Sandy Bridge Reviews

[toyota]

so official reviews are today?

 

[AkumaX]

omg omg omg what do i do w/ my i7-875k....

 

[Absolution75]

WTF, did they just jump the gun a week early? http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...5_2500k_and_core_i7_2600k_sandy_bridge,1.html

Today Intel is launching their 2nd generation Core processor series which has become well known as Sandy Bridge, the architectures codename. This new architecture is exciting because it takes the Core design to the next level, providing a level of performance and efficiency previously unseen. Intel has supplied us with samples of the Core i5 2500K and Core i7 2600K, which we put through a battery of tests...

Tehe, I've been reading the anandtech review for about 30 minutes now.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...ore-i5-2600k-i5-2500k-and-core-i3-2100-tested

 

[toyota]

omg omg omg what do i do w/ my i7-875k....

um keep it and be happy...

 

[toyota]

You need H67 to use the IGP (except for video transcoding). You can overclock with both. http://www.liquidnitrogenoverclocking.com/news_09.shtml

Overclocking is still possible via the CPU multiplier, but only a P67 motherboard will allow this. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/03/intel-sandy-bridge-review/5

 

[AkumaX]

um keep it and be happy...

probably right.. i do a lot of x264 transcoding though, just omgeee @ those scores, haha - probably should pull an al bundy...... woooooooooooahhh bundy!!!!!

 

[StinkyPinky]

Wow. 4.4 on the stock cooler. That's outrageous. These cpus are going to be awesome for laptops.

 

[IanWorthington]

You need H67 to use the IGP (except for video transcoding). You can overclock with both. http://www.liquidnitrogenoverclocking.com/news_09.shtml

Looks like you need the P67 to overclock. And the H67 to transcode. Or wait til q2

 

[toyota]

it looks like the 2500k will be THE cpu for most enthusiasts on a realistic budget.

even at 4.9 it uses less power than a 3.06 i7. lol http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/03/intel-sandy-bridge-review/11

 

[ilkhan]

1 The chart shows the GPUs to have different xter counts. WTF?
2: 4.1Ghz turbo is talked about in the very first paragraph, but the charts and images show 3.8Ghz max.
3: While the vCore numbers concern me, I'm still drooling for a 2500K@4.8+Ghz.

 

[StinkyPinky]

So are these things going on sale from tomorrow now that the NDA was lifted early? Those 2500k's are perfect for replacing my Q6600 which looks kinda sad in comparison.

 

[CosmicMight]

Yeah, I won't be bothering with the 2600k; for gaming, the 2500k was the clear winner.

Very psyched, glad to see AT put this up early.

 

[Spike]

Dang, now I'm leaning towards the 2500k. $100 less for just about all the same performance. Will I really miss the lack of HT and the extra 2mb of ram? I want to keep this build for a least 2 years.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Dang, now I'm leaning towards the 2500k. $100 less for just about all the same performance. Will I really miss the lack of HT and the extra 2mb of ram? I want to keep this build for a least 2 years.

For gaming? No, you wont.

 

[toyota]

Dang, now I'm leaning towards the 2500k. $100 less for just about all the same performance. Will I really miss the lack of HT and the extra 2mb of ram? I want to keep this build for a least 2 years.

2 years from now we will have faster Ivy Bridge cpus for even less money. get the 2500k and oc it a little bit if gaming is your main concern.

 

[Spike]

2 years from now we will have faster Ivy Bridge cpus for even less money. get the 2500k and oc it a little bit if gaming is your main concern.

Gaming is the main concern, have to replace this outdated e8400

With any luck I might be able to go below $400 for a mobo/cpu. Not bad at all... now I just need my SSD and I'm done!

 

[Absolution75]

Gaming is the main concern, have to replace this outdated e8400

With any luck I might be able to go below $400 for a mobo/cpu. Not bad at all... now I just need my SSD and I'm done!

I'd check out bulldozer if I were you - E8400 is still very solid for gaming.

 

[RussianSensation]

it looks like the 2500k will be THE cpu for most enthusiasts on a realistic budget.

even at 4.9 it uses less power than a 3.06 i7. lol http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/01/03/intel-sandy-bridge-review/11

4.8ghz on 2600k and 4.9ghz on 2500k at 1.35V is something I really wanted to see (none of that 1.5V overvoltage stuff). Looks like new overclocking champs to me. 2500k is a tremendous value for those who held off grabbing i5 750/760/ i7 920/930/860 cpus, etc. Looks like these chips will benefit the most those doing a lot of video transcoding/encoding work. Too bad AT didn't include Core i7 920-975 CPUs in their Starcraft 2 bench which is very CPU intensive (P.S. AMD really took a beating in that one).

