Intel CPU confusion

[Lvcoyote]

You mentioned wanting to use DDR4 memory, which will require an X99 series motherboard and a Haswell-E processor. The 4790K and 4690K processors use DDR3 memory. The Intel Skylake CPUs are due out soon, which will be a socket 1151 platform built on the Intel 100 series chipset motherboards. Those will be using DDR4 from what I gather.

 

[Alaric]

Yup. I saw what happened to DDR2 prices when DDR4 came out , and I expect the cycle to repeat itself by the time I'm ready. With my luck , by the time I'm broke again some new "must have" software will come out that needs at least 32 GB of RAM and my upgrade will cost $500. Investing in older tech is not what I want from my next build. The stuff I have is 'OK' to 'good'. Next time I want 'very good' across the (mother)board. A very good PSU , RAM , mobo , graphics solution , SSD , case , the works. I'm hoping $3-4000 and some elbow grease will at least put me in the ballpark for a rig that won't have me drooling for new stuff 6 months after I build it. I also have an audio shopping list I'll have to deal with , that's why a good sound card is on my computer list. A top line sound card might be enough to save me a boatload on a DAC. That's money I can spend on a Crosshair or Fury XX or 990Ti. LOL

 

[Alaric]

I just noticed a potential issue with the newest and bestest Intel chips. The 5820K only has 28 PCI lanes , compared to the 5960K at 40 (and an extra $200). What effect does this have on graphics cards ? And is that one of the things that helps keep AMD in the game with SLI and Xfire speeds ?

 

[EarthDog]

The 5930k aND a 5960x have the same amount of lanes on die. Performances differences with multi gpu configs will be about 1-2% from 8x/8x to 16x/16x. Some boards ask co.e with a plx chip to add more lanes, but it adds a bit more latency...not something you will,notice.

 

[Alaric]

Oops. My bad. I meant the 5820K and 5930K by comparison. The 5960K is still way over my anticipated budget. From what I can see in the specs the $200 price difference goes directly to PCI lanes , as .3 GHz is pretty easy to overcome with a 'K' chip. Now that I have my act together , does it make a difference on the high end in SLI/Xfire ? Or are we talking the difference between warp 4 and warp 8-to go to the Starbuck's on the corner ?

 

[Alaric]

And just for fun , throw a sound card in the mix. Is intel really telling me that I can't Xfire and run a sound card with a $390 chip ???

 

[Woomack]

28 pcie lanes is more than enough for 2 graphics cards, even these fastest. It's 16+8 or 8+8+8. When you add other cards then it will run as pcie 8+8+ whatever left or is required. PCIE 3.0 x8 in real gives the same experience as X16 just because graphics cards can't use full bandwidth. Maybe they will in future but then you will have newer platform. I just don't expect any bigger changes in next 3 years as everything is delayed and software doesn't need much faster hardware. Software developers are only too lazy to optimize anything.

 

[Alaric]

I have a TV tuner card , would like a decent sound card , and would like to at least have the option for SLI. A wireless card might be nice , too. Let me try to wrap my head around this-AMD is PCIe 2.0 and it is in the chipset (990FX=32 lanes?) Intel is PCIe 3.0 , on the die , and twice the bandwidth per lane. So 8x/8x with the Intel = 16x/16x with the 990FX chipset?
If the above is correct , then the 40 lane Intel will be more than capable of handling anything that will physically plug in to the mobo , and the instruction per cycle advantage of the Blue chip , should give a hefty performance advantage to a higher end Intel build regardless of how much you spend on an AMD rig. Am I even close here ? I can't tell if my head is wrapped around it-it won't stop spinning.

 

[EarthDog]

So 8x/8x with the Intel = 16x/16x with the 990FX chipset?

Yes.

then the 40 lane Intel will be more than capable of handling anything that will physically plug in to the mobo , and the instruction per cycle advantage of the Blue chip , should give a hefty performance advantage to a higher end Intel build regardless of how much you spend on an AMD rig.

Yes x2.

 

[Alaric]

Well , hell. This just got a lot easier. The DDR4 speeds on the X99 boards puts the icing on that cake. I'm gonna miss AMD. *sniff*