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

unab0mb said:
This. I need something to convince the wifey to upgrade from my i7-920. Thanks Dan. ;)
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Tell the wifey that in 3 years the upgrade will have paid itself in power savings.

Oh and if she is "Green" tell her it will save like a dolphin or some BS like that. :p
 
SpeedyVV said:
Tell the wifey that in 3 years the upgrade will have paid itself in power savings.

Oh and if she is "Green" tell her it will save like a dolphin or some BS like that. :p
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just threaten to club a baby seal with another baby seal if she doesn't let you.
 
"I have to admit, my expectation for Sandy Bridge, were a bit low. Maybe that has something to do with Sandy Bridge being able to get me excited about these little chips"

This makes completely no sense.

did you mean - "My expectation(s) for Sandy Bridge, was a bit low, However, (the performance with these new parts) has gotten me excited about these little chips"

FMA.
 
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fma said:
"I have to admit, my expectation for Sandy Bridge, were a bit low. Maybe that has something to do with Sandy Bridge being able to get me excited about these little chips"

This makes completely no sense.

did you mean - "My expectation(s) for Sandy Bridge, were a bit low, Maybe (the performance with these new parts) has gotten me excited about these little chips"

FMA.
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"I have to admit, my expectation for Sandy Bridge, were a bit low. Maybe that has something to do with me being excited about these little chips"

I prefer this.

Now back to topic. Does this mean 4ghz 920 is fine for a while?
 
Fire488 said:
.... 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.
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Don't spend the money for a 980X if you are going to be gaming. Get a 2600K or even 2500K if you are not big into encoding or anything thread aware, which games are not for the most part.

As for video, it comes down to how many pixels you want to be pushing. 6850 is about all you need right now for a 1080p screen.

Mr. Bluntman said:
Great review as always Kyle. It's going to make me think long and hard about upgrading from my LGA775 system, despite my overclocked Yorkfield system still being sufficent for my needs.
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Do it.

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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Effin A.
 
thanks for a great review!

i'm on an OC'd E6600 at 3.4 and I will be picking up a Sandy Bridge. The E6600 is hands-down the best processor I have ever purchased, and to this day runs things decently well. It's starting to get a bit long in the tooth, but I would make that purchase again in a heartbeat.

Sometimes a processor comes along that seems to transcend traditional upgrade cycles on a price/performance basis, and I think both the Conroe and Sandy Bridge lines fall into that category.

Can't wait till Sunday.
 
GLSauron said:
Is there official info on max vCore?
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Offical max? 1.375V probably as it's still 32nm, the offical documents haven't been published to intel.com yet.

Looks like it doesn't matter though in the short term as these processors are hitting a wall. Once someone figures out what's going on I'm sure it will be important again.
 
GLSauron said:
Is there official info on max vCore?
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I have pushed these here up to 1.64v. They survived, but not long periods of time.

FWIW, 1.4vCore is looking to be where the mobo guys are saying the "safe" limit is.
 
Thanks for the review those new CPUs are the bomb. I need to upgrade once I get the ca$h together.
 
I thought reading this review that I have been waiting on for so long now would make my decision to build a new high-end x58 setup or go with SB easier. After reading this review, it didn't make the choice any easier. :(

Kyle, do you have any time frame on x68/quad channel memory?
 
Question:

What type of future does Socket 1155 have ?
Maybe other than smaller CPU die revision, I don't see anyting new coming out other than what has already been annouced.

Will this be just like Socket 1156 all over again? with nothing major released but a small revision to existing CPU?

Just wondering what type of CPU upgrade path there will be with this platform.

Is there a up to date dekstop CPU road map for Socket 1155 ?
 
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Signed finally up after years and years of lurking - just to say thanks for this awesome review. I'll bite for one of these babies and will finally ditch my c2d XPS 410 from the start of time. Thanks!
 
Personally I think too many people are focused on a lot what-ifs in re: to this socket or that socket, along with dual channel this and triple channel that. I also see a lot of people spreading misinformation around, possibly unintentionally as Sandy Bridge is new tech.

So far, these are the facts I've gathered.

1) Overclocking is a non-issue now. It's simple and about anyone can do it. If you can fix toast, you can OC Sandy Bridge.

2) With a simple push of the v.core, you can get to 4.5 - 4.9+ Ghz.

3) At 4.5 to 5+Ghz, this CPU not only games faster but encodes faster. Gaming and productivity scores are above anything else out there along with power savings when overclocked to or past 4.5Ghz. Someone correct me if wrong?

4) Low cost. The 2500k is around $200 dollars. From what I am reading, any Sandy Bridge board can OC. The only thing making a particular motherboard more expensive is features and not the ability to overclock. With that said, I am seeing 1155 P67 boards around the $100 - $150 dollar mark.

