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Difference between 1366 and 1156?

3K views 35 replies 12 participants last post by  BinarySlave 
USB 3.0 adapter cards will likely be released. The same thing goes for SATA 3. We have USB 2.0 and SATA II cards.

SATA 3 is mostly useless anyway. Heck, SATA II is questionably useless. Disks get, what, ~100MB/s typically at most (I know there's some that likely get more, but I'm talking "normal" here)? Most of their time is spent doing less speed tasks even. SATA (I) did 150MB/s. SATA II is 300MB/s. 600MB/s is way uneeded right now. Maybe it'll help for SSDs, but those aren't quite here yet, and won't be by tomorrow either.

The extra speed for USB 3.0 will really only matter for external disk drives I'd imagine, and maybe a few other niche things. For the most part, it's also not worth specifically waiting for.

This new stuff won't be cheap at first either, and he's already stated not being able to go the high end expensive route.

I agree with Spyhop. Unless it is within a month for a super major release and you plan on getting said release, then just go for it now. Otherwise, you'll be waiting forever and always worrying about what could had been if you waited a few more months, all the while you're worrying with that thought in the back of your head instead of enjoying what you have. Too many people seem to lack contentment.
 
As far as I remember USB 2 and SATA II were not needed either just when they came out... but they were a couple of months later.
Of course if people plan to buy another new PC in a couple of months I'm OK with it. :p
USB 2.0 wasn't "needed" months after launch. Even now, it's really just hard drives and flash drives that "really need" it.

SATA II wasn't needed months after released. In fact, like I just said, it arguably still isn't needed even today! It's like how AGP8x was replacing AGP4x, when the cards themselves were still only at about AGP2x level needs.

You'll only need to happen to get it as a side effect when you do happen to upgrade, and then the feeling of having that update of that specific technology will be nice, but you needn't shape a decision around it. New features are nice to have if the "I'm outdated" feeling (nothing more than a feeling) bothers one that badly, but unless he "needs" these features, it is not worth putting a purchase off for months just for them (are they even around the corner anyway?).
 
Switching the base of the build (CPU and motherboard) up just because of USB 3.0 and SATA 3? As I've been saying, those two things should be a moot factor.
 
1. USB 3 is going to be out one of these days so wait until mobos supporting 1366 CPUs implement it.
2. SATA 3 (6 Gbps) is going to be out too one of these days so wait for it to be implemented too.
It looks like you don't even need to wait anyway, at least according to this example.

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards

However, that's one of the few I've found with it, and that's an 1156 motherboard (and it seems the P55 chipset has limitations with them from one of the reviews). I don't see why a 1366 motherboard wouldn't have them, or be going to have them really soon, if the lesser boards had them, but they don't appear to for the most part.

Edit: How does saying there's add on cards for everything support that there's no switch needed? I know that. My original point was that, if they aren't out yet, or won't be really really soon, then it's not worth waiting on your whole build for minor or even useless features, and that's a damn good point if I say so myself. Waiting for a CPU or GPU is one thing. USB 3.0 and SATA 3? No.
 
The problem is that data still pass through the PCI bus. Even if you get an add-on card this limitation still exists, it also exists on the gigabyte mobo you linked at (no SATA 3 or USB 3 with 2nd PCI slot occupied). What's the point of upgrading if the speed gain is minor or gets in the way?
Anyway, asus seems to have a more "proper" implementation on some of their mobos.

Edit:

New technologies is a reason to wait in my opinion. Like the AGP to PCIe change, or the IDE to SATA, or even the different CPU sockets. You don't get a new PC to be unable to do any sort of serious upgrade in the long run. Imagine being limited to USB 1 and IDE speeds for your current system. Imagine trying to find a first party AGP video card with acceptable performance (only radeon AGP cards perform relatively well but AMD does not even support them).
Well, you're right about the first part. That obvious bit about it completely passed by me.

I still think delaying an entire build over USB 3.0 or SATA 3 is not worth it. Your examples of a CPU or GPU don't help. They're major parts. I even said myself that I'd wait for those, but even then, only if they're right around the corner. USB 3.0 and SATA 3, on the other hand, are not major parts. These are minor technologies, and it's not worth delaying an entire build for months over them.

They will make no difference to him during that PC's time on the top, nor during it's mid-prime, nor probably during it's later years (it might by then, but by then, the stuff would have to be radically ahead enough to where the whole thing would need replaced anyway). Hard drives needing 600MB/s won't be here in the next two or three years, and what will really need USB 3.0 besides external drives that your typical enthusiast will use? Nothing. He gains nothing by waiting for these two pieces of technology, and as I said, he does not want to spend alot of money. This won't be cheap at first, which means, you guessed it, more waiting.

