Sandy Bridge: The Countdown

Gnome said:
I really want to see a review of 2500T and 2100T. It bothers me that they are significantly lower frequency but as soon as it Turbos it shoots up to nearly the same frequency as the standard parts. Makes me think that Intel quote those TDP ratings based on non-Turbo rates.

Anyone know if Esquire will start selling these soon?
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Huh? the 2500 T is 3.3 GHz and the 2500 S is 3.7 GHz. The 2500 S is obviously just more efficient than the 2500 (same as the Q9550S is more efficient than the Q9550), while the 2500 T loses quite a few Hz to achieve 45W. Too much of a compromise IMO, unless you really need to save every last watt.

As for Esquire, last time I looked, their prices were higher than PCInt and Rebel Tech. (and their ex VAT price lists are probably illegal and piss me off)

Dan C said:
Seems only the I3's are out of stock.

http://www.prophecy.co.za/bintelb-blga1155-sandybridgeb-c-19_20_1864.html
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I don't think the i3 chips have released yet.
 
Which would only be valid when selling to consumers... All distros have ex.vat price lists.
 
P924 said:
Which would only be valid when selling to consumers... All distros have ex.vat price lists.
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No, the Act applies to everyone - no exceptions, ever. That's where the ruling or interpretation or whatever it is comes in, it has literally two exceptions, and both come with requirements that most price lists don't meet. Besides, Esquire pretty much sells to the public (and they definitely advertise to the public), so they're just being *ssholes by not advertising both ex VAT and inc VAT.
 
hmmm it seems i am a little bit out of the loop. anyone with a link to a review that a layman can bite into to learn of this sandy bridge?
 
you really gotta hate intel for their motherboard changes with each new cpu.

other than that Sandy Bridge looks most impressive.
 
Drunkard #1 said:
Huh? the 2500 T is 3.3 GHz and the 2500 S is 3.7 GHz. The 2500 S is obviously just more efficient than the 2500 (same as the Q9550S is more efficient than the Q9550), while the 2500 T loses quite a few Hz to achieve 45W. Too much of a compromise IMO, unless you really need to save every last watt.
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2500T is 2.3 GHz (standard clock rate) and up to 3.3 GHz (Turbo)
2500S is 2.7 GHz (standard clock rate) and up to 3.7 GHz (Turbo)
2500 is 3.3 GHz (standard clock rate) and up to 3.7 GHz (Turbo)

Notice the huge difference on the 2500T/S between standard and Turbo (1Ghz vs. 0.4Ghz on non-T/S). I'm wondering if they truly stay within the TDP profile at such a large increase of clock speed over standard. I guess it is possible, I'd still like to see a review tho ;)

But yes to answer the question, it is definitely worth it for me. I have computers running 24/7, they can't have any downtime (fan failure on a 45w TDP CPU with a good cooler isn't really an issue). Therefore those chips (T series) are a godsend. Not only do I save power, the thermal output is much lower which is also a major problem (the current ~75W CPUs run pretty hot, so I want to replace them with 45w CPUs). The whole setup is far more reliable from the get go. Hence my interest.

Drunkard #1 said:
No, the Act applies to everyone - no exceptions, ever.
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Yep, he is 100% correct. Technically it can be reported to the SARS, considering their greed I wouldn't be surprised if they hand out fines (oh how they like to do that, and even if they are wrong about it, they always prosecute, they just don't give a sh#t if they lose money or not prosecuting, that is their style).

Used to bother me, but now it only bothers me if a reseller does it. With Esquire I don't mind and they have those pricelists in Excel where you can just change markup to 1.14 to get the true price anyway. But God forbid, if I encounter a reseller that does it I'd report them in a heartbeat.
 
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Gnome said:
Notice the huge difference on the 2500T/S between standard and Turbo (1Ghz vs. 0.4Ghz on non-T/S). I'm wondering if they truly stay within the TDP profile at such a large increase of clock speed over standard. I guess it is possible, I'd still like to see a review tho ;)
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TB allows CPUs to exceed their TDP for short periods of time. Presumably, the numbers for T and S chips are just the highest speeds they can reach, and are not sustainable speeds.
 
What if you overclock, does it still go the full 1Ghz on Turbo or it also accounts for the current speed or frequency in operation?
 
Romito said:
What if you overclock, does it still go the full 1Ghz on Turbo or it also accounts for the current speed or frequency in operation?
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I'm not sure, since I don't have one, but apparently, for SB all overclocking is done through using Turbo multiplyers. I.e. under zero load, you'll have stock clocks, and only when you start loading the CPU your overclock will kick in. This is just what I've heard with current motherboards, so take it with a pinch of salt.
 
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Romito said:
What if you overclock, does it still go the full 1Ghz on Turbo or it also accounts for the current speed or frequency in operation?
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Your base clock speed is locked, therefore the only option is to use multipliers. Max clock speed would be 3.3Ghz on the 2500T and 3.7Ghz on the 2500S. The speed can never exceed that, Turbo is disabled if you manually set multipliers and regardless if it weren't you are still at the maximum clock multiplier and therefore cannot go any higher than the above clock speeds.

So to answer your question directly. No the Turbo will not go the full 1Ghz if you have a higher than standard clock speed. That is if Turbo is even possible (most if not all motherboards disable Turbo and such if you set the multiplier manually).

That is if we talk about 2500T/S or plain 2500 the same principles apply. Only the 2500K has unlocked multipliers, so the sky is the limit.
 
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