Intel Sandy Bridge 2600K and 2500K Processors @ [H]

vengence said:
I found the benchmark interesting as there was a lot of speculation at the time if the game was CPU limited or not.
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Damn thing is buggy too. And can take a long time to complete. Not a very good tool.
 
Stoly said:
IMO the gaming tests are pretty much useless. They say absolutely nothing about real world gaming performance. But I guess you can't make everyone happy.
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Already mentioned (in the review and in here) that a in-depth gaming article is being worked on.
 
Stoly said:
Great review as always.

I do have a complaint.

IMO the gaming tests are pretty much useless. They say absolutely nothing about real world gaming performance. But I guess you can't make everyone happy.

You already have an overclocked rig for testing that you can use for comparison . Just do a quick test with say a 570 or 6970 on an OC 2500k/2600k. So we can see how SB compares to a high end core i7.
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Did you read my complaint in the article on the same page with the gaming benchmarks?

For what it is worth, I think these gaming benchmarks are fairly useless, but people want to see these. Like the article linked above, we will soon be doing a comprehensive CPU Gameplay Scaling article. These usually take over a month to complete, but we will be likely working on it by February. Gaming is generally GPU limited but we are seeing some swing the other way as GPUs have gotten so powerful and at the same time some gamers have kept on with their "smaller" displays. It is my opinion that if you are CPU limited in your games, you need to make sure you next upgrade is your display. I guess we will find out in February hopefully.

I have tried to generate a newer set of benchmarks that are canned and very repeatable for this comparison. I am not sure of the validity of the Final Fantasy benchmark yet, but will be further evaluating it. All in all, take these with a grain of salt.
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Fairly sure your complaint has been addressed.
 
First let me say, my Q6600 @ 3.2 has been the best CPU purchase I've ever made. Even running games at 2560x1920 I get great frames, although definitely not maxed out IQ.

NOW can I just sing the praises of Sandy Bridge...an easy OC to 4.4 GHz? $300? Low power usage?! HALLELUJAH it's a new years miracle! This should be a gamer's staple for a while. I can't wait to get my bonus and throw down on one of these bad boys. Now let's see the new AMD dual-GPU solution for the icing on the cake...
 
4.8Ghz works for me!
bowdown.gif


..damn... is it Sunday yet?
 
Hostile said:
What are you running now?
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Core i7 920. I had it at 4.2GHz but since my EVGA Classified is swirling down the drain I had to drop it back to stock settings. Later on tonight I plan on swapping in my Rampage III Formula into my system and getting my overclock on.
 
That 2600K looks really fun to play with.

I think I'm going to hold off for a bit and see if any interesting motherboards pop up or if the gaming benchmarks show any benefits. My i7-920 @ 3.8GHz seems to be doing fairly well considering it's 2 years old now. I'm tempted though.
 
Contemplating getting a 2600K system for myself, giving my wife my i7 920 system and making her Q6600 system the server. Decisions decisions!
 
Great review as usual.makes me want to spend more money and dodge the wife.:D
 
I don't think it's worth jumping the LGA1366 ship just to grab Sandy Bridge. At least not if you've got yours overclocking to around 4GHz.
 
anthrex said:
Thanks for the review guys! Looks like I'll be getting a 2500k and either an ASUS or Intel mobo as the other manufacturers seem to lack what I need/want (namely UEFI and eSATA at a reasonable price)

Also how loud is the heatsink that comes with K model processors? I saw that it has a switch for quiet and loud. I'll eventually replace it with an aftermarket but I don't want to spend money on that right away.
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The MSI model does have uEFI and eSATA. Price point of this board is 179.99 and they are being very aggressive on this platform. They will also be providing all the major benefits + more with our Big Bang model coming in a few weeks. Stayed tuned for HardOCP's review on that ;) 12 USB 3.0, 6 SATA III, and 8 PCI-e x16 (Lucid chips supplying additional lanes, but it does have SLI+CF support)

I know this because I work for them :)
 
The 2500k seems to be the one I'm looking for. I have very very few apps that would use HT to any real benefit. Cheap and powerful upgrade to a Q9550.
 
Dan_D said:
I don't think it's worth jumping the LGA1366 ship just to grab Sandy Bridge. At least not if you've got yours overclocking to around 4GHz.
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Yep, I'm on an overclocked old first rev i7 920 I've had since they were released. I'll be waiting as well.

If I were on something like an overclocked Q6600, I'd be all over these new processors.
 
