Wolfdale benchmarked

[harpoon84]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...ay/intel-wolfdale.html

Looks good, a decent performance boost over the previous generation dual cores.

The E8400 looks the pick of the bunch IMO, at $183. You get about a 15% performance boost over the current E6750 for the same cost. Power consumption ain't too bad either.

 

[Tempered81]

woah! great article. Looks like the e8500 is going to be a monster. I hope the 8400's overclock just as well as that 1 did. they pushed it to 4370mhz on air, and it didn't go above 70 under orthos full load at 1.5vcore in bios!!!

and 540mhz FSB no problem!?!?!?

that is incredible.

at 3.0ghz its clock for clock way faster than 6850's 6xxx 4xxx & 2xxx core2duo's. so wolfdale at 4.5ghz basically just add the computational power of a complete 2nd core2duo into the mix! insane.

and the e8200 comsuming 2.2 watts of power at idle LOL! compared to an athlon x2 5400 consuming 115 watts Load @ stock speeds.

 

[v8envy]

Very very nice. It's pretty obvious Intel is sandbagging with the new quads because the Wolfdale dual cores are easily a match for the top of the line Phenom. The E8400 should be priced at the same level, too. And this is before overclocking is part of the picture...

Why sandbagging? Well, it's fairly obvious the profit margin on main stream dual cores is > mainstream quads. If the channel is clogged with chips the winning strategy is to get people to buy dual cores now and upgrade to quads later in the year.

I would have definitely been in the market for a 45nm quad the day it's released. Since that day won't be for several more months I'm thinking I may just be happy enough with an E8400 until Nehalem becomes mainstream or AMD releases something competitive.

 

[Engineer]

It's interesting to note that someone at Sl!ckdeals posted that 3 of the Quads launched today along with the dual cores. He posted the price thread over a month ago. Not sure where he received his information.

 

[Tempered81]

yeah i think you can buy a qx9770 which is a 45nm quad - if you have that kinda dough

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
woah! great article. Looks like the e8500 is going to be a monster. I hope the 8400's overclock just as well as that 1 did. they pushed it to 4370mhz on air, and it didn't go above 70 under orthos full load at 1.5vcore in bios!!!

and 540mhz FSB no problem!?!?!?

that is incredible.

at 3.0ghz its clock for clock way faster than 6850's 6xxx 4xxx & 2xxx core2duo's. so wolfdale at 4.5ghz basically just add the computational power of a complete 2nd core2duo into the mix! insane.

and the e8200 comsuming 2.2 watts of power at idle LOL! compared to an athlon x2 5400 consuming 115 watts Load @ stock speeds.

Indeed it looks like an awesome overclocker although the results are a little random at this stage, ie. the E8200 'only' reached 3.88GHz... perhaps there is some speed binning going on?

The E8500 is good but too expensive IMO. It's $83 more than the E8400 for a measly 0.5x multi / 166MHz boost - definitely not worth the premium.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
yeah i think you can buy a qx9770 which is a 45nm quad - if you have that kinda dough

No, he stated that the Q9300, Q9450 and Q9650 were launched today. Stated no 45nm Celeron launched. Stated no price drops on existing Intel chips. Stated pricing was as expected. "Sounds like" he might work as a reseller but have not confirmed.



Edit:
After reading the front page on AT, I would say the quads are not available untile Feb-March. While Intel did confirm the names and prices, the slide on the AT page confirms that it's Q1-08 for the Quads. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Tempered81]

so can you buy a 45nm quad today or not?

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
so can you buy a 45nm quad today or not?

After reading the front page on AT, I would say not. While Intel did confirm the names and prices, the slide on the AT page confirms that it's Q1-08 for the Quads. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Thor86]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: jaredpace
so can you buy a 45nm quad today or not?

After reading the front page on AT, I would say not. While Intel did confirm the names and prices, the slide on the AT page confirms that it's Q1-08 for the Quads. Sorry for the confusion.

Uhh, yes you can buy 45nm Yorkfields, just in the Quad Xtremes. Oh course, if anyone wants these badly enough, they will pay out of their yingyang for them. Intel IS sandbagging the non-Xtremem Yorkfields so they can sell more $1000.00+ cpus.

