LGA 1155 I7-2600K or LGA 2011 I7-3630 - Cost the Same, Which is Faster?

[IMakeHomeMovies]

I am thinking of the following mobo/CPU combos:

1) Z77 LGA 1155 with Core i7-2600K CPU

or

2) X79 LGA 2011 with Core i7-3820 CPU

The LGA 2011 combo will cost me about $50 more then the LGA 1155 solution.

I will be doing some gaming, photoshop and video creation.

My question is which will be faster?

[richardd43]

I would go with the 2500K if it was my build.

If you are going to overclock the 2500K is unlocked and much easier to overclock.

The local store here is showing 19 different CPU versions for the 1155 chip set and only 3 for the 2011 set.

Makes me wonder if the 2011 is a dying breed.

[Octavean]

If you read reviews of the Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 3820 you’ll see that they can be overclocked without much difficulty. Something like ~4.5GHz to ~4.7GHz IIRC. Well within the typical range of Ivy Bridge OC on unlocked chips without the heat spike.

Also there are only three CPU chips currently available for the X79 / LGA2011 platform, the Core i7 3820, Core i7 3930K and Core i7 3960X. The platform dispenses with the lower-end chips because its supposedly the high-end Intel platform for professionals and enthusiasts (or pro-sumer). So the reason for the number of supported chips is fairly clear (no i3 and no i5).


IMO its about 6 of one and a half dozen of the other. People will come up with reasons to buy one platform over the other and in many cases the logic doesn’t necessarily hold true.

[smoked trout]

If you figure in Xeons LGA 2011 has lots of processor offerings. It's not going away anytime soon. But like you said, LGA 2011 is pretty much the high end of Intel's offerings.

Main reason I'd buy a 3930 over any Ivy Bridge is I need more cores.

[Octavean]

If you figure in Xeons LGA 2011 has lots of processor offerings. It's not going away anytime soon. But like you said, LGA 2011 is pretty much the high end of Intel's offerings.

Main reason I'd buy a 3930 over any Ivy Bridge is I need more cores.

Yeah, that and the Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge Core i7 xxxxK line doesn’t support Intel VT-d (direct IO) hardware whereas the Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 line (3820, 3930K and 3960X) does,.....IIRC,...

[Windrunner]

Yeah, that and the Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge Core i7 xxxxK line doesn’t support Intel VT-d (direct IO) hardware whereas the Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 line (3820, 3930K and 3960X) does,.....IIRC,...

That freaked me out because I'm still on the fence between LGA 1155 and 2011, but the Wikipedia page says otherwise! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...icroprocessors

[smoked trout]

I think he's got it right.
The K series of SB and Ivy don't support VT-d
Stepping C2 of the SB-E K series does support it. see http://ark.intel.com/products/63697

[Windrunner]

Okay, that struck me as weird because Wikipedia computer geeks are generally quick to catch things like this, so I poked around.

http://ark.intel.com/products/61275/...to-3_90-GHz%29 doesn't have VT-d nor a few other features nor a PCI express port.

http://ark.intel.com/products/52213/...to-3_80-GHz%29 has VT-d and all of the above.

I'm slightly confused.

[Octavean]

Okay, that struck me as weird because Wikipedia computer geeks are generally quick to catch things like this, so I poked around.

http://ark.intel.com/products/61275/...to-3_90-GHz%29 doesn't have VT-d nor a few other features nor a PCI express port.

http://ark.intel.com/products/52213/...to-3_80-GHz%29 has VT-d and all of the above.

I'm slightly confused.

You’ll see all the info is there. The Sandy Bridge “K” series (unlocked) does not support VT-d whereas the Sandy Bridge non “K” version (locked version) does support VT-d. That’s the LGA1155 platform.

The Sandy Bridge-E LGA2011 platform CPU’s all support VT-d regardless if they are X, K or non K,…..

[Pehu]

Does the lack of VT-d have any meaning to the end user home? I believe the answer is no.

[Windrunner]

Does the lack of VT-d have any meaning to the end user home? I believe the answer is no.

The 'K' series of unlocked processors isn't marketed directly to the end user home, is it?

[Pehu]

The 'K' series of unlocked processors isn't marketed directly to the end user home, is it?

Regarding VT-d's meaning the answer is still a strong: no meaning whatsoever.

[Windrunner]

Regarding VT-d's meaning the answer is still a strong: no meaning whatsoever.

I have uses for VT-d in my system that is primarily used for gaming and rendering and sports a hefty overclock. IOMMU/VT-d was actually a major feature for me when I bought my system back in 2008.

[Pehu]

I have uses for VT-d in my system that is primarily used for gaming and rendering and sports a hefty overclock. IOMMU/VT-d was actually a major feature for me when I bought my system back in 2008.

How and why?

[Windrunner]

Unfortunately my motherboard doesn't support it - I couldn't swing for an x45 chipset and intended to grab one - but what I do with my systems is, every time I build a new high end system, I bump my previous system down to a secondary position.

On my secondary system I either run a server OS or a desktop OS with virtualization software. Currently I'm trying to set up a C2D e7500 that doesn't have VT-d with a virtualized Linux gateway distro. Without VT-d I can't just hand over the NICs to the virtualized OS. Same issue with the hard drives and running the system as NAS.