Waiting on the i5-3470T...

[screecwe]

I've got the parts for a fileserver sitting in boxes and I've been waiting since June(when the 3470t was supposed to come out). I wanted to make an extremely low-powered(35w) and low-temperature server that was going to be on at all times.
It's going to be running 4 or 8 hard drives off of a HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL Controller card.
My question is, should I wait a bit longer for the 3470t as it gives you PCIe 3.0, or should I stick with a sandybridge i3-2120T? I realize the controller card is only PCIe 2.0, but will there be any sort of performance gain (or lack of slow down) with running the 2.0 card on a 3.0 slot with ivybridge?

Thanks, and sorry for the newbie questions.

 

[dma0991]

I realize the controller card is only PCIe 2.0, but will there be any sort of performance gain (or lack of slow down) with running the 2.0 card on a 3.0 slot with ivybridge?

Thanks, and sorry for the newbie questions.

The card was intended to be used with PCIE 2.0 in the first place, the gain with PCIE 3.0 is little at best. The card is only PCIE 2.0 x8 which means that it isn't a bandwidth hungry card that it would require PCIE 2.0 x16 or higher.

 

[Yuriman]

Id say hold out for the Ivy CPU, low power applications are where these chips really shine. Is it a matter of cost and you're waiting for the lower-end Ivy dual cores to hit the market, or is this a specific-needs with cost being less of an issue? You could buy another Ivy chip, install the Intel Tuning Utility, and lower the TDP down to 35w and it should act just like any T chip. I don't believe the low power chips have any particular optimizations.

 

[screecwe]

Id say hold out for the Ivy CPU, low power applications are where these chips really shine. Is it a matter of cost and you're waiting for the lower-end Ivy dual cores to hit the market, or is this a specific-needs with cost being less of an issue? You could buy another Ivy chip, install the Intel Tuning Utility, and lower the TDP down to 35w and it should act just like any T chip. I don't believe the low power chips have any particular optimizations.

It's not the cost. I mean obviously I don't want to buy a top of the line CPU for this build, but the main thing is I want something low power and low heat. It's going to have very few fans and will be running 24/7. So I'd like it to have the smallest footprint possible, both audibly and power-wise.
As far as getting a better ivy chip and undervolting it, I was under the impression that you cant undervolt the chips far enough to drop more than a few watts. After that it becomes unstable. But I've only undervolted one chip before, so I dont exactly have a lot of experience.

Also, any idea when the 3470t is coming out? I can find NO information on it outside of the initial "Q2 2012" icy bridge release map.

 

[n0x1ous]

3450s? Not 35w by any means but less then standard ivy

 

[Concillian]

If you're willing to experiment, then you can use a regular IB of any type and undervolt / underclock to whatever power utilization you want. The silicon is the same, it's just how they clock and volt them that determines the 3xxx designation.

Usually these special bin chips are OEM or system builder only, and not widely available through normal retail outlets.

 

[Yuriman]

I don't know that the T series uses a different voltage table, that would be a question to ask the Intel rep on these forums. You can literally change the TDP in Intel's tool and it will keep power draw within those bounds, no need to play with multipliers.

 

[LoveMachine]

According to the ASUS utility included with my motherboard, my 3570K overclocked to 4.2GHz is pulling 52 Watts at full bore. IMO, the S and T chips are overpriced and unnecessary. For file server duty, I would wait for a dual core Ivy Bridge if you really want to save the watts and heat. Otherwise, do as others have mentioned and underclock/volt. At idle and low usage, the stock chips barely use any power.

 

[screecwe]

I really appreciate all the info. I've never bothered with the overclock utilities because I assumed they were inferior to setting it in the BIOS. I'll have to try it out. What you guys are saying is definitely having me lean towards a non S/T chip.

The one thing I thought about though, is if I should spend a little extra for a chip with hyperthreading? This box will be acting as a fileserver for the bulk of my primary PC's storage and as a media server for my HTPC to access. It will also have torrents running on it and perhaps an ftp. Last but not least, I'm considering sticking a tuner in there to stream to the HTPC. Does that warrant the need for a 4 core with hyperthreading or am I seriously overdoing it?

Thanks again for all the info. Exactly what I needed.

 

[Yuriman]

I have a feeling a quad Ivy will be quite sufficient for your needs, it's a seriously fast chip.

You'll probably like Intel's utility for this kind of stuff. You can set TDP, but also amp limits for the CPU and iGPU individually. I can, for instance, cap my CPU at 50A (final watt draw being a function of the voltage drawn at a given speed, which the chip chooses on its own) and no individual core will go above 2900mhz.

Changing the max TDP to 60w with a CPU amp cap of 150A (default) lets me climb to 3600mhz on 4 cores, or 3800mhz on a 3 core load, or 4400mhz+ on a 2 core load - all without touching voltages.

 

[sep]

Op I was wondering the something. I will not be ready to purchase until later in the year and was going to get this CPU. However. Might try the Intel utility. Does this work with all chip sets and CPUs?

 

[Yuriman]

Honestly couldn't say, I've never seen a compatibility chart for it, it's a good question for the Intel rep.

 

[sep]

OP - Found this today. I'm not sure how reliant this site is, but it reads "09/20/2012" when it will be available.

http://www.logicsupply.com/products/i5_3470t

 

[_Rick_]

Definitely stick to the dual core i5.
AES-NI and ECC are worth it.
Might consider the old 2390T if you need the CPU now.

 

[sep]

OP what did you end up doing? I want an i5 25w or lower CPU and don't see these out there at all. Only the i3

 

[screecwe]

OP what did you end up doing? I want an i5 25w or lower CPU and don't see these out there at all. Only the i3

I havn't bought it yet. I'm sitting on 4 x 3tb drives but I think I'm gonna get 4 more while I can so I can start the RAID (6 or 10) at a full 12tb. School kinda raped my bank account this month though so I was waitin till October. I'm leanin towards getting a cpu that isnt one of the 35w T-series though. Perhaps a few more watts wont be so bad for the trade-off in power.
Plus as a few have mentioned, it will draw less power during normal usage.