Personally, if I did own a X58 board right now along with a 920 ~ 950, I would sell it pronto. Why? It's better to make a sideways upgrade now vs. losing the value of your X58 a year from now. Also, many X58 owners still do not have USB 3.0 or Sata6. There is also the benefit of gaining performance and lower power costs. I see way too many pro's to upgrading now even if you do have a 950 at 4.0Ghz and triple channel memory. The only downside? The hassle of having to tear down, list and ship your motherboard bundle.

My 2 cents.
 
What was the stock Vcore was for the chips again?
I read 1.2ish, but wasn't sure on the exact number.

Is it 1.2v?
Or 1.25v ( the same as my i7 920 )

Either way, I'm definitely going to stick with a 3.4ghz 920 and a gtx260.
Solid but a bit aged.
 
SixFootDuo said:
Personally, if I did own a X58 board right now along with a 920 ~ 950, I would sell it pronto. .
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Hi, I borrow your comment to touch on something related to X58 usefulness for one particular scenario. It is more about Chipset then CPU, relevant just in case the situation arises.

Many X58-based desktops/workstation boards have 6 memory slots. For folks running extremely large ZFS storage with also large SSD as filesystem cache, the DRAM requirement is huge. Thus the 6x4GB config is a plus for them.
 
I do not want to come across as overly aggressive in my belief and advice on upgrading to Sandy Bridge. People should always follow their heart and do what they want / can afford. I'm just saying if there ever was a time to upgrade, it's now. Lots and lots of upsides now vs. downsides.
 
lightp2 said:
Hi, I borrow your comment to touch on something related to X58 usefulness for one particular scenario. It is more about Chipset then CPU, relevant just in case the situation arises.

Many X58-based desktops/workstation boards have 6 memory slots. For folks running extremely large ZFS storage with also large SSD as filesystem cache, the DRAM requirement is huge. Thus the 6x4GB config is a plus for them.
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There are some niche markets out there that the X58 will still be king, for everything else [strike=1]there's mastercard[/s] SB will be better.
 
intel does it again, damn the sb chips giving the 980x a run for its money
 
Filter said:
could say the same thing of a riced out (turbo) civic to a bmw m5 doesn't mean its better.
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Not really...you still have to look at the cars, so there's a big difference. All I get with an overclocked 2500k is most of the performance of a 980x with a much cheaper price.
 
Filter said:
could say the same thing of a riced out (turbo) civic to a bmw m5 doesn't mean its better.
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I think that the difference is that the "rice" burner is maxed and pushed to it's max limit trying to stay with a Beamer and the BMW doesn't break a sweat, has much more power potential while achieving it's numbers.

The same could be held true for the SB vs 980X. The SB will not even break a sweat achieving it'[s numbers and it will do it at lower voltages and temps. That equates to longevity as well.
I think the potential for what can be done with the SB makes it a no brainer.

Correct me if I am wrong, but is that what you meant with your analogy?
 
Nice review. :D
And now i'm really confusing of whether upgrade to SB or the old Clarkdale.Upgrading to SB non-K series equals to better performance but no overclockability and vice versa. :(
 
amd, yet again, is falling extremely far behind intel. this review leaves me with an extremely bitter taste in my mouth since i have an AMD system....:(
 
How does AMD even compete now? Not trolling im really asking i mean bulldozer will it help much?
 
AMD definitely has its hands full now. I hope they can come up with something.

Kyle which video card did you use in the Gaming Benchmarks test?

edit: nvm it's a GTX 470.
 
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mekkanic said:
AMD definitely has its hands full now. I hope they can come up with something.

Kyle which video card did you use in the Gaming Benchmarks test?
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Galaxy GTX 470.

Edit: Corrected. 470 not 570.
 
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This is a heck of a job for AMD to beat SB. I can be confident that Bulldozer may beat Intel's i7 950 CPUs and below (performance wise). However, the new SB CPUs is really tough to beat in performance. So again, AMD's new upcoming architecture will still trail Intel's latest.
 
Haiku214 said:
This is a heck of a job for AMD to beat SB. I can be confident that Bulldozer may beat Intel's i7 950 CPUs and below (performance wise). However, the new SB CPUs is really tough to beat in performance. So again, AMD's new upcoming architecture will still trail Intel's latest.
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I also wish AMD puts up a good product this year, we all need anything but an Intel monopoly.
 
I think at the 2500K class and above AMD is dead before even being born.

But on the the budget and mid budget, if AMD can come up with something cheap that overclocks like crazy, it might just become a good enthusiast's (ie cheap/poor and good tinkerer) option.
 
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