Intel - Sandy bridge released

[Tizen]

Finally, the start of the new gen of processors


Some reviews that I found:

Desktop:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/t...i3-2100-tested

Mobile:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4084/i...bile-landscape


Reading now. Hoping to see some neutral reviews soon

Edit:

Seems like a really nice chip. Too bad they neutered their overclocking capabilities. Now to see AMDs offerings. Need a new laptop soon

[Ego]

Here's another:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i...-2600k-review/

Guru3D doesn't strike me as a fanboi site, so I tend to read their reviews constantly.
Crazy performance for a third of the price of the 980X. Nice !

Also, they didn't neuter the OC capabilities, you just need to get the "K" version of the CPU, which comes with an unlocked multiplayer. I've seen articles with people OC-ing the new I7 to 4.9 Ghz, on air, which is pretty damn impressive.

[Tizen]

Aye, forgot to say except the Turbo enabled processors.

[H001iGAN]

wow gaming performance Is excellent, equal to or better in some cases than a 980x @ stock clocks, when overclocked there is no doubt it will beat a 980x in gaming, there are still some games the 980x is better, but overall the sandy bridge takes the cake. what a shame they launched with mainstream parts, it's just not my cup of tea. Can't wait untill the Real thing comes out next year.

also would the lack of 2 cores compared to 980X have any effect on scaling on 3-4 GPU systems? (bottlenecks?)

[caveman-jim]

Originally Posted by H001iGAN

also would the lack of 2 cores compared to 980X have any effect on scaling on 3-4 GPU systems? (bottlenecks?)

No, as each GPU doesn't get a dedicated thread to feed it with data; it gets one thread, which may or may not be multi-threaded beyond 2 cores (typically not).

[H001iGAN]

why hasn't someone written that multithreaded code, Is that even possible, or is someone just trying to sell newer faster CPU's and that's why we still have outdated coding. we have been CPU bottlenecked for a pretty long time in 3-4 gpu systems, I mean most of the time the cores are sitting there useless as it is, all this hardware is just going to waste, I don't like it 1 bit.

[caveman-jim]

Part of the problem is what is multi-threaded. There is a restriction in the DX API that only one thread can feed into the GPU drivers at a time, one source. That source thread can be programmed to use multiple cores if the developers take the time to go through and find where operations can be paralellized. The problem is there is really only significant gains to be had in multi-gpu systems with multi-core processors (more than 2 cores).

Now, from a statistics PoV, that's more than most PC gamers have. Comparatively there is a small amount of people with quad cores and dual GPU configurations. So the company makes a business decision - do we spend time optimizing for a small set of customers, or do we spend that time on something else for everyone? So most of the time there is two-core multi-threading at best for the game to drive the GPU's, along side doing it's AI, etc. etc.

Secondly, there's the graphics drivers themselves. Being fed the info, they get to turn it into what the GPU's want to know. This is also a point where multi-threaded can be applied to give more performance, especially under multi-GPU. Again, this seems to be stalled at dual-core optimization, not going to use three or four (or more) cores; partly the drivers run out of things to parallelize and partly there aren't many people who benefit from it - the multi-gpu users (3x or 4x gpu) tend to have the fastest, highest speed CPUs overclocked anyway, so the problem is hidden in the CPU performance - using MHz to compensate.

hopefully the SandyBridge & Fusion APU era will convince more developers and driver teams to push for scaling beyond 2 cores, thinking about 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16 execution threads (for a game).

[H001iGAN]

some good info there. just the other day I was reading up on DX11 and DX11 multithreading is that a step in that direction?

[Och]

Okay, so now that they've arrived, where can I buy one? Newegg still doesn't have them!

[Quickstrike]

The official launch date hasn't been announced.

People are speculating that they will be [widely] available on the 9th.

[Bires]

Originally Posted by Quickstrike

The official launch date hasn't been announced.

People are speculating that they will be [widely] available on the 9th.

And the NDA expire-date *was* 1/5/11. Intel could green light sales anytime. I'm like a kid outside a candy store with a fist full of cash.

[Och]

I read reviews for the Sandy and it seems that 2600k i7 is perfect for overclockers. Any idea what the pricepoint will be for that CPU?

[Sound_Card]

meh, I'll wait for Bulldozer.

[Chuck]

The Intel HD 3000 is great for the light gamer, but what happens when we have a dedicated GPU? Wouldn't it just be wasted silicon?

[badboy]

Yeap Im building a new system with these. Time for a full upgrade!

EFI mb, i7 2600, GTX570 SC.

Just waiting 2 months so they have enough in stock of everything and the prices come down a little.

