Intel Xeon E5-2600: Doing Damage With Two Eight-Core CPUs

Intel's vaunted SANDY BRIDGE RCHITECHTUREhas finally made its way to the company's dual- and quad-socket-capable Xeon processors. We got our hands on a pair of eight-core Xeon E5-2687W CPUs to compare against the older Xeon 5600- and 5500-series chips.

After almost 14 years of writing about technology, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll perpetually enjoy getting my hands on the latest gear, testing it this way and that, and conveying my own impressions to folks who share my passion.

Although gaming-oriented components garner the most attention on this site, by far, enthusiasts can’t help but also get excited about more IT-oriented hardware, too. You might have a PHENOMENONX2 in your gaming box, but there’s a fair chance you also joined millions of readers who were curious about the water-cooled quad-Opteron rig that Puget Systems built in What Does A $16 000+ PC Look Like, Anyway?

Today’s story takes us down a similar path. We already evaluated the entire family of S.B.-E based Core i7-3000-series CPUs in Intel Core i7-3960X Review: Sandy Bridge-E And X79 Expressand Intel Core i7-3930K And Core i7-3820: Sandy Bridge-E, Cheaper. We know that Intel neutered all of those desktop-oriented processors to some degree—whether to hit certain power targets at client-friendly CLOCK RATES or more easily differentiate its server parts, we may never know for sure.

But now we have access to the full Monty, branded as Xeon E5 for single-, dual-, and quad-socket servers.

Core i5-3570K, -3550, -3550S, And -3570T: Ivy Bridge Efficiency

After recommending Sandy Bridge last year, we weren't particularly impressed by the new Ivy Bridge-based Core i7-3770K as an upgrade. But are Intel's more mainstream third-gen Core i5 any more attractive? We grab four models to find out.

Intel made low-power processors really interesting a few years back by launching a couple of 65 W Core 2 Quads that offered the same performance as its 95 W models. Sure, you had to pay quite a bit more for the privilege of owning one. But the idea of slipping an extra-cool chip into a diminutive desktop or home theater machine made the premium a worthwhile consideration.

Once the company introduced its Nehalem architecture, it was able to more easily exploit available thermal headroom using Turbo Boost. By increasing clock rate according to workload, Intel didn’t leave as much performance on the table. A 3 GHz CPU, for example, could be made to run at 3.4 or 3.5 GHz when only one of its cores was active, operating faster (and hotter) with the ultimate goal of dropping back to idle sooner.

It then debuted power-optimized versions of its CPUs based on the Lynnfield design. But instead of dropping TDP and maintaining performance, the company was forced to cut its base clocks and scale back Turbo Boosted frequencies in an effort to keep power down. Even as Intel gave you less performance, it continued charging more for those S-family models in a double-blow to value. We quickly called the company out inIntel Core i5-750S: Since When Does The S Mean Slow?

The company countered our criticism by claiming the “power-optimized” models were conceptualized as complements to the dual-core Clarkdale-based CPUs. COREi5-750S was supposed to be the first quad-core Nehalem-based model able to fit within an 82 W TDP. That didn’t justify charging more for it, we answered back.

Core i7-3720QM: Ivy Bridge Makes Its Mark On Mobility

We've already seen that Ivy Bridge doesn't make much of a splash in the desktop space. But we collected notebooks based on Ivy Bridge, Sandy Bridge, Arrandale, and AMD'S MOBILELlano, and found that the new architecture's effect on mobility is profound.

More than one year has passed since Intel hit a home run with its Sandy Bridge-based processors, which we first reviewed in Intel’s Second-Gen Core CPUs: The Sandy Bridge Review. The architecture delivered impressive performance at the company's designated price points. And, thanks to impressive efficiency, our follow-up Core i7-2820QM: Sandy Bridge Shines In Notebooks showed the mobile incarnation to be a real winner.

Intel Core i7-3770K Review: A Small Step Up For Ivy Bridge

Both AMD and Intel know that great products create lofty expectations. When you follow up an Athlon with an Athlon 64, or a CORE2 with a Core i7, customers start looking for big progress from subsequent generations, too.

Well, we all know that Sandy Bridge was a home run on the desktop. Can all of the enthusiasts who posted to forums about waiting for Ivy Bridge really be faulted for hoping to see another round of impressive performance gains?

