Intel’s Second-Gen Core CPUs: The Sandy Bridge Review

[Guest]

"Ignoring 1680x1050 (nobody with high-end graphics and a respectable processor is gaming on a 17” display, right?"

The reviewer does know that 1680x1050 is standard for a widescreen 22" monitor at the gaming friendly 16:10 aspect ratio, right? A 17" display was usually sporting a 1024x768 resolution in 4:3, a difference of nearly 1 million pixels when compared to the 22" (less than half of the data). I understand that the current trend is forcing pc gamers to the more narrow 16:9 aspect ratio (ie - 1080p - 1920x1080) but assuming that 1680x1050 is unused by gamers with high powered setups is a little off base. With the next available 16:10 standard resolution being 1900x1200 (common on 24" widescreen monitors) you should really check your own reviews for minimum framerates at 1920x1080 (or roughly 2.1 million pixels) for some of these newer games and understand that 1900x1200 adds an additional 200,000 pixels or so to be calculated. That leaves 1680x1050 in a current sweet spot for people who prefer 16:10 over the vertically challenged 16:9. I know I'm not alone in this thinking since, for instance, one major LCD screen manufacturer just released a 240hz, 3D ready 22" "gaming" monitor at the 1680x1050 resolution.

 

[davewolfgang]

Intel is making a bad move by alienating their their customer base. Many consumers who have a PCIE system (2006+) wont' be motivated to upgrade any time soon. Also, Intel's track record of orphaning sockets / chipsets & motherboards like toilet paper is NOT GOOD! Also the new chip design is like taking a comfortable & affordable SUV traction control system & making it a digital ai traction control that costs twice as much and requires expensive upgrades. Consumer's won't fall for it.. This gives AMD some room to upgrade it's processors to make them less power hungry & better at the FEW applications that Intel targets such as video/audio encoding. Intel is crazy to think if consumers get gouged for every last penny on a new m/b & processor so they won't be able to afford a good graphics card... screw Intel.. everyone should BOYCOTT/pass over this product line.. not a recommended buy here.. more like avoid like the plague!! Doorstopping the 1156 pisses me off.. and it'll be back to AMD if nothing better comes along!! To spend $500+ on m/b & cpu's just to get maybe 20 watts of power savings & 1-5% perforamnce increases (I think it may have been as much as 20% depending on ONE test & comparables, but the average was no more than 5% over the i-5/i7 series)-- however.. not worth even considering. Even if Intel stopped making the 1156 stuff TODAY-- which they have not indicated they will.. it will take at least another 2-3 years beofre the retail chain removes just about all traces of it.. we still see socket 775 in stock some places. Also if intel doesn't do some planned phasing out of old sockets (in order-- most likely starting with 478, then 775.. they will have a market share revolt on their hands.

I don't think Intel is even thinking that those with and i7-9xx and higher would "sidegrade" to Sandy Bridge. But there are still plenty of people out there that, if they hadn't know SB was coming out, would've upgraded last year, but held off. Now those people are going to be able to get a HUGE upgrade for a very good price.

I just upgraded last year - so I really won't be even thinking about upgrading my MB and Processor for a couple years - the GPU upgrade from a GTS250 will happen this year with the lower prices. Even the marketers at Intel KNOW most people don't upgrade "every" new product, they usually skip two or three before they look into it. I'm not even "planning" on it until probably whatever they have coming out after Ivy Bridge or the next one after that in 3+ years.

 

[fmadot]

Is I7 950 tested under tri-channel rams' situation?

 

[Krusher]

Can anyone explain why the Q9550 is "tops" on the 3DMark11 Graphics score? I'm doing the eVGA "trade-up" from my 460 to a 580 and it's nice to know that it holds up, but I find this strange when it's beaten everywhere else. My next upgrade is going to be when DDR4 motherboards are out so I am waiting a bit on the CPU/mobo upgrade for now. Thanks!

 

[Krusher]

One more intriguing question here, it would be nice, but I don't expect him, to re-run these tests with 4xAA enabled. Most of us run some form of AA on these higher-end cards, and that tends to put more of a load on the GPU. Would the FPS range still be so great between the difference CPUs if AA were used? Probably not, but I don't know by how much. (My GTX 460 with the Heaven Benchmark showed a 27% FPS reduction on no AA vs. 8xAA).

 

[playthyme]

Intel made the asinine decision to integrate DRM controls into the Sandy Bridge chips compliments of negotiations with Hollywood. Sorry Intel, until that "feature" is removed, I will never buy an Intel chip no matter how superior they are to AMD processors. To take it a step further, I will strongly encourage everyone to not buy Intel for as long as this nonsense continues. It does not matter if these controls affects me or not, it's the simple fact that it is there and has no reason to be there other than a large payout to the Intel coffers somewhere down the road at end users expense and irritation.

