Gaming Next generation of Intel?

[Originality]

I just received the latest CustomPC in the mail and only a few pages in and I see information on the successors to the Core i generation - Sandy Bridge (E).

Apparently due for release early next year (late next year for the E version) Sandy Bridge CPUs will have all the controllers (including a better IGP) on a single die, rather than on a separate die inside the CPU. It'll also have 1 less pin than the current SKT1156 (making it SKT1155) and therefore will not be interchangeable with Core i3/5. Dual and quad flavours expected.

Sandy Bridge E will be the successor to Core i7. Using SKT2011, it'll feature 4-channel DDR3, native SATA/SAS 6Gbps and PCI-Express 3.

Is it just me, or does this seem a bit too soon for another generation of CPUs to come out, when the last generation didn't really do much for the gaming market except take the quality of laptops up one notch? Also, I hate to imagine how big the HSF for a SKT2011 will be.

 

[zeromac]

In non nerd talk this means what?

 

[Originality]

The lower end Sandy Bridge CPUs will be slightly smaller, presumably more power (and heat) efficient, and be built more efficiently than current Core i3 or i5 CPUs. In non nerd talk, it means that if you're planning to upgrade your computer sometime soon, it might be worth waiting a year to see better options available. Whether it'll be a marked improvement on Core 2 Duo and Quad CPUs... that remains to be seen.

For the Sandy Bridge E (for enthusiast or extreme - CPC can only speculate), it'll be much bigger. Bigger processors can fit more cores and can probably be that much more powerful. With 4 channel RAM, it'll also be expensive to use to its fullest (estimating around £600-700 for a basic kit of motherboard, CPU and 4 sticks of RAM). Only nerds or corporate executives need bother with this.

Since Intel do not officially comment on unreleased products, you'd have to chase rumours to find out much more information. There's a whole lot of nerd-speak in the CPC magazine that I didn't include in the opening post because the number of people who would understand terms like "AVX" and "ONFI cache" are quite limited.

 

[Cermage]

we've known about sandy bridge arch since 2007. seem's about right, companies tend to drill through architectures, nehalem's been around for 2 years now. it won't mean intel will all of a sudden drop the i* range, they'll keep it alive, heck the core arch is still sticking around in laptops. not to mention you can still find netburst based celerons in laptops.

there's also the fact intel are pretty much free to do what they want until amd release their bulldozer.

 

[FAST6191]

Interesting, I must admit I skipped the i* line from a gaming side of things (even for those I built for others) but they were/are quite nice for CAD and video stuff (not tried a server)- most areas of engineering and especially computing seem to have a throwaway/just for funding/trial line every so often though and I guess that was it.

This being said I am happy to see some more development in CPUs beyond faster with more memory even if I am not sure if system on a chip is a good thing to look at (I really do not want to say FPGA but maybe something in that world) not to mention my opinion of motherboard manufacturers has been sliding downhill for years now so the less stuff for them to mess up the better.

 

[gov78]

Tbh i think intel is kinda losing it appeal to me. Im slowly converting to AMD/ATI now i got a 5770 atm and probably going get a AMD Motherboard and Processor combo next year dont get me wrong intel isnt bad i dont want a fanboy war about ATI/Nvidia Intel/AMD im just saying that im slowly losing my appeal for intel and nvidia products since AMD/ATI and catching up really fast.

 

[Originality]

There was also an article about that 6-core AMD CPU. I don't think I need to post anything about it since there've been enough posts debating it in the last few weeks.