Among the questions I get from readers every year, the most frequently asked is: “Should I wait for X processor before I buy a motherboard?” I suspect that many of you thinking about pulling the trigger on a new machine are mulling this over yourselves. As always, my advice depends on the platform you’re looking at and what your current needs are. Let’s get into the guidance.
LGA1366 = HOLD For desktop use, the most stable platform today is Intel’s LGA1366. As the only Intel desktop socket capable of taking a hexa-core today, the company has no plans to retire the original Nehalem socket right now. It’s home to the wickedly fast Core i7-980X, and I suspect it will see at least another product bump in the coming year. The LGA1366’s run will end late next year, however, when Intel releases the enthusiast version of Sandy Bridge, which will utilize the new LGA2011 socket. This still gives you six or eight months before the 1366 gets retired. Gamers looking for a stable, upgradeable platform should look here.
LGA1156 = SELL With LGA1155 destined for arrival early next year, my recommendation is to wait for the new socket at this point or to buy an LGA1366 socket if you are concerned about longer-term upgrades. LGA1156 fans, don’t take it too hard. It’s still a wonderful platform and with the excellent price-to-performance ratio of LGA1156 parts, I think its fine for someone who isn’t obsessive-compulsive about the socket becoming obsolete.
AM3 = SELL AMD buyers should carefully weigh their options right now. AM3 will be replaced by AM3+ early next year. AM3+ boards will work with AM3 procs, but AM3+ procs will not work in AM3 boards. So should you wait? Unless your circumstances include replacing a dead system now or some requirement that you spend the cash now, I say it’s a good idea to wait on a new motherboard purchase. While AM3 has a little more life left than LGA1156, it’s still not long for this world.
Motherboards
New features, new sockets, same ol' ATX
We’ll see no major shifts in form-factor for mobos in 2011. Expect ATX to hang tough. Instead, look to PCI-E 3.0, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, and the socket itself.
It’s a given that native SATA 6Gb/s support will become the standard on new chipsets in 2011. AMD already has SATA 6Gb/s in its current 890FX/GX chipsets and Intel will join the party when its P67 and H67 chipsets are released early next year with consumer and mainstream Sandy Bridge chips. What’s the difference between native SATA 6Gb/s and what you have on the board you purchased last year? Your board uses a discrete ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) to enable SATA6Gb/s, and thus only a few ports support the higher bandwidth. Native support means more of your SATA ports will run at the higher speed setting.
This Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7 sports Intel's new LGA1155 socket, which makes LGA1156 obsolete.
It’s likely both Intel and AMD chipsets will support PCI Express 3.0 in the next year. PCI-E 3.0 essentially doubles the speed of PCI-E 2.0 using a pretty clever trick. Even though PCI-E 3.0’s throughput moves only 8 gigatransfers per second versus PCI-E 2.0’s 5GT/s, PCI-E 3.0 banks 20 percent in encoding bandwidth to double the actual data transfer rates. Don’t worry—PCI-E 3.0 is backward compatible, and since PCI-E has been incredibly low on drama, we expect this transition to go smoothly.
If only USB 3.0 could go as quickly and smoothly. Native USB 3.0 will be noticeably absent from Intel’s new P67 and H67 chipsets due early next year. AMD’s own new 890GX also does not support USB 3.0 and it’s not clear if the upcoming 900-series chipset will support it either.
Don’t be fooled or discouraged, however. USB 3.0 will become the standard. In fact, Intel finally released a USB 3.0 internal-cable spec that will standardize motherboard USB 3.0 headers. Because the pin-out on USB 3.0 is different than USB 2.0, most cases have relied on using pass-through cables to get USB 3.0 ports onto the front.
Socket Update
Big changes await folks who use Intel’s workhorse LGA1156 socket. When the Sandy Bridge series of CPUs launch early next year, we’ll see a new and incompatible LGA1155 socket. That won’t make your existing Lynnfield or Clarkdale machine suddenly worthless, but there’s very little chance you’ll be able to drop in a fast new Sandy Bridge proc.
The good news is that LGA1366 owners won’t get pushed overboard at the same time. Don’t get us wrong, the platform is still a dead man walking, but at least it looks like LGA1366 will get one more CPU update in 2011. However, by the end of next summer, expect Intel to introduce its LGA2011 socket for enthusiast-class Sandy Bridge chips.
AMD fans have had it easier with motherboard upgrades, enjoying a relatively painless migration from Athlon 64 all the way to Phenom II X6. AMD will continue this trend with AM3+ by allowing you to run an older AM3-based Phenom II as well as the company’s upcoming Bulldozer chip in an AM3+ board. It’s important to note that Bulldozer chips will not work in existing AM3 boards, so if you’re buying an AM3 board today, you will probably top out on Phenom II X6. AMD’s new Fusion combo GPU/CPU part will also require a new socket since the chip will incorporate integrated graphics functionality, which will require additional pins to the CPU socket.
The long and the short of it is that 2011 will be a turbulent year for builders who have an eye toward longevity. Just remember to keep it in perspective. A new socket and CPU doesn’t make your Phenom II X6 or Core i7 stop working. It just limits your ultimate upgrade path.
from : www.maximumpc.com
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