Intel 45nm pricing

[K404]

Model...........Speed........Cache..............Price (Jan08 ) ($) (per 1000 units)

QX9650.........333x9..........12MB.............................999

Q9550...........333x8.5.......12MB.............................530

Q9450...........333x8..........12MB............................316

Q9300...........333x7.5........6MB.............................266

Duallies:

E8500...........333x9.5........6MB.............................266

E8400...........333x9...........6MB.............................183

E8300...........333x8.5........6MB..............................TBC

sauce!!!!

 

[maverik-sg1]

I like the idea of a half multiplier, however I recall the AMD half multiplier would always drop the ram clocks down and wsa therefore useless - lets hop Intel has a better solution otherwise the Q9550 might as well have been set at x8 or had a lower fsb and higher multi to start with.

Prices are aggressive - but given that you really need a new board and ddr3 to enjoy, it's a massive investment - better off upgrading what you have for now - let the new boards iron out the bugs, get new BIOS and the price of DDR3 to drop to a resonable level.

QX should have an adjustable multiplier surely?

Cheers

Mav

 

[Thickbrit]

Intels top of the range chips have always come with unlocked multi's,since the good ol 478 days,and surprisisingly enough have usually been around the $1k mark too at release.I wouldn't expect these to be any different.

 

[K404]

I like the idea of a half multiplier, however I recall the AMD half multiplier would always drop the ram clocks down and wsa therefore useless - lets hop Intel has a better solution otherwise the Q9550 might as well have been set at x8 or had a lower fsb and higher multi to start with.

Im cautiously optimistic that wont be repeated with Intel- their RAM speeds are worked out as a function of FSB, the multiplier is purely just a number to them. AMD work out RAM speed by dividing the CPU speed by an integer number, so an AMD CPU running with an x.5 multi set in BIOS would suffer.

Prices are aggressive - but given that you really need a new board and ddr3 to enjoy, it's a massive investment - better off upgrading what you have for now - let the new boards iron out the bugs, get new BIOS and the price of DDR3 to drop to a resonable level.

...No ya dont. 45nm is supported right back to P965. P35 and X38 will be fine. BIOS have matured on P965 and P35 pretty well, so thats a pretty null point. The selection of good DDR2 boards is also great, so for most of us, its just a CPU update, with a BIOS update to see them.

I was hoping for a release before January, but everyone will be able to see the difference in a 6MB Vs 4MB chip I suspect.

 

[maverik-sg1]

Watch out for new thread to point out the advantages of DDR3 over DDR2 and see why its better, then look at the prices and see why its worth wating for the prices to drop.

I think the point I was hoping to make was that on DDR2, these 1333mhz FSB chips with reduced multiplier offer little or no point to upgrade versus the current crop of chips (RAM mulitpliers required to see a true performance gain often limited by the high fsb required on the chip to overcome the lower multiplier).

Because of that there is still life left in 266mhz core 2 or core 2 quad, especially those that can handle 500mhz FSB and a RAM/mobo combo that can deliver 1200mhz (5:4 is better than 1:1)

The sad truth about the new chips is that the main performance boost will (more than likely) be from the cache.

Cheers

Mav

PS: Fingers crossed on the other info Kenny mate - I am not optimistic but anything better than the old AMD situation would of course be a benefit.

 

[K404]

I think the point I was hoping to make was that on DDR2, these 1333mhz FSB chips with reduced multiplier offer little or no point to upgrade versus the current crop of chips (RAM mulitpliers required to see a true performance gain often limited by the high fsb required on the chip to overcome the lower multiplier).

Well it depends- for the Quads, a good multiplier will be out of reach to anyone without £600 to blow on a CPU. A good Q6600 G0 will offer great competition, but the extra cache on the new chips will pull the 45nm chips up, even if the clockspeed is lower. a High FSB is always good though

Because of that there is still life left in 266mhz core 2 or core 2 quad, especially those that can handle 500mhz FSB and a RAM/mobo combo that can deliver 1200mhz (5:4 is better than 1:1)

500FSB is only an aiming point for Quads. 1066 Core 2 Duo has been pretty much eclipsed to all but the top-end benchers- the 1333 chips (G0) are the way to go for duallies. Very few dual-core 1066 chips are gonna match what a decent E6850 can do. There has to be a distinction between dual-core and Quad chips though. maybe the 45nm chips and X38 will raise the ceiling even more for Quad FSB?

The sad truth about the new chips is that the main performance boost will (more than likely) be from the cache.

Thats not a sad truth- SSE4 might help a couple benchmarks, but its the same architecture pretty much- what did you expect?

The 45nm chips will have lower power consumption, more cache and more OC scaling- whats not to like?

 

[Highland3r]

The 45nm chips will have lower power consumption, more cache and more OC scaling- whats not to like?

They don't cook dinner for you though do they

 

[maverik-sg1]

Well it depends- for the Quads, a good multiplier will be out of reach to anyone without £600 to blow on a CPU. A good Q6600 G0 will offer great competition, but the extra cache on the new chips will pull the 45nm chips up, even if the clockspeed is lower. a High FSB is always good though

500FSB is only an aiming point for Quads. 1066 Core 2 Duo has been pretty much eclipsed to all but the top-end benchers- the 1333 chips (G0) are the way to go for duallies. Very few dual-core 1066 chips are gonna match what a decent E6850 can do. There has to be a distinction between dual-core and Quad chips though. maybe the 45nm chips and X38 will raise the ceiling even more for Quad FSB?

Thats not a sad truth- SSE4 might help a couple benchmarks, but its the same architecture pretty much- what did you expect?

The 45nm chips will have lower power consumption, more cache and more OC scaling- whats not to like?

You are right but also slighty skewed (if that makes sense).

You only have to look at the leaderboard here:

http://www.custompc.co.uk/benchmarks

Blindfitter on a quad clocked faster than Mr dizzy's but overall result is lower - this is because as high as the FSB/clock is, the end result is better overall performance with DDR3 by a country mile.

My next bench session will also cement this result - in short if you cant run the ram at a faster clock than the CPU FSB then any boost will be nulled considerably by the ram.

I assume SSE4 will only benefit benchmarks that are SSE4 enabled - currently I do not know of any benchmark that allow this optimisation to be utilised. I have no expectations, just stating the differences and the type of investment required to benefit fully - buying one of these cpu's on there own could be disappointing if other components let you down in realising the true performance.

A duallie is still good enough for everyone that does not bench (everyday performance) and certainly in superpi and other singelthreaded applications/games proves to be more than a match for equivalent quad - the only beneficieries at this time being cinebench, folding, video encoding, 3DM06 (1000pts improvement over duallie on this one).

Don;t get em wrong I am not saying these are or will be bad chips, aux contrare - just be aware of the improvemtns that can still be made by using DDR3 are substantial but also expensive.

It's cheaper and easier to get more from a DDR2 rig with a core2 E6600, E6700, E6850, E6800 - although I agree that more cache is better and quad support will grow. It's still a good investment and reassuring to know that a mobo/ram change will release even more for you.

Just my opinion of course.