The Sandy Bridge Preview (Anand)

[Vapor]

From Twitter:

anandshimpi Is anyone else feeling a little...sandy?

anandshimpi I've just been feeling very sandy lately: http://bit.ly/d89HgU

EDIT: a larger preview is up: The Sandy Bridge Preview, enjoy!

[stangracin3]

they should crank that to atleast 1280x1024 if no 1680x1050


all they are really testing now is the cpu and not the graphics

[STaRGaZeR]

1C SB Graphics?

[Manicdan]

1C SB Graphics?

i saw that too, but have no idea what they meant, or why it was run that way

[Vapor]

i saw that too, but have no idea what they meant, or why it was run that way

Two different GPU configs for Sandy Bridge, 2 core and 1 core. The one Anand tested is just 1 core. Means there's more performance on the table (up to 100% more, but likely imperfect scaling so maybe 90-95% more).

[spursindonesia]

How about image quality & bug free experience ? I've had experiences with Intel IGPs in the past, lately the speed is increasing, but the IQ is corrupted here and there, like water that doesn't have the form & move like it was supposed to, texture that seems like coming from 20 yrs ago, etc. If Intel is indeed succesfully work on their driver & the IQ is up to par, then it's a very good development for low end & mobile gaming segment.

[ajaidev]

When how waaaa

My NDA does not end till the 10th moth then again my NDA is very old one around May.

[kl0012]

Wow! The performance of 3.1GHz version of SB (without turbo!) is very close to 980X...!

[Vapor]

Just finished reading the full preview and I'm very impressed.

Lower power, really really awesome lightly threaded performance, really awesome highly threaded performance. IGP is 2x as fast as the 661's, but that's not too important to me.

HT seems to have smaller gains than I expected, interesting.

A 2500K might be a fun chip

[Katzenschleuder]

The very low resolution they have tested games with delivers a completely irrelevant picture because the huge issue of this integrated GPU is available MEMORY BANDWITH!

Their claim that it will "threaten the entry level discrete market" is incorrect.

[accord99]

The very low resolution they have tested games with delivers a completely irrelevant picture because the huge issue of this integrated GPU is available MEMORY BANDWITH!

I don't think it matters because even at these low settings, the AMD 5450 is already pushed to its limits.

[Hornet331]

The very low resolution they have tested games with delivers a completely irrelevant picture because the huge issue of this integrated GPU is available MEMORY BANDWITH!

Their claim that it will "threaten the entry level discrete market" is incorrect.

Lol you actually think a HD5450 will performe better when you increase resolution?

It only has a 64bit mem interface with 800mhz ddr3, which offers 12.6 GB/s bandwidth (there are even parts that offer only 400mhz ddr2 which halfs the available bandwidth), dualchannle ddr3-1600 offers 25.6 GB/s, and ddr3-1066 still 17 GB/s.

[Hornet331]

ok... igp performance is quite a suprise... x2 the performance of perviouse generation is really not bad.

[RaV[666]]

on a side note ,Now i know why anand buries any amd information with intel news.
On to the cpu.

New socket, cheaper chipset has locked memory frequency, so you have to buy the more expensive one.
No move downards in the pricing structure of the cpu itself, sad but expected.
"There will be some wiggle room as far as I can tell, but it’s not going to be much. Overclocking, as we know it, is dead."
And anand havent screamed about ,if it was something like a small move.
Yea you can buy K`s and move multis, but what about fsb ?And you have to pay MORE.
"As a result, on P67 motherboards you’ll be able to adjust your memory ratios to support up to DDR3-2133."

Only ratios, so no fine tuning and of course, on the more expensive chipset.
Dammit intel!

Well, now i wont buy it even if bulldozer wont be the second coming of jesus.

EDIT.Didnt Dr.Who commented this no OC rumours to be false ?

[Tenknics]

"There will be some wiggle room as far as I can tell, but it’s not going to be much. Overclocking, as we know it, is dead."
And anand havent screamed about ,if it was something like a small move.
Yea you can buy K`s and move multis, but what about fsb ?And you have to pay MORE.
"As a result, on P67 motherboards you’ll be able to adjust your memory ratios to support up to DDR3-2133."