 

[Krusher]

Wow, I haven't heard that from anywhere before. Do you have a link handy? I was debating AMD for a future processor only because it seems Intel is charging so much now for their processors. They had a record profit last quarter and say they can't build in the USA do to too many restrictions. It's going to be awhile though until my oc'd Q9550 needs a boost.

 

[Arbie]

Anyone with a K-series CPU overclocking on air is going to be in good shape. Thomas and I both have Core i7-2600Ks that’ll do 4.7 GHz at 1.35 V all day long.

Is this with Turbo-boost enabled or disabled?

Actually, same question for EIS and C1E. Generally, it would be interesting to know some build details since it seems very successful. Though I realize you didn't mean to initiate an article by your comment. I do wonder about the boost, though, since I would like to keep that even with an OC, on a 2600K.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]Arbie[/nom]Is this with Turbo-boost enabled or disabled?Actually, same question for EIS and C1E. Generally, it would be interesting to know some build details since it seems very successful. Though I realize you didn't mean to initiate an article by your comment. I do wonder about the boost, though, since I would like to keep that even with an OC, on a 2600K.[/citation]

I disable Turbo Boost during overclocking attempts. Don't need the CPU "intelligently" trying to push higher than my highest stable clock ;-)

 

[playthyme]

Here are links to Intel adding in DRM control for Hollywood.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1934536/intels-sandy-bridge-sucks-hollywood-drm
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/71568.html

Intel is claiming it isn't DRM but I tend to not trust large corporations when they say "Trust Us". Hopefully I will be proven wrong down the road with this.

 

[Krusher]

Hmm, well I'm not against someone protecting what is theirs, but it doesn't belong in the CPU. Any "protection" scheme will eventually be circumvented, and now there's a useless piece of hardware inside your CPU that doesn't need to be there. Keeping this on-topic, I hope that Intel continues to focus on making the fastest CPU out there and not add these 'extras' that we didn't ask for.

 

[Archaedus]

Thank you for the review Chris. Did you ever write one concerning the mobile processors? I'm in the market for a laptop and wish to get some more research under my belt before I make a decision. Thanks for everything friends.

 

[jinxed_07]

"Though most of its newest 45 nm processors don’t offer a ton of headroom, sticking 32 nm manufacturing later this year could make flexible Bulldozer-based CPUs very attractive to anyone who feels like Intel is muscling them out of overclocking at the high- and low-end."
How is Intel muscling anybody out of overclocking? for plus or minus 20$, you can buy the unlocked K-series and hit 5GHz with ease.

 

[Lobo22]

woah now i look at sandy bridge as awesomer... lol

 

[008Rohit]

Awesome work Intel! My i3 2100 kicks a Phenom II X4 955BE out of the window in gaming. 8)

 

[cangelini]

"Though most of its newest 45 nm processors don’t offer a ton of headroom, sticking 32 nm manufacturing later this year could make flexible Bulldozer-based CPUs very attractive to anyone who feels like Intel is muscling them out of overclocking at the high- and low-end."
How is Intel muscling anybody out of overclocking? for plus or minus 20$, you can buy the unlocked K-series and hit 5GHz with ease.

Well, there's the entire *locked* Core i3 lineup, for starters. Then, there's the fact that you're compelled to pay extra just for the privilege of overclocking. Plenty folks in AMD's camp feel slighted by that.

 

[Guest]

ive got a 4550 and an integrated intel HD 2000

intel hd 2000 overclocked to 1250 in the bios
ati 4550 overclocked to 640 via afterburner

the ati 4550 can run games with specular map on but all around fps is lower on every game

the intel runs without spec map on but runs every game better, just cant enable spec map on COD.

but the fps is way higher with the intel...

dont get whats wrong with the 4550 it should run better than the intel but it doesnt.

 

[stepik]

Quick Sync vs. APP vs. CUDA
Strange comparison made by strange people.
Software H.264 encoders usually have settings to trade-off between speed and compression ratio. Comparing for one parameter without taking into account the other is as stupid as saying that Celeron is better than Core i7 just because it is cheaper. Currently best software H.264 encoder (x264) with its superfast or ultrafast presets can be comparable to Quick Sync.

 

[adrolson]

i have a dell inspiron n5110 laptop. it has a i5 2520m cpu with intel 3000 graphics and a gpu at 675 mhz and 2 gb of video memory and will run 27 in monitor at 1920x1080 no problem. this is a laptop. a video card with those specs would cost $100. this is standard.