Haswel Upgrade?

[Rabby]

Haswel CPU
I'm getting $380 in tax refunds, have been saving $60 a month since last December, and am prepared to purchase an Intel Haswel CPU and motherboard, but I have some concerns.

1). How can I verify I'm getting a true Haswel part when it will be called a Core i7 3770 which is what current Ivy Bridge chips are called? AMD chips had a long serial number on their face, like your car's VIN, telling you the stepping, process, and speed, etc.

2). I understand that Crossfire will work with an Intel based motherboard, but how's this possible? Didn't AMD discourage users from setting up Crossfire on an Intel based chipset? What do I need to look out for? Any compromises?

3). Micron had a working prototype of DDR4 RAM last year they intend to introduce sometime. It's more energy efficient, cooler, and faster, so should I hold off when and if Haswel can work with it? Does anyone know more about DDR4?

From what I read on AnandTech the first Haswel's will be BGA (ball grid array) rather than the typical pin in socket. I read conflicting reports that BGA is for integrating the CPU onto the motherboard which means that a future CPU upgrade won't be possible in th traditional manner.

I would appreciate advise to avoid any trapfalls. I would appriciate knowledge helpful Thank you.

[gnoj]

1.) Where did you hear that future i7 3770's would be Haswell parts? That's absolutely not true- as is usually the case, there will be several SKUs of Haswell based processors with different model numbers, with the common theme of being a 4-digit number beginning with a "4" to signify that Haswell is the "4th generation Core architecture." The full desktop lineup was leaked online a few months ago. The direct replacement to the i7-3770(K)is the i7-4770(K). As with most of the desktop and mainstream laptop CPUs, they will be launched on June 2. With respect to steppings, there is a small bug[www.tomshardware.com] found in the initial "C1" batch of the Z87 chipset. The C2 stepping is already in production and it's unclear where or even if chips with this problem will be sold. Since the problem was quickly addressed it is likely that within a month all the chips on the market will be of the C2 variety. Beyond that, you don't need to be worried about the stepping.

2.) Why wouldn't Crossfire work with an Intel chipset? AMD GPUs are paired with Intel CPUs all the time (including the laptop I'm typing this on), just as Nvidia cards are often paired with AMD CPUs and motherboards. Just look for a Z87 board that has more than 1 PCIe 3.0 slot and is labeled as being SLI or Crossfire ready.

3.) DDR4 is first scheduled for release alongside Haswell-EX (server) and Haswell-E (HDE- high-end desktop) in 2014. It will not be supported by mainstream Haswell CPUs on LGA 1150. It is expected DDR4 will be released to the masses alongside Broadwell in late 2014. DDR4 is better but will be expensive for a while compared to equivalent capacity DDR3. In short, you should not hold off purchasing your desktop just for DDR4.

Desktop Haswell processors will be available in both LGA and BGA versions. The 4770(K) will remain LGA. From what I understand all Broadwell processors will be BGA-only, and it is therefore unlikely Intel will release an LGA Broadwell CPU just for drop-in replacement on LGA 1150 boards. In 2015 Intel will return to offering LGA with it's new "Skylake" architecture. Therefore, Intel will augment it's "tick-tock" CPU cadence by offering LGA (and BGA) versions of "tocks" and BGA only versions for the "ticks." There are several reasons for this, including the lower manufacturing cost of soldering the CPU to the board and the fact that most people don't upgrade their processors every year, meaning the board must be replaced anyway for a CPU upgrade. The BGA desktop Haswell chips will carry the -R suffix and include the highest sku of Intel integrated graphics (GT3e/Intel HD 5200). All other Intel desktop chips will get GT2 (Intel HD 4600).

So since you likely plan to get a dedicated GPU anyway, don't worry about the "R" chips and just pick up the regular 4770 or 4770K.

[Pant]

I wouldn't upgrade right away, you never should. Always let other people go first and take any hits for you. That way by the time you upgrade most issues, if any, will be sorted out.

[Jamebonds1]

If you think Haswell is worth it. I would go for it. As usually, intel improve to something better. Well... not for Intel Duo as i heard. It just would be wasted money if you already have Ivy Bridge because it is great and good enough for gaming.