Only ratios, so no fine tuning and of course, on the more expensive chipset.
Dammit intel!

Well, now i wont buy it even if bulldozer wont be the second coming of jesus.

EDIT.Didnt Dr.Who commented this no OC rumours to be false ?

wow man..read the entire article before you start spouting nonsense.

1)There is no FSB anymore. Hasn't been in 4 years.
2) He made the point of the unlocked parts would cost the same as the current high end parts of today, so no you aren't paying more, intel just changed the binning
ie the i7 2600k is the same as the i7 880. Still paying $500+ for the fastest desktop quad that isn't an extreme part, +unclocked core and at least 10% performance improvement...for free. DAMN YOU INTEL!!
3) read the entire article

[RaV[666]]

wow man..read the entire article before you start spouting nonsense.

1)There is no FSB anymore. Hasn't been in 4 years.
2) He made the point of the unlocked parts would cost the same as the current high end parts of today, so no you aren't paying more, intel just changed the binning
ie the i7 2600k is the same as the i7 880. Still paying $500+ for the fastest desktop quad that isn't an extreme part, +unclocked core and at least 10% performance improvement...for free. DAMN YOU INTEL!!
3) read the entire article

1).I know there isnt FSB EXACTLY, however theres is and will be some kind of master bus speed.
HTT on AMD system, QPI on Intel.So ?
2)Yea there will be K`s with unlocked multis, so no fine tuning and getting every mhz, and they will cost as high end parts.So no clocking of cheap bastards.Maybe you sleep on cash, i dont know.I dont like it however.
3)I have read it, anand softens the blow, something this well, scary he tried to push like "moving forward".yea.sure.

Of course if you are kind of person which just buys everything at the highest prices, change a multi and be done with it.Than yea, nothing really changes for ya.

Dont get me wrong, performance is spot on.And if amd was competetive ,intel would not pull it off.
On the other side, if my own fans like taking away options from them, then well, maybe not.

[kl0012]

1).I know there isnt FSB EXACTLY, however theres is and will be some kind of master bus speed.
HTT on AMD system, QPI on Intel.So ?
2)Yea there will be K`s with unlocked multis, so no fine tuning and getting every mhz, and they will cost as high end parts.So no clocking of cheap bastards.Maybe you sleep on cash, i dont know.I dont like it however.
3)I have read it, anand softens the blow, something this well, scary he tried to push like "moving forward".yea.sure.

Of course if you are kind of person which just buys everything at the highest prices, change a multi and be done with it.Than yea, nothing really changes for ya.

Dont get me wrong, performance is spot on.And if amd was competetive ,intel would not pull it off.
On the other side, if my own fans like taking away options from them, then well, maybe not.

It seems nothing really changed for you as well. Any way you didnt buy Intel's chips for a while...

[Movieman]

1).I know there isnt FSB EXACTLY, however theres is and will be some kind of master bus speed.
HTT on AMD system, QPI on Intel.So ?
2)Yea there will be K`s with unlocked multis, so no fine tuning and getting every mhz, and they will cost as high end parts.So no clocking of cheap bastards.Maybe you sleep on cash, i dont know.I dont like it however.
3)I have read it, anand softens the blow, something this well, scary he tried to push like "moving forward".yea.sure.

Of course if you are kind of person which just buys everything at the highest prices, change a multi and be done with it.Than yea, nothing really changes for ya.

Dont get me wrong, performance is spot on.And if amd was competetive ,intel would not pull it off.
On the other side, if my own fans like taking away options from them, then well, maybe not.

Hi.
Can I ask you an honest question?
Who ever said you have the right to expect a company to make low end items that can be clocked to equal the high end items so that people won't buy the high end items?
Was it nice to be able to buy a i7-920 and get the speeds of the 975?
Yup,you bet it was but it's not a given or even our right to expect it.
Now I like to OC my systems just as much as anyone else but I take what exists and do the best I can with it.
Bottom line performance to me with SB will be how it compares to previous generations in pure computational power at a given speed.
Oh,and to answer your comment,I don't sleep on cash unless it's pennies that fell out of my pocket into the bed!