 

[toyota]

I'd check out bulldozer if I were you - E8400 is still very solid for gaming.

and then after Bulldozer he should wait for Sandy Bridge and then after Sandy Bridge he should wait for...

Bulldozer is probably over 6 months away and maybe he wants to get the most out of all his games now especially with his 6970 gpu. the 2500k is a darn good bargain and is available in the next few days so I say he should go for that.

 

[toyota]

4.8ghz on 2600k and 4.9ghz on 2500k at 1.35V is something I really wanted to see (none of that 1.5V overvoltage stuff). Looks like new overclocking champs to me. 2500k is a tremendous value for those who held off grabbing i5 750/760/ i7 920/930/860 cpus, etc. Looks like these chips will benefit the most those doing a lot of video transcoding/encoding work. A shame AT didn't include Core i7 920-975 CPUs in their Starcraft 2 bench (P.S. AMD really took a beating in that one).

yeah its the perfect cpu for folks like me.

btw a lot of what you were saying earlier in this thread was echoed in the anandtech review. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-i5-2600k-i5-2500k-and-core-i3-2100-tested/22

In terms of absolute CPU performance, Sandy Bridge doesn't actually move things forward. This isn't another ultra high-end CPU launch, but rather a refresh for the performance mainstream and below.

 

[Nintendesert]

Damn, that changes everything for the better. Instead of the 2600K I'm going to go the 2500K route and save some money. Very nice indeed.

 

[beginner99]

As expected. Some improvements but nothing big except this QuickSync stuff.

But then comes the punchline. You actually need to wait another 3 Month for a new chipset to be able to actually use a K-series SB fully (QS + overclocking). Was my plan for a build for my Dad (video editing). Probably will just go with H67 then...

The mobile article is probably the more relevant one. Seems like Intel was actually aiming the new architecture at that segment = mainly power efficiency enhancements.

EDIT:

I wonder why AMD/NV did not manage to get something like QS. Does not seem to be that complicated to do. Even considering NV pushing of cuda, such a functionality could have generated some income.

 

[IntelUser2000]

1 The chart shows the GPUs to have different xter counts. WTF?
2: 4.1Ghz turbo is talked about in the very first paragraph, but the charts and images show 3.8Ghz max.
3: While the vCore numbers concern me, I'm still drooling for a 2500K@4.8+Ghz.

He edited it back to 3.8GHz.

Mooly did say the transistor count was 1.12 billion transistors, but its 995 million, wtf? And the die size at 216mm2 is impressive too.

 

[RussianSensation]

yeah its the perfect cpu for folks like me.

btw a lot of what you were saying earlier in this thread was echoed in the anandtech review. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...-i5-2600k-i5-2500k-and-core-i3-2100-tested/22

In terms of absolute CPU performance, Sandy Bridge doesn't actually move things forward. This isn't another ultra high-end CPU launch, but rather a refresh for the performance mainstream and below.

I looked at Core i7 975 3.33ghz vs. 2600k and at stock speeds the performance difference was more or less as expected at about 10-15% depending on the application. SB does especially well in Cinebench, WinRAR and Starcraft 2. At the same time you (for example) just got a massive performance upgrade for "free". Yesterday you were looking at a $180 Core i5 760 2.8ghz and today you'll be able to grab a 2500k 3.3ghz for almost the same price. That's at least a 30% performance increase, which is essentially "free". So now you are going to go from a dual-core @ 3.8ghz to a ~4.7ghz Core i5 (which is like a 5.2ghz+ i5 760). Along with astounding power consumption figures at 4.8ghz at load, that's a nice upgrade.

The best part now is that the only reason to buy a high-end motherboard will be for features as I am sure most mobos will be able to max out any 2500k on air cooling already.

 

[IntelUser2000]

I looked at Core i7 975 3.33ghz vs. 2600k and at stock speeds the performance difference was more or less as expected at about 10-15% depending on the application.

The better comparison is Lynnfield. Whatever super high end platform Intel chooses to releases later this year, we should see another 5% or so per clock gain.