[Marble]

I'm waiting to see the reviews first. My Nehalem i7 930 chip is still going strong.

[Jamebonds1]

引用自 Canti：

I'm waiting to see the reviews first. My Nehalem i7 930 chip is still going strong.

I can say it is not worth it to upgrade from i7 930 to Haswell. i7 930 is better than Sandy and Ivy. Plus much stable overclock. I was owner of first gen i3.

[rotNdude]

There is no 3770 in the Haswel lineup.

Crossfire will work just fine.

DDR4 CPUs will be the high end CPUs and will exceed your budget.

BGA CPUs are not upgradeable. They are soldered onto the motherboard.

[banzaigtv]

引用自 Canti：

I'm waiting to see the reviews first. My Nehalem i7 930 chip is still going strong.

Or perhaps you could wait for Ivy Bridge-E or Haswell-E. One of those CPUs are sure to be a worthy upgrade from a Bloomfield CPU.

[Marble]

I plan to wait until 2014 in either case. I won't be rushing to buy the first thing that comes along. Mine is OC'd to 4.2Ghz so it still competes fairly well with more recent i7's, I would just like to make a fresh build with a new case, quieter fans and sparkly new components :).

[Rabby]

Gnoj, and all of you, thank you for your replies. I'm a gamer and I upgrade every three to four years and my AMD Phenom II 965 BE is getting long in the tooth. AMD's roadmap makes no mention of PCI-e 3 nor Thunderbolt. And AMD laid-off 15% of their workers last October and ended 2012 in the red, again. It's a shame. In Maximum PC's year end "Gear of the Year" (I think 2006) it was a clean sweep for AMD. Anand Lal Shimpi makes clear, that though now AMD's best CPU is only competitive with Intel's Core i5 parts, we (all of us consumers) need AMD because its competition forces Intel's tick-tocking and their pricing reasonable. Maybe AMD should've merged with VIA years ago ...

[Rove]

to Substancer (OP):
There is PCIe 3.0, yes three, AMD motherboard(s) available.

I just configured a $2000~ build with one for fun (made online not purchased and built) with a AMD FX 8350 CPU, a Saphire 6GB GDDR5 (double normal GDDR5) HD 7970 Ghz Edition (factory overclocked) GPU, ASUS Sabertooth Rev 2 Motherboard (with *3 PCIe 3 and *1 PCIe 2), 3TB HDD, 240GB SSD, 16GB Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1600, Lian-Li full aluminum case, 750 watts platinum certified PSU, Windows 8 OS and a 23" 1080p monitor.

I did it as sort of wishful thinking/price comparison.

I have a very similar AMD build myself but with 1 generation older parts and GPU/Motherboard not as nice, 32GB RAM and more bells and whistles though.

So far for me benchmarks vs the AMD FX 8150 haven't really been much of a point, it crunches through whatever I feed it. Also I can bitcoin mine on my HD 6950 GPU, something Nvidia is no good for.

Edit: if you got money to spend on a top end brand-new model GPU you might want to wait until the AMD Radeon HD 8000 series or the Nvidia GeForce 700 series releases cause it's relatively soon I think?

Also if you are on a budget, the AMD APUs are really killer value/$ if you don't use a dedicated GPU and their newest "Kaveri" one should be coming out soon (but slightly after "Richland" so don't confuse the two) with about 1000 GFLOPs of power which is like as much as a GTX 560 or HD 6750. How good it will be cause it's integrated and not dedicated IDK. Rumor says it *might* support DDR4 & DDR3.

I wish I had the $ for a dual 6 core i7 Intel system but since I don't I'll go with value/$ from AMD as my personal choice and also cause I want to support the competition and be unique.

[Rabby]

Rove, I very much appreciate your comments. I have been loyal to AMD exclusively, but at what point do I fold my cards? AMD lives on pixie dust as it loses money as long as I can remember, but last October they laid-off 15% of their workforce. I won't make up my mind until I read what Anand Lal Shimpi and Gordon Mah Ung say when they benchmark Haswel, but I'll include what Anand said about Piledriver. Thank you very much:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested