Intel Xeon E3-1275 Review: Sandy Bridge Goes Professional
Tags:
- Sandy Bridge
-
Workstations
-
Intel
Last response: in Reviews comments
We've already seen Sandy Bridge impress in the desktop space. Does Intel's latest processor architecture have what it takes to dominate the single-socket server and workstation space, too? We run the fastest workstation SKU through our benchmark suite.
Intel Xeon E3-1275 Review: Sandy Bridge Goes Professional : Read more
Intel Xeon E3-1275 Review: Sandy Bridge Goes Professional : Read more
More about : intel xeon 1275 review sandy bridge professional
one-shot
May 3, 2011 4:22:50 AM
dragonsqrrl
May 3, 2011 5:49:07 AM
Related resources
- Intel Xeon Sandy Bridge - Forum
agnickolov
May 3, 2011 6:48:00 AM
memadmax
May 3, 2011 8:00:57 AM
DavC
May 3, 2011 11:57:56 AM
Anonymous
May 3, 2011 2:15:05 PM
dgingeri
May 3, 2011 2:31:28 PM
one thing I can attest to: companies who cheap out on their workstations and servers never perform well as companies, and eventually fail.
I've worked with many small businesses, and every one that used a desktop chip for a server or a discount chip (Celeron, Duron, etc) for their desktop computers all performed very poorly. Some seemed to hang on by the sheer will of the owner, and in a couple cases, when the owner got sick for more than a week, the businesses folded like lawn chairs.
I've also seen an Engineering shop of ~30 engineers invest nicely into a real server and real workstations, and had me set up their entire network with SBS. their business ramped up so fast and well that they had to hire several more engineers and outgrew SBS (limited to 50 users at the time) within the next 2 years, and I had to go back and rebuild their domain with full enterprise level software, and add another server specifically for email. the owner said the investment in that SBS system was the best thing he'd invested in the business since he hired his first engineer.
Business owners who do not invest in their IT infrastructure fail at business. It's pretty plain and simple. While investing in good IT gear and software doesn't mean you'll ramp up your business to unheard of heights, it does give you a major leg up on the competition.
I've worked with many small businesses, and every one that used a desktop chip for a server or a discount chip (Celeron, Duron, etc) for their desktop computers all performed very poorly. Some seemed to hang on by the sheer will of the owner, and in a couple cases, when the owner got sick for more than a week, the businesses folded like lawn chairs.
I've also seen an Engineering shop of ~30 engineers invest nicely into a real server and real workstations, and had me set up their entire network with SBS. their business ramped up so fast and well that they had to hire several more engineers and outgrew SBS (limited to 50 users at the time) within the next 2 years, and I had to go back and rebuild their domain with full enterprise level software, and add another server specifically for email. the owner said the investment in that SBS system was the best thing he'd invested in the business since he hired his first engineer.
Business owners who do not invest in their IT infrastructure fail at business. It's pretty plain and simple. While investing in good IT gear and software doesn't mean you'll ramp up your business to unheard of heights, it does give you a major leg up on the competition.
Score
0
geekapproved
May 3, 2011 3:59:36 PM
Anonymous
May 3, 2011 4:14:01 PM
radiovan
May 3, 2011 4:26:04 PM
johnners2981
May 3, 2011 5:26:01 PM
fball922
May 3, 2011 5:28:00 PM
zerapio
May 3, 2011 5:43:42 PM
DiscreetSolutiongiven the option of a cheaper Xenon that does not have the P3000 im pretty sure 90% of companies would choose that option, discreet graphics would almost exclusively be employed for the majority of workstation class desktops
I think you're wrong. I spend most of my day at work making and compiling code. For me the HD graphics work really well and getting anything more powerful than that, as evidenced from the tests, would be a waste of money. I also don't think I'm in the 10% group.
Score
0
jemm
May 3, 2011 5:55:50 PM
huron
May 3, 2011 6:07:45 PM
Anonymous
May 3, 2011 7:39:06 PM
GeekApprovedNo quick sync on a Zeon??
Geek,
Intel says the Xeons support Quick Sync (at least that's the case on the ark.intel.com site). However, I suspect that current apps do not recognize the Xeons, and consequently cannot yet take advantage of the hardware. Perhaps it'll be enabled in upcoming app revisions. Until then, I still recommend the desktop CPUs if Quick Sync is important to you.
Chris
Score
0
fball922So what happens when AMD brings an Opteron with a more-than-competent GPU onboard? At least in GPU-influenced situations they should see a nice advantage I would think.
Then the market will get more interesting, to be sure! We still need to see them do this on the desktop, though. I'd be surprised if they didn't end up releasing a FirePro-branded integrated solution at some point!
Score
0
huronNice job Chris. You made some excellent points. I too have seen far too many try to run servers on desktop hardware - not as big of a problem for home, but that is not quite as mission-critical, right?Are you going to do a follow-up to compare to current Xeons?
You're very welcome Huron, and thanks for the feedback.
Which Xeons would you like to see compared? And in which workloads? I'm happy to field ideas on this if it's something you can use!
Best,
Chris
Score
0
lradunovic77
May 3, 2011 10:54:59 PM
fir_ser
May 4, 2011 12:31:22 AM
danieth
May 4, 2011 1:28:26 AM
knifearefun
May 4, 2011 1:41:41 AM
huron
May 4, 2011 8:02:12 PM
cangeliniYou're very welcome Huron, and thanks for the feedback. Which Xeons would you like to see compared? And in which workloads? I'm happy to field ideas on this if it's something you can use!Best,Chris
Thanks for the response. Honestly, if you were to compare it to similar level Xeons - probably not the x56xx series (though that could be interesting).
