspect neural networks will be making their way onto the stage soon as long as they've been in academia and research. That's gonna require those extra cores to be at all snappy.

 

I dont seem to follow what you are saying, the 4930k and 4960x have 6 cores and the 3930k and 3960x had 6 cores. Where did they gain 2 cores?

[patrickjp93]

I dont seem to follow what you are saying, the 4930k and 4960x have 6 cores and the 3930k and 3960x had 6 cores. Where did they gain 2 cores?

I apologize I haven't had my coffee (in Hungary right now). Maybe this really hasn't happened before. I shall go research.

[Jey R.]

Well exactly I'm juicing every single drop of power from my i7 920. I would want to jump to a memorable upgrade, if I am going to upgrade all the components altogether, it being mobo, cpu, ram then why not just get the next Gen coming up.? I just hope by q3 or end of 2015 prices are right.

[patrickjp93]

EDIT: Not sure if die shrinks have produced higher core-count chips before.

 

I think it greatly depends on where game AI goes. I suspect neural networks will be making their way onto the stage soon as long as they've been in academia and research. That's gonna require those extra cores to be at all snappy.

[patrickjp93]

Well exactly I'm juicing every single drop of power from my i7 920. I would want to jump to a memorable upgrade, if I am going to upgrade all the components altogether, it being mobo, cpu, ram then why not just get the next Gen coming up.? I just hope by q3 or end of 2015 prices are right.

Given Inflation, the I7 5790k (or whatever equivalent idea to Broadwell refresh) will be $350-$360 at launch (around that time). I can't say about Skylake as we have yet to see how Intel will handle this. It's dangerous to put Skylake off with Jim Keller back in charge at AMD, though I doubt Carrizo will be all that great given it was the last project in place before he returned.

[Epis]

I have an FX-6100 and an HD 7770. I'm really hoping I can last until Cannonlake in 2016 because that's when DDR4 will likely become more affordable, and I don't want to be buying in to more DDR3 platforms right as it's phasing out.

 

When Cannonlake comes I'll build a full system, rather than upgrade.

[harrynowl]

I apologize I haven't had my coffee (in Hungary right now). Maybe this really hasn't happened before. I shall go research.

I think the last extreme edition to have 4 cores was the i7 965 or whatever it was, with 32nm we got extreme edition 6 cores but lga1366 was eol at that point. So most likely correct about die shrink enabling more cores

 

965 - 4 core 45nm

 

970/980x/990x - 6 core 32nm

 

3930k/3960x - 6 core 32nm

 

4930k/4960x - 6 core 22nm

 

5820/5930k/5960x - 6/6/8 core 22nm

 

6xxx probably 6/6/8 14nm

 

Although I believe all LGA2011 i7s ship with locked cores, can't remember if it's 8 or 12 for a full "lga2011" die

[Jey R.]

Okay, update ;

Since skylake is looking even more promising it seems to be a true upgrade for a new Intel platform for enthusiast users.

http://wccftech.com/intel-skylake-s-platform-specifications-detailed-z170-100series-chipset-replace-z97-2h-2015/

My next upgrade might be skylake-s and caspel Nvidia series.

[JDS]

Whenever I feel my rig is no longer sufficient for my needs. Or whenever I feel like dumping more cash into it. Whichever comes first.

[LordMustangGT]

I just upgraded last Christmas to the machine in my sig. But I held out for about 7 years with my Athon64 X2 6400+ "fastest dual care AMD made @3.2ghz."  It had a 6200 Turbo gpu to start with, then I went to a 7800, then to a 9800GT, then to SLI 460s, which at that point the cpu couldn't handle the two cards. I plan on using my 9590 till I max it out with too much video card again. Right now I'm running a single 780Ti, but see myself getting a Titan Black for the vram, I will be running triple 1080p as of this week now, not to go 4k. And I have no plans on going 4k till a single card and do triple monitor 4k @ 60+ FPS. I see no need to get an 8 series card for me. I just do a Titan Black, and if I need more powa down the road, find another black used most likely, and find another if needed for 3way sli blacks. Then after that most likely is where I'll have to build a whole new machine again. Hopefully AMD has some 12 core FX something mainstream... 

[Briggsy]

I tend to upgrade parts 1 or 2 at a time whether i need to or not. currently on ivy bridge cpu, hawaii gpu.

 

if nothing goes poof, then I would expect my system to hold out for many years.