The Sandy Bridge Preview

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

    The Sandy Bridge Preview


    Posted: 30 Aug 2010
    The mainstream quad-core market has been neglected ever since we got Lynnfield in 2009. Both the high end and low end markets saw a move to 32nm, but if you wanted a mainstream quad-core desktop processor the best you could get was a 45nm Lynnfield from Intel. Even quad-core Xeons got the 32nm treatment.

    That's all going to change starting next year. This time it's the masses that get the upgrade first. While Nehalem launched with expensive motherboards and expensive processors, the next tock in Intel's architecture cadence is aimed right at the middle of the market. This time, the ultra high end users will have to wait - if you want affordable quad-core, if you want the successor to Lynnfield, Sandy Bridge is it.

    Sandy Bridge is the next major architecture from Intel. What Intel likes to call a tock. The first tock was Conroe, then Nehalem and now SB. In between were the ticks - Penryn, Westmere and after SB we'll have Ivy Bridge, a 22nm shrink of Sandy.

    Did I mention we have one?

    While Intel is still a few weeks away from releasing Sandy Bridge performance numbers at IDF, we managed to spend some time with a very healthy sample and run it through a few of our tests to get a sneak peak at what's coming in Q1 2011.

    New Naming
    The naming isn’t great. It’s an extension of what we have today. Intel is calling Sandy Bridge the 2nd generation Core i7, i5 and i3 processors. As a result, all of the model numbers have a 2 preceding them.

    A New Architecture
    This is a first. Usually when we go into these performance previews we’re aware of the architecture we’re reviewing, all we’re missing are the intimate details of how well it performs. This was the case for Conroe, Nehalem and Lynnfield (we sat Westmere out until final hardware was ready). Sandy Bridge, is a different story entirely.

    Here’s what we do know.

    Sandy Bridge is a 32nm CPU with an on-die GPU. While Clarkdale/Arrandale have a 45nm GPU on package, Sandy Bridge moves the GPU transistors on die. Not only is the GPU on die but it shares the L3 cache of the CPU.

    There are two different GPU configurations, referred to internally as 1 core or 2 cores. A single GPU core in this case refers to 6 EUs, Intel’s graphics processor equivalent (NVIDIA would call them CUDA cores). Sandy Bridge will be offered in configurations with 6 or 12 EUs.

    While the numbers may not sound like much, the Sandy Bridge GPU is significantly redesigned compared to what’s out currently. Intel already announced a ~2x performance improvement compared to Clarkdale/Arrandale, and I can say that after testing Sandy Bridge Intel has been able to achieve at least that.

    Both the CPU and GPU on SB will be able to turbo independently of one another. If you’re playing a game that uses more GPU than CPU, the CPU may run at stock speed (or lower) and the GPU can use the additional thermal headroom to clock up. The same applies in reverse if you’re running something computationally intensive.

    On the CPU side little is known about the execution pipeline. Sandy Bridge enables support for AVX instructions, just like Bulldozer. The CPU will also have dedicated hardware video transcoding hardware to fend off advances by GPUs in the transcoding space.

    And that’s about it. I can fit everything I know about Sandy Bridge onto a single page and even then it’s not telling us much. We’ll certainly find out more at IDF next month. What I will say is this: Sandy Bridge is not a minor update. As you’ll soon see, the performance improvements the CPU will offer across the board will make most anyone want to upgrade.
    Much More...
    Dave76's Avatar Posted By: Dave76
    30 Aug 2010



  1. Posts : 1,487
    Windows 7 x64 / Same
       #1

    I'm not crazy about their naming conventions as far as the numbers go. Always gets a bit confusing.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 12,177
    Windows 7 Ult x64 - SP1/ Windows 8 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #2

    They appear to be continuing with their standard method, confusing as it is...
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4,663
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
       #3

    I thought it was a wise move getting a LGA1366 mothereboard. Thought it would future proof me for a while.
    Just shows how wrong you can be

    Thanks for posting Dave.:)
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 12,177
    Windows 7 Ult x64 - SP1/ Windows 8 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    They are changing socket faster and faster it seems.

    I thought I would be safe with my LGA1156, but evidently not.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 1,487
    Windows 7 x64 / Same
       #5

    johnwillyums said:
    I thought it was a wise move getting a LGA1366 mothereboard. Thought it would future proof me for a while.
    Just shows how wrong you can be

    Thanks for posting Dave.:)
    I have the same board. Built the rig in May-June. Looks like we can only enjoy up to the i7-980x which is 32nm.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,663
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
       #6

    Oh well. I'll just have to make do with that then
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 12,364
    8 Pro x64
       #7

    Win7User512 said:
    johnwillyums said:
    I thought it was a wise move getting a LGA1366 mothereboard. Thought it would future proof me for a while.
    Just shows how wrong you can be

    Thanks for posting Dave.:)
    I have the same board. Built the rig in May-June. Looks like we can only enjoy up to the i7-980x which is 32nm.
    There will be a i7-990x - basically it's just a 980x with a slightly higher stock clock and turbo.

    Then that's it for 1366




    ***

    Seriously though intel, new sockets, new architecture - give it new modifiers for crying out out loud.

    Retaining the iX is just unnecessarily confusing for consumers.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 3,322
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
       #8

    I don't even want to think about that naming schemes they'll use for Ivy Bridge, though it's most likely still going to be iSomeNumberThatDoesn'tMeanAnything.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 1,487
    Windows 7 x64 / Same
       #9

    smarteyeball said:
    Win7User512 said:
    johnwillyums said:
    I thought it was a wise move getting a LGA1366 mothereboard. Thought it would future proof me for a while.
    Just shows how wrong you can be

    Thanks for posting Dave.:)
    I have the same board. Built the rig in May-June. Looks like we can only enjoy up to the i7-980x which is 32nm.
    There will be a i7-990x - basically it's just a 980x with a slightly higher stock clock and turbo.

    Then that's it for 1366




    ***

    Seriously though intel, new sockets, new architecture - give it new modifiers for crying out out loud.

    Retaining the iX is just unnecessarily confusing for consumers.
    I'll prob upgrade to the 980x when the price drops and be satisfied for a few years. I don't need a new processor when it first releases (too expensive and it's not like it will be the be-all-end-all).
      My Computer


 
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 7 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 7" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 00:52.
Find Us