But looks like both Wolfdales and Yorkfields allow higher processor FSBs and half mutlipliers (with board bios updates), which would lead to excellent ocing/tuning.

I'd luv to play with an E8500 and use it at 500fsb 8.5 multi for some 4.25Ghz action!

 

[Spook]

Im glad they put a X2 6400+... It gets owned pretty badly, but I'm glad to see the comparison numbers.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: Spook
Im glad they put a X2 6400+... It gets owned pretty badly, but I'm glad to see the comparison numbers.

Have you checked out the power consumption comparison?

 

[angry hampster]

Oh dammit it looks like I'm getting a new mobo + cpu. :laugh:

 

[Tempered81]

intel is going to roxor this year - anyone have a link to an e8400 overclocking?

 

[WaTaGuMp]

How many mobo's tho are going to need BIOS updates to make them work, I have heard some rumors but never did any hardcore research.

 

[Tempered81]

i know i will be lucky if my 965 ds3 3.3 gets a bios update for compatibility, but most p35's and x38s work i think

 

[Thor86]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
How many mobo's tho are going to need BIOS updates to make them work, I have heard some rumors but never did any hardcore research.

If we're lucky, we should see even 965/975 chipset boards with updated bios' being able to support at least Core2 Wolfdales. Don't know about Yorkfields though.

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
How many mobo's tho are going to need BIOS updates to make them work, I have heard some rumors but never did any hardcore research.

Depends on the manufacturer, a huge number of Asus MBs already have support:
http://event.asus.com/mb/45nm/

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
How many mobo's tho are going to need BIOS updates to make them work, I have heard some rumors but never did any hardcore research.

You clearly have not been keeping up to date with AT's reviews. Motherboard Compatibility for Wolfdale and Yorkfield Processors

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: 21stHermit

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
How many mobo's tho are going to need BIOS updates to make them work, I have heard some rumors but never did any hardcore research.

You clearly have not been keeping up to date with AT's reviews. Motherboard Compatibility for Wolfdale and Yorkfield Processors

Being able to USE the 45nm and having everythiong WORK is not the same. The review in the 1st post even says the BIOS they used something wasnt right with the way the mulitplier was going in .5 increments.

 

[Zenoth]

I can't wait for an E8400.

I will stay with Dual-Cores, after I put some thought into it, with the current 45nm architecture. I will wait for a true Quad-Core implementation from Intel before moving to a Quad-Core ... UNLESS I get some miraculous credit on one of the upcoming Quad models, but I would really doubt it. The E8400 will do its job fine at 4.0Ghz until Nehalem arrives.

 

[Accord99]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Being able to USE the 45nm and having everythiong WORK is not the same. The review in the 1st post even says the BIOS they used something wasnt right with the way the mulitplier was going in .5 increments.

The review actually says the BIOS was working properly as it supported the half multipliers available on the new 45nm processors.

 

[Xvys]

I guess the price gouging has already begun. NCIX had this on for $216 earlier today, with the E8200 for $192.

http://www.ncix.com/products/i...INTEL%20-%20PROCESSORS

It might be all too convenient that the Engineering Samples used for these tests showed the $163 E8200 as a crummy overclocker, while the $316 E8500 is a tremendous overclocker, stupendous! Anybody reading this test would never want a weak little E8200, and will dream about the E8500, despite double the price, is a much better processor. I would venture a guess that when the Retail versions come out, enthusiasts will find that all the Wolfdale cpu's will perform similarily.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Zenoth
I can't wait for an E8400.

I will stay with Dual-Cores, after I put some thought into it, with the current 45nm architecture. I will wait for a true Quad-Core implementation from Intel before moving to a Quad-Core ... UNLESS I get some miraculous credit on one of the upcoming Quad models, but I would really doubt it. The E8400 will do its job fine at 4.0Ghz until Nehalem arrives.

genius! the need for 4 cores is highly overrated.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: Accord99

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Being able to USE the 45nm and having everythiong WORK is not the same. The review in the 1st post even says the BIOS they used something wasnt right with the way the mulitplier was going in .5 increments.

The review actually says the BIOS was working properly as it supported the half multipliers available on the new 45nm processors.

Ah, I didnt really read it thoroughly I just saw something about the multipliers being different, thats good to know, even tho I dont see myself switching to the 45nm chips since I just upgraded recently.