Would love to see clock for clock, no turbo, just good old apples to apples across old / new gen.
 
Dan_D said:
Core i7 920. I had it at 4.2GHz but since my EVGA Classified is swirling down the drain I had to drop it back to stock settings. Later on tonight I plan on swapping in my Rampage III Formula into my system and getting my overclock on.
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It would certainly make sense for you to skip 1155 since what's what you're running. ;)
 
Well this is my plan....


-Pick up 12GB of some low voltage 1600mhz ddr3 for $120 or so?
-Wait until the newer enthusiast sandy bridge comes out and wait until the prices for MB's and CPU's settle.
-Sell 1366 MB and CPU, keep 8GB of my DDR3, and selling the remaining 4GB and use that towards an upgrade, after selling the ram and my old 1366 stuff I figure I should come out almost even. I'm hoping DDR3 will go up during this time so I will make a couple of bucks selling the remaining 4GB of ram.
 
Hostile said:
It would certainly make sense for you to skip 1155 since what's what you're running. ;)
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Let me also add that if I were running something older I'd go with Sandy Bridge in a heart beat and skip LGA1366. Yeah LGA1366 has more memory bandwidth and six core CPUs, but in the real world these things mean very little unless you have applications that can use those advantages. Gaming is what I'm most concerned about and 4.4GHz+ on a $300 CPU is very reasonable and very alluring.
 
My 3.4ghz Q6600 may be seeing its final year as my main system. Been quite good to me these past few years, though. We'll see how things pan out in the coming months.
 
Dan_D said:
Let me also add that if I were running something older I'd go with Sandy Bridge in a heart beat and skip LGA1366. Yeah LGA1366 has more memory bandwidth and six core CPUs, but in the real world these things mean very little unless you have applications that can use those advantages. Gaming is what I'm most concerned about and 4.4GHz+ on a $300 CPU is very reasonable and very alluring.
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Oh I agree 100%. I'll be upgrading my C2D in March to the 2600k.
 
Dan_D said:
Let me also add that if I were running something older I'd go with Sandy Bridge in a heart beat and skip LGA1366. Yeah LGA1366 has more memory bandwidth and six core CPUs, but in the real world these things mean very little unless you have applications that can use those advantages. Gaming is what I'm most concerned about and 4.4GHz+ on a $300 CPU is very reasonable and very alluring.
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As a Q6600 owner should I ride it out till LGA2011 comes out? March 2011 will put me at three years with a Q6600.
 
bpmurrGT said:
As a Q6600 owner should I ride it out till LGA2011 comes out? March 2011 will put me at three years with a Q6600.
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To be honest my wifes rig ([email protected], 4gb ram, gtx260 SLI) runs every current game just fine at 1680x1050 max settings. I see no difference in performance in games between her rig and my i7 920 w/ 5850's in XF at the same resolution.

I may just wait for 2011.
 
ViDA said:
Would love to see clock for clock, no turbo, just good old apples to apples across old / new gen.
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So would I, but the fact of the matter that is not how these processors will ever be used. We went back an forth on it, but with these things scaling 400MHz under load with decent cooling, that is not something you can discount. From a "scientific" perspective I get what you are saying, but we are here to show you what you will get for you money, not what performs better in a vacuum.

bpmurrGT said:
As a Q6600 owner should I ride it out till LGA2011 comes out? March 2011 will put me at three years with a Q6600.
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Totally depends on what you are doing with it.
 
Q6600 owner here as well, and id have to agree i really want to jump on the 2600K ...i think im gonna ride it out till 2011 drops, 6Core 12thread 4channel...more powa! but these little guys are beasts in their own rights!

But i wonder at 1920x1080 4-8X AA how much im gonna pick up in terms of FPS? anybody got ideas? Well Q3 is a long ways off, but ill be ready as soon as Ivy Bridge drops...2700K hurry up!
 
If bulldozer was actually released on 32nm today, then this could be a different story. But as AMD chips release schedules are sliding.................

Bulldozer, which is supposed to have a IPC equal to i7, is going to be running a 400-600mhz clock deficiency, if not larger, when it is finally released.


Bulldozer is going to be nice product but it really looks like its going to be up against Intel's midrange desktop products. Keep in mind that bulldozers primary focus is SERVERS.

Fusion is another topic entirely... I think AMD has a great product there.


Back on topic..... 2600K's got me interested again.
 