[terrace215]

Hi.
Who ever said you have the right to expect a company to make low end items that can be clocked to equal the high end items so that people won't buy the high end items?
Was it nice to be able to buy a i7-920 and get the speeds of the 975?
Yup,you bet it was but it's not a given or even our right to expect it.

[geo]

on a side note ,Now i know why anand buries any amd information with intel news.
On to the cpu.

New socket, cheaper chipset has locked memory frequency, so you have to buy the more expensive one.
No move downards in the pricing structure of the cpu itself, sad but expected.
"There will be some wiggle room as far as I can tell, but it’s not going to be much. Overclocking, as we know it, is dead."
And anand havent screamed about ,if it was something like a small move.
Yea you can buy K`s and move multis, but what about fsb ?And you have to pay MORE.
"As a result, on P67 motherboards you’ll be able to adjust your memory ratios to support up to DDR3-2133."

Only ratios, so no fine tuning and of course, on the more expensive chipset.
Dammit intel!

Well, now i wont buy it even if bulldozer wont be the second coming of jesus.

EDIT.Didnt Dr.Who commented this no OC rumours to be false ?

Hi.
Can I ask you an honest question?
Who ever said you have the right to expect a company to make low end items that can be clocked to equal the high end items so that people won't buy the high end items?
Was it nice to be able to buy a i7-920 and get the speeds of the 975?
Yup,you bet it was but it's not a given or even our right to expect it.
Now I like to OC my systems just as much as anyone else but I take what exists and do the best I can with it.
Bottom line performance to me with SB will be how it compares to previous generations in pure computational power at a given speed.
Oh,and to answer your comment,I don't sleep on cash unless it's pennies that fell out of my pocket into the bed!

There is no point rationalizing Intel's poor decision to deliberately crippled SB with regards to overclocking.

It not like Intel's sales were harmed with C2D and i Series overclocks. IMO these things happen with monopolies. Look at how intel brought back overclocking big time with C2D. when there was good competition from AMD. The original reason to overclock is to get as much performance as possible out of your system, specially useful if you are short on money Collage, new job etc. Businesses wont overclock their office systems anyway nor will pro server/rendering farms
This is just hurting the enthusiast crowd who want more bang for their buck.

[Nintendork]

on a side note ,Now i know why anand buries any amd information with intel news.
On to the cpu.

New socket, cheaper chipset has locked memory frequency, so you have to buy the more expensive one.
No move downards in the pricing structure of the cpu itself, sad but expected.
"There will be some wiggle room as far as I can tell, but it’s not going to be much. Overclocking, as we know it, is dead."
And anand havent screamed about ,if it was something like a small move.
Yea you can buy K`s and move multis, but what about fsb ?And you have to pay MORE.
"As a result, on P67 motherboards you’ll be able to adjust your memory ratios to support up to DDR3-2133."

Only ratios, so no fine tuning and of course, on the more expensive chipset.
Dammit intel!

Well, now i wont buy it even if bulldozer wont be the second coming of jesus.

EDIT.Didnt Dr.Who commented this no OC rumours to be false ?

Anand's lack of CS5 instead of CS4 is beyond me. Specially when they include six-core benchmarks.

[Tenknics]

Anad further explains that the "2core" and "1core" for GPUs is an internal naming thing. It's actually 6 EU's (1c) or 12 EU's (2c). He goes on to say an EU is like Intels version of a Cuda Core.

[RaV[666]]

Ive read it.
No FSB overclocking ,to quote anand "some wiggle room".I was quoting from the article.

[STaRGaZeR]

Holy , lower power consumption, awesome CPU&GPU perfomance increases across the board. I want one.

A pity they didn't test games with HT on/off.

[ajaidev]

This is bad Intel will rain heavy on everyone who has the chip for various purposes. Anandtech has sourced it from someone and just like the last inspection "A tray 32nm x6 chip's". Intel came hard on everyone including me and a person was sued and fired.