You're telling him to wait at least half a year for stuff that means nothing. I don't care if it "eventually" will. I saw the same game with the quad core hype, and I am honestly still laughing at the people that traded in speed for that time period for "future proofing for the future" (I'm talking of those who got Q6600s years ago, not those getting i7/i5s now), when in reality, the extra cores did them no good for what really mattered, and they still aren't fully here yet, and guess what, no, sorry, but they won't be tomorrow either, as much as everyone likes to try and exaggerate the uses of four cores or five hundred threads. By time they (the Q6600s, Q8x00s, etc., the older quad core CPUs) are actually "needed", their time will be past, so, they spent more money for less speed for future proofing that never helped them. Good deal! The best I've heard them come up with in response is "oh well, I don't need the extra speed anyway", but then it begs to question why they even got a quad core CPU with the mentality of "future proofing" in the first place.

There's no such thing as future proofing with PCs. You actually tend to waste money doing that. There exists a thing called smart buying, but smart buying does not equal waiting and/or getting the latest upon release. They're two different things. If there's anything I've learned through my time with PCs, it's that the waiting game is doing you no good. The fact remains that your PC will become outdated just about as fast, and you'll have waited between the time you first wanted it until the time you got it. Like I already said in a previous post, unless it's a major technology, or a major price drop, and you plan on getting it and it is coming up real soon (within the next month, two at the most), then there is no reason worthwhile to wait. Either go big now if it's longer off, or get a decent and cheap stopgap product, and then upgrade, but even that can bite you (it did with me).

I'm not trying to demean USB 3.0 or SATA 3, as useless for now for most people as I will truthfully call them. I like any new advancement, but I am not going to advise someone else to needlessly wait for months or whatever for what will be 99% useless to them, and perhaps above what they are willing to afford in the end anyway, just because people think they need it to be ahead because it's "going to be standard at some point in the future anyway, so it's the thing to make sure you have now". There is, and always will be, stuff over the horizon. Just get what you want, when you want, and be done with it, and enjoy it.
 
Ehm, I think you got it all wrong. Implementations of those technologies already started. It's a matter of weeks until relevant socket 1366 hardware hits the stores. And no, according to the announced prices (and the price of the mobo you posted) newer mobos will not be overpriced compared to current 1366 and 1156 mobos.

I'm usually against waiting for newer stuff to get out on the market since technology moves fast. On the particular case however that's what I'd recommend. That's because technologies of this kind stay for a while and do not get outdated every few months or so.
You say that USB 3 and SATA 3 are useless. I see that SATA killed IDE a while after it came out, to the point that some mobos don't even have IDE connectors at all any more. I saw that USB 2 devices of all sorts flooded the market once USB 2 came out, from external disc drives to external HDDs and flash drives.

It might be just me but when I plan to spend money on something new I make sure it will be future-proof as much as possible, especially if it has hardware limitations that can't be upgraded/changed/whatever.
If it's a matter of weeks and there's no price differences, then yes, you can wait if you will, but if it's useless, there's still no need to. Now I personally probably would myself if it was just a week or two "just because", but I wouldn't pretend it would matter for real, and what if it's a month or more instead? Then no, I wouldn't wait. You're not understanding that these aren't going to make any big or immediate change.

The board I linked to can't do USB 3.0 or SATA 3 fully right due to the chipset apparently, so that would give me a clue that this new technology will need either the higher end or new chipset (more money, and even though it's just a Southbridge and may not be alot, it's still a price hike).

Your comparisons, also, are completely irrelevant. IDE and SATA were two entirely different connector types and technologies. SATA 3 is nothing more than SATA II doubled up in speed. It's the same technology and connector, and even backwards compatible. SATA II is also double the speed of it's predecessor SATA (I). Here's the good part. Since most hard drisk type drives only use ~2/3 of SATA (I), and that is burst maximum speed, not everyday always getting it for most type of seeks speed, then SATA 3 will do nothing for him for the next few years.

My comparison of this like being AGP8x coming out, while we're still using only AGP2x quantity (less than that actually), is more accurate. Let's not forget that these don't come and go as fast as video cards, so this "AGP2x" is all we need right now, and "AGP4x" (SATA II) will be enough for the next few years, unless you think hard disk type drives will be all but extinct in two or three years, with SSDs largely taking over, but, I wouldn't count on that.

USB 3.0 might have a bit more meaning, but engh, unless you're using external drives, there's no need for super fast USB, and if you are using external drives, you should probably be using a real drive connection type (ala, eSATA), in which we're back to square one, since eSATA is basically SATA II and is already about three times the bandwidth that most drives peak at (but "normally" operate much less at).

You yourself say they don't become outdated quickly. Ever wonder why? It's a double edge sword. They take longer to come into being needed, and even longer before being outdated. SATA II and USB 2.0 will be fine until the system itself needs replaced.
 
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