Thank you for the great review as always Mr. Bennet.
I have a question for you. Judging by the specs of your current system you must be a PC Gamer and you use the best of the best in terms of hardware.
I was just about to pull the trigger on a comparable system to yours. What advice would you give to PC Gamers like me?
I want the most bang I can get for gaming. Money is an object, but not a concern at this time. ( I was just about to plunk a "G note" down for the i7 980X as you have).

I guess I am asking: what would you do?


Thanks.
 
Fire488 said:
What advice would you give to PC Gamers like me?
I want the most bang I can get for gaming. Money is an object, but not a concern at this time. ( I was just about to plunk a "G note" down for the i7 980X as you have).

I guess I am asking: what would you do?


Thanks.
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A 980X won't land you anything more than a 2600k in terms of gaming, put the cash difference aside and go SLI and triple monitors
 
Infrabasse said:
A 980X won't land you anything more than a 2600k in terms of gaming, put the cash difference aside and go SLI and triple monitors
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Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll wait for SandyBridge.
The shame of all of this and I have no intentions of hijacking a post, but all we really need these days is comparable hardware to the consoles as most of today's games are stinkin console ports anyway...

I wish the hardware companies would hire developers to create PC Games, true PC games. Hell, the hardware companies have a vested interest in PC gaming don't they?
 
Starting my upgrade list now... Need to finally hop up to a 1920x1200 monitor, get a new GPU to match, and Sandy Bridge. If it does as well as the C2Q did, it'll hold me for more than 2 years and still be blazing fast.

By that I mean, I built this current system over two years ago, and I still consider it blazing fast. I max out all the games I play, though truth be told, the newest I have is Borderlands and I play at 1680x1050.
 
vengence said:
I would think most people visiting this site won't be running at stock speeds on their processor (I could be wrong).
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And that is why we showed you 4.4GHz and 4.3GHz overclocks compared to 1366 4 and 6 core at 3.6 and 4.4 respectively. There is no real reason to bail ship from a 1366 system but coming from a sub-3.5GHz OC on a Q6600 is certainly something to think about.
 
Interesting thing about the article. Since it was "late" yesterday I browsed through the usual PC review sites, but they, while competent, left me wanting.

It finally dawned on me why I prefer [H]ardOCP reviews. One word: Credability.

Wierd. Why do I trust a site run by a swearing Texan more than any other? Oh well, the mysteries of the internet. Hope you guys never loose the trust you have earned the [H]ard way, by telling it like it is.

So rare these days. I guess it is just too much work to find the truth to have the courage to express it.

Oh on topic:

I could so see me consolidating all my gear in one low power SB box:
- 2600K + 460 SLI + Windows 7 (Gaming and General Computing) + VMWare Workstation (WHS, Ubuntu/Folding@home, Ubuntu/XBMC HTPC).

Now if they only had switchable graphics on Z68 chipset, the world would be perfect.
 
Excellent review, as always. The power efficiency and IPC at the $200 price point is very tempting. And, if previous trends hold true, it should be even more tempting once Fry's/Microcenter get a hold of the chips and lops off a decent chunk of that price.

That being said, I'm more interested in the mobile side of things. I wonder just how much of this performance Intel squeezed into those 17 (or 25) watt parts.
 
Dan_D said:
Yeah LGA1366 has more memory bandwidth and six core CPUs, but in the real world these things mean very little unless you have applications that can use those advantages. Gaming is what I'm most concerned about and 4.4GHz+ on a $300 CPU is very reasonable and very alluring.
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This. I need something to convince the wifey to upgrade from my i7-920. Thanks Dan. ;)
 
After reading your review I am insanely tempted to jump on a 2600k and call it a day. My 6600 scales great for most games, but the ones that matter for me like Bad Company 2 the cpu won't hold up in heavy fog and other cpu intensive situations and my 470 is bottlenecked it seems no matter the settings.

It's ironic how cool these processors run when I just invested $800 in my water rig, and I am disappointed that the extra cooling will have a diminishing effect on the overclocking on these chips. I mainly did the water for Video cards, so I'm not too sad. I am extremely impressed that these beasts will get around 4.5 ghz which I would love to stress if I jump on one.

I'll probably sell my current cpu, memory, mobo, and 8800gt to my bro for 360 or so and use the cash to get a 2600k, as it looks like this chip can keep me happy for a couple years gaming wise, and this year is gonna be big.

Gotta say Kyle, I like your no BS review man, the others are pretty lame when it comes to real world usage. How soon can I realistically snag a new cpu with mem and mobo?
 
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