Is the Intel® Core™ i5 2400 with Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H 1155 ATX any good?

[soarwitheagles]

Hi all!

Ok, a local shop is selling this combo at a significant discount.  I ordered one before even checking to see if these new "Sandy Bridge" processors are all that good.

Does anyone here have any experience with the Intel® Core™ i5 2400 processor or the Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H 1155 ATX?  How does this new processor compare with the I5-750?

And what's the story on these new 1155 motherboards?  Are they better than the 1156's?  It all sounds kind of strange to me.

I just read the following statement online and I am not sure if it is true or not:

"Core i5-2500K is absolutely a steal at $180. You're getting nearly $999 worth of performance at roughly a fifth of the cost."  Does this guy really know what he is talking about or what?

I found this comparable statement as well:

"In all but the heaviest threaded applications, Sandy Bridge is the fastest chip on the block—and you get the performance at a fairly reasonable price. The Core i7-2600K is tempting at $317 but the Core i5-2500K is absolutely a steal at $216. You're getting nearly $999 worth of performance at roughly a quarter of the cost."

This statement caught my attention too:

"When AMD saw what the Intel's new Sandy Bridge processors can do, they postponed the release of the Bulldozer chip until late 2011.  In fact, the Bulldozer will not be able to compete with Intel's Sandy Bridge processors."  Is this statement true?

Some people are actually camping outside the store to obtain these combo's tomorrow morning.  What's all the hoopla about these?  Why is there such a large demand for these?

Is the combo a good price at $279?

How about the Intel® Core™ i7 2600K Unlocked Processor?  Is it much better than the "first" generation Intel processors or is it an advertisement gimmick?

I am hearing that these new Sandy Bridge processors are getting 4.4Ghz without breaking a sweat and that is on Intel's stock little heatsink and fan!

Just curious.  Are these gonna be as good as some people are saying?

If the overclocking they show is real, then I'm tossing my Intel I5-750 out the window immediately and will build me a new rig this weekend!

They are saying over 5 Ghz with water cooled systems.  Wow!  Is this a nice dream or will I wake up in the morning and smile, realizing it was all a wonderful dream?

It's me,

Soar

[soarwitheagles]

DM,

No one replied to my post!  Hmmmmm...I am wondering why:

1. People have not yet heard very much about Intel's 2nd generation processors.
2. People are not interested in Intel's 2nd generation processors.
3. People are not sure what to think of Intel's 2nd generation processors.
4. I already answered my own question?

Which one is it?

Soar

PS Are you feeling better yet?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Soar

Yes, slowly on the up thanks, just hard to shake off.

The Sandy Bridge processors are very good but do bear in mind that the only ones that are possible to overclock are the K series and they need to be coupled with a P67 series board. Other than that you are stuck at stock speeds. The K series are hardly more expensive than the ordinary locked CPUs though unlike the normal pricing structure.

If you decide to go for one of these chips see if you can get the second stepping version as it should overclock even better than the first.

They certainly perform well and an overclock of 4+ Ghz is nearly automatic.

[soarwitheagles]

Hi Soar

Yes, slowly on the up thanks, just hard to shake off.

The Sandy Bridge processors are very good but do bear in mind that the only ones that are possible to overclock are the K series and they need to be coupled with a P67 series board. Other than that you are stuck at stock speeds. The K series are hardly more expensive than the ordinary locked CPUs though unlike the normal pricing structure.

If you decide to go for one of these chips see if you can get the second stepping version as it should overclock even better than the first.

They certainly perform well and an overclock of 4+ Ghz is nearly automatic.

DM,

I am very happy to hear you are feeling better.  Keep drinking lots of fluids, keep warm, and have lots of rest and I believe you will be just fine!

Hey, thanks for the info on the new Sandy Bridge processors.  I did order the  Intel® Core™ i5 2400K version of the processor, so I am glad it will overclock [even though I rarely overclock, it will be nice to have that option].

The vendor made a mistake and sent me the Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H instead of the Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3.  Can you tell me the difference between these two boards?  Is there many differences?

I am presently negotiating with the vendor due to the misunderstanding and I am not sure what I should do.  Maybe the two boards are almost identical?  Have you any thoughts on this?  I cannot find the advertisement for the Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3 anywhere here in the states at this time.

Oh one more question: people here are saying these new 2nd gen chips/1155 mb's will put the last nail in the coffin of the X-58's.  Is it true?

It's me,

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Honestly Soar I would not have either one of theose boards as you have  the K processor which is unlocked and very easy to overclock to up around 5 Ghz but those motherboards won't allow it. They are both H67 boards and you should be getting the P67 board or you are just wasting that CPU.

I expect that you are right in that the Sandy Bridge is the next generation of processors and so will push the older X58 compatible ones back as is always the case. It doesn't mean that the i7 etc are any less powerfull but things move on. The next  motherboards to come out will be the evolution of the i7 boards with triple or even quad channel memory capabilities etc included.

[soarwitheagles]

Honestly Soar I would not have either one of theose boards as you have  the K processor which is unlocked and very easy to overclock to up around 5 Ghz but those motherboards won't allow it. They are both H67 boards and you should be getting the P67 board or you are just wasting that CPU.

I expect that you are right in that the Sandy Bridge is the next generation of processors and so will push the older X58 compatible ones back as is always the case. It doesn't mean that the i7 etc are any less powerfull but things move on. The next  motherboards to come out will be the evolution of the i7 boards with triple or even quad channel memory capabilities etc included.

DM, I sure am glad to have you as a friend and also as a knowledgeable Gigabyte expert on these matters!

After reading your post, I immediately called my vendor and was able to cancel the order on the Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H!  Whew!  That was a close call!

They gladly gave me the package deal on the GIGABYTE P67A-UD3 motherboard with the  Intel® Core™ i5 2400K chip you mentioned.  So for $279 I am a very happy computer builder at the moment!  The motherboard will arrive in 2 days but the chip is back ordered so I may need to wait up to 2 weeks for that to come in.  Either way, I eagerly will wait for each component to arrive.  I am so excited about building this new rig....they say it OC's to 4.5 on air.  With a Corsair H70 I should probably be able to get 5Ghz or more without a hiccup!

I'd like to ask you some questions about building a cooling system similar to yours.  What exactly would I need and how many peso's would it be?

This motherboard must be fairly new because I cannot find any reviews on it yet, not even Newegg has any reviews.  Can you tell me anything about this GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard?

What type of memory would you recommend and how fast?

I did notice other vendors are selling the  Intel® Core™ i5 2400 [without the "K"] for much lower prices and apparently the overclocking ability is much lower exactly as you stated.

Thanks again for helping me select the best.

Your friend,

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

Hi Soar

What type of memory would you recommend and how fast?

Most memory available is still made for the X58 chipset and as such any XMP values are not going to be right for the P67 as they will put to much of a voltage increase. This is something people will have to watch to start with. Apart from that the DDR3 memory should be fine as you would use on the X58s.

The manual is available on the Gigabyte website  for you to check out

http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Manual/mb_manual_ga-p67a(ph67a)(ph67)-ud3_e.pdf
 
I will be offline for a day otr two now while I do a bit of upgrading my system. See you later.