Intel Sandy Bridge Desktop and Mobile CPUs

Vigile writes "The new Intel Sandy Bridge architecture is being launched at CES this week but the reviews and benchmarks are out today. PC Perspective took a look at both the desktop and mobile variants, the former of which turns out to be quite an impressive processor for both highly threaded and single threaded applications. With some tweaks to the execution unit, a new Turbo Boost mode that increases clock speeds dynamically and a vastly improved integrated graphics implementation, the Core i7-2600K improves in every aspect. Also interestingly, the most expensive desktop part will start at $317, putting the screws to AMD yet again. On the mobile side of things, PC Perspective tested the quad-core Core i7-2820QM and the benchmark results are equally impressive; especially when looking at the gaming performance using integrated graphics. Sandy Bridge will no doubt put quite a dent in the discrete notebook graphics market for NVIDIA and AMD."

Comments

Goodbye LGA 1366 and 1156

[iamhassi]

So the rumors are true: according to the article all Sandy Bridge CPUs are Socket LGA 1155, replacing the 18 month old LGA 1366 and 17 month old LGA 1156.

I'm all for bigger and better but it's a pain to throw away a $500 motherboard every 18 months because Intel decided they want to change the socket.

On the other hand the latest 6-core processors from AMD still support 3+ yr old AM2+ motherboards. It's nice to see someone still looking out for the budget shopper.

Re:Goodbye LGA 1366 and 1156

[Pojut]

This is pretty much the only reason I still stick with AMD. My upgrade cycles are every 2-4 years, so you'd think it would make more sense for me to go Intel since their stuff is "better". Nope! I've kept the same motherboard for the past two cycles, and even though I'm getting a better CPU (going from Ahtlon II x4 to Phenom II x6) and better video card (going from ATI 4850 to nVidia 570), I'm STILL going to keep the same motherboard and RAM. The Phenom II will be the third CPU I've dropped into this motherboard (Athlon X2 -> Athlon II X4 -> Phenom II X6).

Still no decent low cost computer

[InsaneProcessor]

And we still have no decent quality low cost mobile computer. Don't try to tell me the Atom is decent or low cost!