Should I wait for Haswell to rebuild my PC?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around whether to wait for the upcoming Haswell Intel processors before building a new gaming PC, particularly in light of performance expectations and current hardware capabilities. Participants explore the implications of waiting for new technology versus building with existing components, focusing on gaming performance and future-proofing.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express skepticism about the validity of claims regarding a 50% performance increase with Haswell compared to Ivy Bridge.
  • Several participants argue that the GPU is more critical than the CPU for gaming performance, suggesting immediate builds with existing high-end CPUs like the 3770K.
  • There are concerns about future games requiring more powerful hardware, with specific titles mentioned that may not run smoothly on older rigs.
  • One participant notes that waiting for Haswell may lead to perpetual delays in building a PC, as technology continuously evolves.
  • Discussion includes the potential advantages of Haswell, such as improved integrated graphics and memory architecture, but acknowledges that high-powered desktop versions may not be available until later.
  • Participants discuss the performance differences between current and next-generation graphics cards, with some suggesting that even high-end setups may struggle with future titles.
  • There is a question about the performance comparison between different graphics card setups, specifically regarding potential bottlenecks with the 3770K CPU.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus. Some advocate for building now while others suggest waiting for Haswell, highlighting differing views on the importance of CPU versus GPU and the implications of waiting for new technology.

Contextual Notes

Participants express various assumptions about performance metrics and future gaming requirements, with some limitations noted regarding the availability of next-generation hardware and the unpredictability of technological advancements.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for gamers considering new PC builds, hardware enthusiasts evaluating the timing of technology upgrades, and those interested in the evolving landscape of computer hardware performance.

Kutt
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I read that the next-gen "Haswell" Intel processors are going to offer roughly 50% more performance than the current Ivy-Bridge architecture. Although I'm not sure how valid that statement is because someone on a PC hardware forum told it to me.

Clock for clock, the jump from Nehalem to SB and IB was 15-20% at best. I think it's time that Intel puts out a processor that offers a major performance gain like the Core 2 quad to the first-gen Core i7, which was around 50%.

I am hesitant to build a new 3770K gaming rig for Christmas knowing that the Haswell processors are right around the corner in Q1 2013.

Should I wait for the Haswell to build a new gaming rig?
 
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GPU is far more important than CPU for gaming. So no. :) Go build that monster. You'll be set for a long time!
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
GPU is far more important than CPU for gaming. So no. :) Go build that monster. You'll be set for a long time!

The next generation of graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia won't be available until circa 2014.

A 3770K combined with dual SLI GTX 680's will bulldoze through anything, except Metro 2033.
 
Next generation will be even faster. Waiting you will never build anything.
 
Kutt said:
except Metro 2033.

Why pay $4k to play a mediocre game on max? :)

My $1.5k (one year ago) ASUS G47S laptop will run most games now on high settings.

Not trying to discourage you if this is your "vice", but as Borek said, you'll always be playing catch up. Just buy the rig and enjoy the games :)
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
Why pay $4k to play a mediocre game on max? :)

My $1.5k (one year ago) ASUS G47S laptop will run most games now on high settings.

Not trying to discourage you if this is your "vice", but as Borek said, you'll always be playing catch up. Just buy the rig and enjoy the games :)

My build is around $2,200. I've priced everything.

The PC port of Grand Theft Auto 5 is going to be a performance hog that only the fastest hardware setups will be able to run smoothly on high graphics settings.

This is one of the reasons why I'm building a new PC.
 
Kutt said:
This is one of the reasons why I'm building a new PC.

If it's a big reason, then why not wait for to buy the updated rig in summer?
 
Greg Bernhardt said:
If it's a big reason, then why not wait for to buy the updated rig in summer?

Crysis 3, Metro The Last Light, Battlefield 4, and several other future PC titles are going to run slow on my current 2 year old gaming rig. I need a new rig if I am to play these games smoothly.
 
Kutt said:
Crysis 3, Metro The Last Light, Battlefield 4, and several other future PC titles are going to run slow on my current 2 year old gaming rig. I need a new rig if I am to play these games smoothly.

I say buy the rig then. GTA5 will still run great.
 
  • #10
GTA 4 and 5 for the PC are extremely VRAM intensive.

For example, you cannot max out the view distance slider in GTA4 without having 2GB of RAM on your graphics card. GTA 5 has much better graphics than the previous game so I'm guessing that it will require even more VRAM to run smoothly.
 
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  • #11
Greg is right and you should just go for the i7 for now which is already overkill for gaming. The first version of Haswell will be the 10w portable version with a built in gpu, while the high powered desktop cpu for gaming rigs will not be available until late next year.

The big advantage of Haswell is it will use a transposer to add serious ram to the chip. Despite being underclocked the portable offerings will have twice the graphics power of current offerings and the desktop overclocked version some estimate could have five times the graphics power. That's a big deal in an industry where 15% improvements are average but, like I said, it will only apply to portable devices until late next year at the earliest. What Intel intends to do with the high powered desktop cpu version nobody knows.

The next two years should be very interesting indeed. There are already SoCs like Haswell used in smartphones and servers, but this will be the first attempt to start replacing cpu processors for most commercial devices. In 2014 Intel will add unified memory to the chip architecture which could make another significant difference. Beyond that all bets are off. These "Frankenstein" chips as I like to call them are impossible to predict. Heat is the biggest physical limitation and if someone can get that under control and work out the technical and cost problems you could literally stack a hundred of them together and build a supercomputer the size of a walnut.
 
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  • #12
Off-topic, but how much faster would two GeForce GTX 680's be compared to my current system which has two Radeon HD 5870's in crossfire?

Someone told me I could get 3x the performance if I overclock them.

The 3770K won't bottleneck that setup, will it?
 
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