Intel Ivy Bridge CPU's

[mac_shinobi]

BBC News - Intel's Ivy Bridge chips launch using '3D transistors'

Hopefully make a few people on here happy ( happier )

[flyinghaggis]

Maybe I'm getting jaded but I cant recall Intel releasing a new architecture which offered so little improvement on the previous generation in terms of the benchmark scores. At stock speeds there's virtually no change in most apps compared to Sandy Bridge. I know it's a minor change primarily to a new 22nm process, HD4000 graphics and that power efficiency is better but I'd hoped for at least some CPU performance gain....

[mac_shinobi]

Hopefully ( if they haven't already done so as I could be wrong on this ) but would be nice if windows would allow you to use your GPU as extra CPU power when and if required but not sure how much this would help on gaming ??

[sonofsanta]

AnandTech - The Intel Ivy Bridge (Core i7 3770K) Review
Intel's Core i7-3770K 'Ivy Bridge' processor - The Tech Report - Page 1

In a way I'm quite relieved it's not such an improvement, means I don't need to feel as bad when I end up having to buy Sandy Bridge PCs still this Summer because IB dual-core has been pushed back yet again/is massively sold out.

Hopefully ( if they haven't already done so as I could be wrong on this ) but would be nice if windows would allow you to use your GPU as extra CPU power when and if required but not sure how much this would help on gaming ??

The problem is that GPU computing (massively parallel) is an entirely different scenario to CPU computing (inherently serial) and requires massive recoding efforts and is often only applicable in select cases. Video encoding is a popular one (see QuickSync in SB/IB) and Photoshop and Premiere Pro have GPU acceleration built in, but other than that... not much you can do with the GPU.

[synaesthesia]

Up to 20% quicker which is always nice - however they apparently get particularly warm. Comparisons of heat output are compared to previous generation Core processors, which probably won't mean much - it shocks the hell out of me to see the size heatsink you get with a core i5 2500k - I had something bigger on my bloody 486!

[SYNACK]

it shocks the hell out of me to see the size heatsink you get with a core i5 2500k - I had something bigger on my bloody 486!

Yea and even with that the fan speed generally stays low. Just put one (i7 2600) in a new MPS, SSD and passive everything apart from the PSU and a couple of huge slow case fans. Sitting beside it is is only just audable as a gentle continuous breeze.

however they apparently get particularly warm.

I'm suprised the new ones are supposed to be hotter as they have more efficient power leakage control and smaller fabrication so by rites they should be more efficient and produce less heat overall.

Edit:

TDP is down to 77W so they should run cooler

[Arthur]

they apparently get particularly warm.

Mystery solved?

So why is Ivy Bridge hot?
Intel is using TIM paste between the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS) and the CPU die on Ivy Bridge chips, instead of fluxless solder.



Source: http://www.overclockers.com/ivy-bridge-temperatures

Also, don't overclock Ivy too far...

Undervolting and Overclocking on Ivy Bridge
...if you want the best overclock for your machine, you cannot just choose a relative voltage and see how far it will go at that setting. Overclocking on Ivy Bridge needs to be methodical and done correctly so as to not introduce unnecessary heat into the system.

This brings us to the good news and bad news. The good news is that at stock settings, we have a cool and quiet processor with a nice low power draw. The bad news is that it perhaps will not overclock as well as people think it should. Those wishing for 4.8GHz at 1.4 volts (similar to Sandy Bridge) will run into a lot of issues if they think that 1.4 volts is appropriate for Ivy Bridge. In comparison, you may end up with something more reasonable like 4.6GHz at 1.1 volts, or 4.8GHz at 1.2 volts (as per some boards I have tested). Then it will be a case of deciding whether the small IPC gains that Ivy brings will be worth 200 MHz less on your CPU compared to Sandy Bridge.

My recommendation is that if you run an overclocked Sandy Bridge system right now, do not jump to Ivy Bridge. You may be severely disappointed by the overclocking performance. Ultimately, Ivy Bridge hates voltage. Moving the CPU speed up is not so bad in the case of temperatures and system power draw. What you need is the lowest voltage for the overclock you want. So when you overclock, be methodical. (Source)

[Arthur]

Intel's new processors are finally available to buy (as of today).

[localzuk]

They're good from school's point of view - lower power consumption, and better integrated graphics.

So, those of us trying to use some level of gaming in education can do more with less, whilst at the same time reducing the ole carbon footprint a little.

Performance improvements over the previous generation are pretty much negligable from what I've read. eg. a 2550k vs 3570k shows improvements in GPU but barely any in CPU.