Core i7-3820 or i7-3930k for 680 GTX SLI?

I am going to buy a new PC with 680 gtx Sli. If I equip it with a i7 3820 not overclocked (I.e. standard 3,6 Ghz), could the 680 gtx Sli be limited by the CPU? Would a i7 3930k be a better choice? Worth spending more money? In a nutshell, if I decide to equip my 680 gtx Sli with a 3930k rather than a 3820 what fps boost range could I expect to gain playing at 1920x1080 all filters ON (AA, AF, AO and so on)?
 
At 1920x1080 I think you'll have no issues running almost any game out with either CPU and SLI 680s @ vysnc - even if you decide to run with a 120hz monitor. Only with games such as MMOs where you are typically CPU bound anyway will you see issues... or Metro 2033 & AvP.

I see you're looking for a lot of input on this - http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=370635
 
Ok, thanks. I was really impressed by these results http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2278579 where a 3930k performs 179 fps and a 2600K (similar to 3820) 156 fps at 1920x1080 with 690 gtx. That's a huge difference at that resoultion. Could that be a CPU bottleneck?
That's not a huge difference, that's ZERO difference even on a 120Hz screen. A 120Hz monitor can't physically display more than 120fps and a 60Hz monitor can't do more than 60fps so you won't see any difference whatsoever. What monitor do you have at the moment?

To be honest there's no point going for an X79 system unless you go for a six core 3930K (which will be a lot more expensive), if you're thinking of the 3820 you might as well get a cheaper Z77 mobo + 3570K/3770K instead.
 
That's not a huge difference, that's ZERO difference even on a 120Hz screen. A 120Hz monitor can't physically display more than 120fps and a 60Hz monitor can't do more than 60fps so you won't see any difference whatsoever. What monitor do you have at the moment?

To be honest there's no point going for an X79 system unless you go for a six core 3930K (which will be a lot more expensive), if you're thinking of the 3820 you might as well get a cheaper Z77 mobo + 3570K/3770K instead.


I am going to opt for socket 2011 particularly because it offers me the possibility to upgrade to upcoming Ivy Brigde E. But also because of quad channel memory, higher memory bandwitch, higher cache, PCI e 3.0.

At the moment I have a Full Hd 60Hz display that can reach 100Hz through motionplus technique...but I don't know if one should trust this 'motionplus' method . Do you think it's real 100Hz?
For that reason, I am going to buy a Full Hd 120Hz display in order to benefit from the 680 SLI high framerate in most games (around 100-120 fps) and enjoy the difference compared to my 60Hz display.

But so it's totally pointless to get more than 60 fps on a 60Hz display? E.g. if fraps gives you 100 fps on a particular game when playing on a 60Hz display, are there any benefits compared to 60 fps? Smoothered camera, more eye comfortable on screen characters' movements, higher speed feeling in racing games and so on even if the display is 60hz locked?
 
It's mostly pointless except that if your machine easily holds 100+ fps then your occasional dip during a busy scene will likely still be above the 60hz refresh. Other than that (or some really old games that behave differently when internal rendering is extremely high) there is no point. 120Hz is a bit tougher on your machine at 1920, but not so much that you NEED to go with LGA 2011. It also means that your machine will not be working as hard to provide your requested framerates and therefor will most likely run well below 100% busy which in turn means less heat production.
 
Tbh mate why dont u wait some more until april and buy the new Intel Cpu they will be relitevaly powerfull then the ivy bridge trust me it will be worth the wait
 
I am going to opt for socket 2011 particularly because it offers me the possibility to upgrade to upcoming Ivy Brigde E. But also because of quad channel memory, higher memory bandwitch, higher cache, PCI e 3.0.
IB-E isn't going to come out for a while yet and at the moment it looks like they're still only going to be six core processors, pretty much the same as SB-E but with slightly higher IPC and smaller process. In other words I think you'll find it to be somewhat underwhelming after waiting for a year. Unless you KNOW that you need quad channel memory (which general PC users and gamers don't) then it won't bring any real world benefits.

At the moment I have a Full Hd 60Hz display that can reach 100Hz through motionplus technique...but I don't know if one should trust this 'motionplus' method .
Are you using a TV at the moment? Motionplus/motionflow, etc on TVs won't take a 100Hz input, they take a 50Hz/60Hz signal and generate frames in between each "real" frame to make the image appear smoother. Might be ok for watching sports but it produces huge lag which makes it really bad for gaming.
But so it's totally pointless to get more than 60 fps on a 60Hz display?
It's pointless if your MINIMUM framerates are always well above 60fps. This is what you really should concern yourself with, not the average framerates. If your setup is powerful enough to never drop below 60fps then anything above that will be unoticeable.

A 120Hz monitor is a good idea, running 680 SLI on a 1080p 60Hz screen is very much overkill. Or you can get one of those overclockable Korean monitors, LNCPapa will give you advice on those.
 
It's pointless if your MINIMUM framerates are always well above 60fps. This is what you really should concern yourself with, not the average framerates.

Yes, I am going to buy a 120Hz monitor asap. Do you know some very good 120Hz ones for gaming? Not so epensive, roughly 250-400$, 24''-27''
 
I agree with all of the above, well said papa. but I think you can save a few bucks and go for a 3770k. the 3820 is basically no different. plus pci e 3 is no big issue, but since the 680 supports it, the z77 platform is more equiped for it, while the x79 platform is not fully certified. if you do not need 32gb of ram for example, a x79 is wasteful, plus no game uses 6 cores. if you use photoshop cs6, the 3930k is a great buy, but for gaming is a i7 3770k is fine-despite being a bit overkill since a 95 3570k is basically the same thing with 4 less threads. your choice man
 
I love my LED monitor, it has much better colors than my old LCD one, at the same resolution, plus it saves energy. will you be playing in 3d?
 
Back