I'd like to see database, virtualization, and even some programming benchmarks - SAS workloads (if you could swing it), etc.
Thanks again.
Score
0
Stardude82
May 4, 2011 8:02:38 PM
eodeo
May 5, 2011 5:25:04 PM
Quote:
For that reason, if your money-making app depends on 3D performance, don’t even chance it—buy the discrete GPU.Chris, I know you know that any 100$ GPU will be leagues better than quadro 580, let alone the integrated thing. I couldn't, not to point that out. I have yet to meet a singe "pro" app that finds that low end quadros faster. I work only with Max, Maya, After Effects, Premiere, Composite, Combustion... Quadro is only good for one thing- wasting money, and maybe solidworks.. I can't really tell. Point is, if you're using software actually written after year 2000, chances are you dont need or want a quadro. (unless you're using iray/vray rt that require massive amounts of ram in which case high end quadro/tesla are your only options since no gaming card has that much ram)
On to the CPUs. You open with how the difference in CPUs isnt "just branding", but other than ECC memory I'd like to avoid, and overclocking, that you're not going to do on a server/workstation- what are the benefits of spending extra money? You insist there are benefits, but I failed to find any. Lets assume i dont have the need for the additional connectivity it offers- unless it supports 3x pcie 16x cards to play and I missed that too. Single CPU workstations obviously.
Score
0
Anonymous
May 5, 2011 5:54:01 PM
Anonymous
May 6, 2011 1:47:52 AM
processor-pro
May 10, 2011 12:57:46 AM
Im kinda sick of intel weeding the life out of the those quad cores. I can see for desktops, it would be fine but for servers, and workstations 6 cores can actually be used in alot of situations. I mean AMD has 12 core processors, Intel has the speed but they need to be ready for the future.(which is atleast 6 cores)
Score
1
Anonymous
May 12, 2011 12:25:48 AM
fyasko
May 15, 2011 9:58:25 PM
lradunovic77I will say one thing and that is Intel made such a big mess with 3+ types of socketLGA1155LGA1156LGA1366LGA2011LGA1356
how do they have 3+? 1156 is dead and so is 1366, 2011 isn't even out yet. why does it matter if they have 5+? if you ask me AMD is a mess, where is BD? Bulldozer this Bulldozer that, where is Bulldozer?
Score
1
Anonymous
May 21, 2011 9:29:53 PM
dangolo
May 25, 2011 4:39:51 AM
dangolo
May 25, 2011 4:44:46 AM
I have implimented the E3-1230 on the Asus P8B-X, running ESXi 4.1 update1, and let me tell you first hand, for a CPU sub $250, this thing beats the holy hell out of our other pre-sandybridge xeon servers. The mobo is only $190, is blade-ready, is ESXi compatible and has dual GB lan. RAM for it is ~$75/4gig stick. I'm posting because it is a sub $750 powerhouse server. Blade-ready. Cloud-ready. Powerhouse. When this core was launched, I pounced.
Dual socket versions of this will not be available until Q1-2012, FYI.
TH, as happy as I was to see this core and this mobo reviewed, you should really shop for better server-related benchmarks. Really liked the article though, and I wouldn't mind some more =)
Dual socket versions of this will not be available until Q1-2012, FYI.
TH, as happy as I was to see this core and this mobo reviewed, you should really shop for better server-related benchmarks. Really liked the article though, and I wouldn't mind some more =)
Score
0
sceen311
May 31, 2011 6:52:02 AM
Anonymous
August 5, 2011 7:44:20 PM
Intel is working just slightly ahead of software companies ability to get mutithreaded apps out the door. I am glad they are not trying to give us 16-cores at 1.4GHz. Thermals need to be compensated and more apps need to be better developed. Give me 3.4GHZ on 6-cores over 2.66GHz on 8-cores or more any day. I use a ton of SW and most of the time my single core is the only thing being used on my Xeon W3680.
Score
0
spookyman
August 16, 2011 4:30:44 PM
sebastien
October 24, 2011 2:36:14 AM
cangeliniYou're very welcome Huron, and thanks for the feedback. Which Xeons would you like to see compared? And in which workloads? I'm happy to field ideas on this if it's something you can use!Best,Chris
Actually I have a question that keeps me from choosing any e3 xeon or perhaps wait for xeon e5.
What is this intel graphic integrated for?
I work with autodesk max, mudbox, softimage, Unreal Engine and Cry engine, Photoshop cs4 and 5, Premiere pro, after effect/Mocha, and Painter 11.
Does this intel graphic integrated work in combination with professional GPU Nvidia Quadro lineup and Firepro V lineup for better performance in all mentioned products?. Or do I have to choose to work exclusively with the intel integrated graphic or Quadro line up/Firepro V line up. If the solution is the latter then intel IGP does not suit me at all... I assume.
Perhaps mainstream xeon e5 would suite me better as they do not have any IGP at all, more cache, and more memory controller which might be beneficiary as I sometime lend my PC to render scenes with mental ray....
Any help and recommendation please,
Thanks
Score
0
Anonymous
February 13, 2012 11:01:30 AM
paul l
March 16, 2012 8:51:42 AM
Anonymous
May 11, 2012 10:21:06 PM
KurianOfBorg
April 29, 2013 9:21:55 PM
KurianOfBorg
April 29, 2013 9:22:47 PM
!