TVY BRIDGE was never projected to be as impactful as its predecessor, though. The company’s “tick-tock” cadence defines alternating steps forward in processor architecture and manufacturing technology. When Intel pulls off a successful new design based on mature lithography, the improvements tend to be big, bold, and beautiful. Nehalem and Sandy Bridge, both “tocks,” left us satisfied and smiling. A process shrink typically introduces other benefits, such as smaller dies and power savings. Benchmark results, however, typically don't change as drastically. 

AMD A10-4600M Review: Mobile Trinity Gets Tested

AMD steps up to the plate with an all-new processor. Armed with the updated Piledriver CPU core and VLIW4 graphics architecture, the Trinity APU represents an impressive improvement over the Llano generation. But can it stand up to Intel's best efforts?

AMD launched its Llano-based desktop APUs almost one year ago, and we reviewed the then-flagship inAMD A8-3850 Review: Llano Rocks Entry-Level Desktops. While the term “desktop-class” is useful to imply a certain expectation of performance, this product shines brightest in a laptop. We’re still impressed with its powerful integrated graphics engine and excellent battery life, and we don’t doubt that Llano is one of the reasons AMD is capturing notebook market share from Intel.

When you look at the breakdown since 2011, though, the change isn’t as dramatic as you might think:according to IDC, AMD powered about 16 percent of all laptops sold over the last year, representing an increase of about 2.5% since the APU’s introduction. Intel continues to dominate, with about 84% of the mobile segment. Of the 564 laptop models for sale on Newegg, 108 are AMD-based (19%) and 456 employ Intel platforms (81%). If Llano is so great, why hasn’t it captured a greater number of sales?  

Clearly, the APU initiative is gaining momentum in the mobile marketplace. However, it takes time to change the status quo and compel changes in the way software is written—we saw the same resistance when single-core CPUs started giving way to two- and four-core designs. Aside from that, Llano’s weakness is the performance of its x86 cores. Intel simply outmaneuvers AMD in a great many real-world benchmarks. To reiterate the final sentence of our Llano review: “…we’ll have to wait for Trinity to see if AMD can come up with an APU that can simultaneously challenge Intel’s processing capabilities as it wipes the floor with its on-die graphics. A no-compromise part would almost certainly guarantee more success than the give-and-take that is Llano.”

Overclocking Core i7-3770K: Learning To Live With Compromise

We recently took our first look at Intel's Ivy Bridge architecture. Then, we evaluated its efficiency. Now, we turn to overclocking. Recently, each of Intel's die shrinks has helped increase frequency headroom. This time, however, we ran into some walls.

Lower power consumption, purportedly less heat dissipation, a smaller die size, lower manufacturing costs for Intel...but does the 22 nm Ivy Bridge design also leave less room for mainstream overclocking? A launch coverage (Intel Core i7-3770K Review: A Small Step Up For Ivy Bridge) revealed that overclocking the new processor design wasn't any more fruitful than the already-mature 32 nm SANDYBRIDGE-based Core i7-2700K flagship. Although stock temperatures were lower, they ramped up very quickly once we started applying the voltages thought necessary to approach 5 GHz on air.

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: May 2012

This month's update includes Intel's much anticipated Ivy Bridge-based processors, and how their introduction to the market affects our recommendations. In addition, AMD's new Trinity APU is discussed, and we consider its formidable graphics prowess.

If you don’t have the time to research benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right processor for your next gaming machine, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming CPUs offered for the money.

Intel's Ivy Bridge

Let's start with Intel's newest release: the third-gen Core CPUs, based on Ivy Bridge. This is the biggest news since last month's update, and Intel's most significant release since Sandy Bridge was introduced more than a year ago.

For the most part, Ivy Bridge is essentially a 22 nm die shrink of the Sandy Bridge processing cores with a re-worked graphics engine that also yields better Quick Sync performance. The end result is a processor that's more energy efficient, since it uses less power and is roughly as fast as Sandy Bridge.

Ivy Bridge's real advantage comes from its integrated HD Graphics 4000 with 16 execution units, rather than HD Graphics 3000's 12 EUs. Note that the HD Graphics 2500 implementation on most of the new Core i5s only have six EUs. Of course, if you're a serious gamer, it doesn't matter whether you get HD Graphics 4000, 3000, or 2500; a discrete card is still the way to go.