Current system lasted me 4 years with just a graphic card upgrade. Hell its still good but the c2d proc is feeling slow and I ****ing hate ATI drivers now. Never again ati, whatever reviews say. I dont care if the nvidia cards cost more and are slower. I know I will not be ripping my hair out

[Quickstrike]

Originally Posted by Chuck

The Intel HD 3000 is great for the light gamer, but what happens when we have a dedicated GPU? Wouldn't it just be wasted silicon?

IIRC, the Z68 chipset coming out in Q2 2011 will support both the integrated sandy bridge GPU and a discrete video card at the same time.

[Perky McGiggles]

Having an i7 already, Sandybridge isn't that exciting. However, if you are on socket 775 then I see these as a great upgrade. If I were building new it would certainly be Sandybridge.

But from where I'm at now. I'll see what Bulldozer looks like, but I have a feeling it won't be as good. Most likely I won't be doing anything till the next CPU improvement happens.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by Perky McGiggles

Having an i7 already, Sandybridge isn't that exciting. However, if you are on socket 775 then I see these as a great upgrade. If I were building new it would certainly be Sandybridge.

But from where I'm at now. I'll see what Bulldozer looks like, but I have a feeling it won't be as good. Most likely I won't be doing anything till the next CPU improvement happens.

Yeap thats why I am upgrading. If I would already have i7 then I wouldnt upgrade.

I have a c2d E6600 now and its holding me back alot in some games.
Its still a great proc and surely usable for another year but its getting too slow for me.
Most games are using 100% on both cores now and I dont like that

[Perky McGiggles]

An E6600 to a 2600k would be a huge ass jump.

[Ozilon]

The more reviews I keep reading about these, the more I'm sure that I should wait for Ivy Bridge.. Somehow it seems they didn't live up to the hype. Are there any info if there will be new CPU's without the integrated GPUs?

[ShaidarHaran]

Originally Posted by Ozilon

The more reviews I keep reading about these, the more I'm sure that I should wait for Ivy Bridge.. Somehow it seems they didn't live up to the hype. Are there any info if there will be new CPU's without the integrated GPUs?

Try reading a review where they actually tested it properly, i.e. from computerbase.de. It's in German, but numbers are universal. There are some serious gains for Sandy Bridge over Lynnfield/Bloomfield. Up to 45% faster at the same clock for single-threaded tests and multi-threaded performance gains in the 20% range.

[bobvodka]

Originally Posted by H001iGAN

some good info there. just the other day I was reading up on DX11 and DX11 multithreading is that a step in that direction?

Yes and no.

DX11 allows the developer to construct command lists on multiple CPU cores, however the final submit still has to be done on a single thread and, frankly, this is unlikely to ever change.

In order to submit commands to the GPU the data has to be assembled into a command list this means at any given point during that assembly only one thread can be writting to the memory block where the command list is being assembled.

So, while multiple threads could be used to submit the commands it would require locks, which would stall out any threads waiting to submit data preventing it from doing useful work.

Now, command lists on multiple threads allows the developer to at least assembler an optimised command list for submission meaning that when that final submit happens it'll be faster.
(Although, I'm not sure if drivers support optimising right now...)

Of course, while that submit is happening on a single thread the rest of the cores can be put to work doing work towards the next frame.

[demo]

C2D/C2Q to SB would be a nice upgrade, but I wouldnt bother if you had a current i5/i7, but I have only seen a small amount of benches to be fair.

[ShaidarHaran]

Originally Posted by demowhc

C2D/C2Q to SB would be a nice upgrade, but I wouldnt bother if you had a current i5/i7, but I have only seen a small amount of benches to be fair.

It's a matter of opinion. It's definitely not cut and dry. For some people, the potential gains are worthwhile, especially if you overclock. If you don't OC and the IPC increase of 0-45% isn't enough then skip it.

[demo]

Sorry I meant for gaming specificaly. In those game benches at 640x480 the difference between i930 vs 2600k at 2.8 was 5-15%, which I guess is a nice boost coupled with higher oc's.

[becco]

from Guru3D: http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i...600k-review/20 an example of unimportant 2600K @4.3GHz in 1080p game


Well, these are my personal reason not to upgrade to Sandy at the moment;
- many games I play in 1920x1080 + AA need GPU power, +1
- my currently CPU Q9550 @3.6GHz is more than enough, I run 4GHz sometimes
- rare to do synthetic bench in low resolution
- only K series are able to be OCed

[Greasy]

For you lucky bastards with a microcenter near by.

Intel Sandy Bridge Processors - i7 2600k $280, i5 2500k $180 microcenter B&M 1/9/11

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2546095

[H001iGAN]

How much more are the K series?

[Redshirt_X]

I'm rocking an i7/950 now, but I'm still tempted to snag a 2600K (less power usage for more oomph). Must be good...must...be good...

[Greasy]

Originally Posted by H001iGAN

How much more are the K series?

Less than 30 bucks more. Well worth the price difference because of the unlocked multi.