when are we seeing 8 core i7s?

[warm]

so i have an i7 920 @ 3.8ghz on air for quite a while now
i want to upgrade my cpu but going to a 6 core (12threads) seems expensive and the price that i'd pay for upgrading for around 40% better cpu performance feels like it's not worth it at the moment

i'd like to wait longer till i see intel 8 cores (16threads) but when are they due?

can someone kindly give me an estimated guess? so far this year it seems all it's going to be is 6 cores (even though they rumored the i7 3980 to be a 8core apparently it's another 6core instead)

 

[aaksheytalwar]

For mainstream consumers, I guess another 2-5 years away. Anyway, even a 3770k is a huge upgrade from your current CPU.

 

[Ayah]

8 core intels have been out for a while, with the release of LGA1567 (about 3 years)
Since 8 cores are basically useless for >80% of the *typical* consumer workload (largest fraction of people buying these enthusiast processors are probably gaming)

If you really need many CPU cores, do what people did in the days of single core processors... Use 2 or 4 socket systems. Both of those Intel platforms have 8 core chips available.

 

[cytg111]

i7, 8c/16t ?
With a little luck, ~9 months, end of the year with haswell-e.

 

[tweakboy]

NO 8 cores for 2013. Unless you get a server ... Xeon 8 core , or dual socket 8 core.
Also Haswell will be 4 core chip maybe 6 but thats most for desktops. Xeon goes up to 15 cores rumored,,, I would say 12 core. thx gl

 

[ShintaiDK]

i7, 8c/16t ?
With a little luck, ~9 months, end of the year with haswell-e.

Haswell-E is 18 months away.

 

[lagokc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

Intel Xeon E5-2687W
Sandy Bridge-EP 3.1GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)
20MB L3 Cache LGA 2011 150W
8-Core Server Processor BX80621E52687W
$1934

So is this something that can go into any 2011 motherboard or does it require a server board with ECC memory?

 

[R0H1T]

Not in this decade, meanwhile you can enjoy AMD's "truer" octacores

 

[crashtech]

Seems like a 3930K in the hands of an accomplished overclocker could provide gains well above 40% compared to that 920, though I guess it depends on what it's running.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Not in this decade, meanwhile you can enjoy AMD's "truer" octacores

Which perform about on the level of four Intel cores and loses in the vast majority of benchmarks to four Intel cores with hyperthreading.

 

[R0H1T]

Which perform about on the level of four Intel cores and loses in the vast majority of benchmarks to four Intel cores with hyperthreading.

But hey its still better than four fake cores, threads actually, atleast you get something physical out of it !

 

[ViRGE]

We actually had a discussion on this about 2 weeks ago that largely covered this. I'd suggest starting there: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2311344

 

[Phynaz]

But hey its still better than four fake cores, threads actually, atleast you get something physical out of it !

What?! Do you actually believe this?

 

[ND40oz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...irtualParent=1

Intel Xeon E5-2687W
Sandy Bridge-EP 3.1GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost)
20MB L3 Cache LGA 2011 150W
8-Core Server Processor BX80621E52687W
$1934

So is this something that can go into any 2011 motherboard or does it require a server board with ECC memory?

Depends on the bios of the X79 board, just check the supported CPUs of the boards you're interested in. Almost all of the Asrocks will, the Asus WS versions and the Gigabyte X79S do as well. There are most likely more, you'll just need to check their specs.

 

[R0H1T]

What?! Do you actually believe this?

Yeah moar "AMD" cores ftw, also HT is actually detrimental when the real cores are taxed 100% unlike CMT so unless you're saying I'm wrong here(purely wrt HT vs CMT) I dunno what objection you'd have to that post of mine ?

 

[Ayah]

Yeah moar "AMD" cores ftw, also HT is actually detrimental when the real cores are taxed 100% unlike CMT so unless you're saying I'm wrong here(purely wrt HT vs CMT) I dunno what objection you'd have to that post of mine ?

On paper, sure. With real world programming and general workloads, not so much.

I'll take 6 intel cores over 4 AMD modules (8 "cores") any day. It's totally not in the same price range, but for core:"core" comparison, it's valid.

 

[inf64]

Which perform about on the level of four Intel cores and loses in the vast majority of benchmarks to four Intel cores with hyperthreading.

4 fp units (8T) vs 4 fp units(8T), what is a surprise there? For someone who has no clue how AMD designed the chip, maybe. For the ones who have a clue not so much.

 

[R0H1T]

On paper, sure. With real world programming and general workloads, not so much.

I'll take 6 intel cores over 4 AMD modules (8 "cores") any day. It's totally not in the same price range, but for core:"core" comparison, it's valid.

But that'd be what 6v4, how about 6 AMD modules against Intel's 6 cores ?

 

[Ayah]

But that'd be what 6v4, how about 6 AMD modules against Intel's 6 cores ?

You said "AMD cores", and AMD says there are 2 cores per BD/PD module. (marketing department > your face (and mine), /joke)

But anyways, for my workloads, I'll take intel's 6 cores. It might sound biased, but my previous rigs were all AMD64's and their opteron counterparts (90nm node) and before that, I used AMD XPs. Last Intel I used were <1GHz P3s.