Yeah posted the wrong link. There was an update at the bottom of that page saying that April 29th would be the first batch. And then further models to come out on June 3rd.

So any model names that have come out?

And for new builds would it be wiser to wait for April 29th or June 3rd??
 
Personally, if I had to upgrade I would choose the i5-3750k. However, that will be the most expensive Ivy Bridge i5 CPU since it is unlocked for overclocking.

The i5-3450 is probably the closest model to the performance of the i5-3475S. However, if for some reason you want the Intel HD 4000, then your only choice is the i5-3750k.
 
I suppose it depends on what you are upgrading from. Assuming the same clock speed, I don't think there will be a big improvement in performance if you already have a Sandy Bridge CPU. I'm guessing around a 6% performance improvement, but estimates (or should I say hopeful wishes) have been as high as 25%.

Intel has stated they expect a good performance increase over Sandy Bridge, for applications that uses AVX instruction set extensions which are basically limited to some media creation, financial and scientific modelling to the best of my knowledge. Maybe this has somehow morphed into the wishfully think 25% performance improvement.

I have a Q9450 and I don't plan on upgrading until Intel releases their Haswell CPU next year.
 
You are wayyyy ahead of me! I have E8400. I loved this dual core from Intel. But its hopelessly outdated now. I would be looking at the prices at my country (India) and see what fits... my first target would of course be i7's. Lets see what comes up. The prices are high anyways and stabilize much later than the US market. So my upgrade may have to wait till August.
 
The i7 CPUs will cost more, but it will have Hyper Threading (HT). Unless you will be using programs that can take advantage of HT, then you better off saving money and just go with an i5 CPU.

Games do not take advantage of HT, in fact there have been some benchmark results (including a review here at THG) showing a small 1% - 3% performance loss with HT on vs. when HT is turned off.
 
Don't have any HT utilizing applications to use in mind. I think i5 would be my way to go! Lets see... if i can afford an i7 will definitely take it.

Its better to have something and don't use it rather than needing something and not having it. :D
 
My GPU budget is separate. I would do it in parts. First would be the CPU/GPU/RAM. GPU a month later. The thing with prices in India is... the money you save from the CPU choices.... would leave you dangling in between two good GPU's (high end)! :)
 

Isaiah4110

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Heh, I have both you guys beat. I'm running a Pentium D 930 in one computer and an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ in another. Sad I know.

The difference between the 32nm die of Sandy Bridge and 22nm die of Ivy Bridge is supposed to be power efficiency right? Does the change in die size lead to anything else?
 


Oh yeah? You think so? I'll beat you with my "obsolete stick" when I pull out my ThinkPad T40 laptop with a single core Pentium M CPU clocked at a whopping 1.5GHz and it has a Radeon 7500 graphics card that really can't be used to play current games since it only supports up to DirectX 8.1.


The difference between the 32nm die of Sandy Bridge and 22nm die of Ivy Bridge is supposed to be power efficiency right? Does the change in die size lead to anything else?

It's not just a change in die size since there some other changes. Specifically related to die size though is the Ivy Bridge CPU may run a little hotter than a Sandy Bridge CPU. That's because when you shrink the die size you decrease the surface area of the CPU. There is a direct correlation to heat dissipation and surface area. The smaller the surface area, the less heat is effectively transferred from the CPU to the heatsink. Thus, even though Ivy Bridge will use less power and generate less heat than a Sandy Bridge CPU, the rate at which the heat transfers from the CPU surface to the heatsink will be less, thus the CPU will retain more heat and possibly run hotter than a Sandy Bridge CPU.

The biggest improvement is the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics. It is expected to have around 60% better performance than the Intel HD 3000. That's basically going from a Radeon HD 5450 to a Radeon HD 5550 graphics card... and it will have DX11. Intel stated overclocking will be improved, but it will be relatively small, perhaps marginal. And there's the improved AVX instruction set which I stated above.

 

Isaiah4110

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That makes sense. Boxed processors will still come with the 3 year warranty though, so either the stock cooler will be better or the increased heat production will be minimal enough that it won't damage the life of the processor. Of course the improved efficiency + smaller die could simply mean equal overall heat production and CPU temperature.

If the Ivy Bridge processor do end up running a little hotter, do you think it will be enough to make a difference in internal PC temperature in smaller cases like this one?


From those charts it looks like the HD 4000 graphics only come on a select few of the processors. Most of the i5's still don't even have the Intel HD 3000. Of course, the improved on-die graphics doesn't make a difference for gamers, and I have a hunch that the HD 4000 still won't beat AMD's best APU in non-discrete GPU gaming performance...

In any case, I can't wait to see how they perform compared to the i5 2400 and 2500K and how the price-performance ratio compares as well.
 

Isaiah4110

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Haha, the Pentium D is my main computer; the one I use for gaming. The AMD 64-bit (single core) processor is my wife's main computer. They aren't just random PCs lying around and not it use. Do I win now?

If we are going that route though: I have a 486 (still functioning with 8 x 1KB RAM sticks) that I hook up every year or so for nostalgic reasons. It boots into DOS and runs Windows 3.1.
 


If an IB CPU runs hotter, it will not be by very much so I would worry too much about. The best thing to do actually is to use a video card that exhausts heat out the back of the card rather than simply dumping it into the case.

Yes, there are only two IB Core i5 CPUs that will use the Intel HD 4000. Most will use the Intel HD 2500. Most gamers will have a video card anyway, so having an Intel HD 2500 or 4000 shouldn't matter too much.