Intel Accelerates Launch of Ivy Bridge by Almost 1 Week
Originally rumored to delay the launch of Ivy Bridge processors, Intel is now believed to have readjusted its schedule and introduce the chips a little earlier.
Previously targeted for an April 29 announcement, Ivy bridge is now set for an April 23 introduction with Acer, HP and Lenovo expected to launch notebooks based on the new 22 nm processors.
Retailers across Europe apparently have posted Ivy Bridge CPUs ahead of their official availability as well. According to Heise.de, the models Core i7-3770K, Core i7-3770, Core i5-3570K, Core i5-3550 and Core i5-3450 have surfaced on price comparison sites for prices between 189 and 340 Euros. The website noted that Ivy Bridge processors are substantially more expensive than Sandy Bridge versions with the same clock speed. Those who can wait should probably hold off until there is a balance of supply and demand in the market.
Opinion: If you were picky, you could note that despite Intel's CPU manufacturing process leadership, the introduction of new manufacturing processes is slipping. Back in 2005, when the company heavily marketed its tick-tock cadence of new manufacturing processes being introduced at the end of uneven years and platform refreshes in even years, we notice that Intel is now more than a quarter behind that original promise. Given the fact that the company is ahead of its competition anyway, that may not matter. But we do hear that there are significantly more roadblocks in maturing new manufacturing processes and there may be reason enough for Intel to updates its old cadence guideline.
Me: "Intel isn't going to lower prices because they know they have no competition and can do whatever they want, just like in 2008."
I can't tell you how many times I got beat up over that in the forums. Did we really not see this one coming?
From the results posted so far temps are a massive issue for the K models even at stock IB is 5-10c hotter then the SB chip it's replacing and once it gets clocked past 4.5ghz towards 4.7 temps are hitting the 90's even and that's on a Corsair H100 (see tweaktown Asrock Z77 review). It might be worth holding back 4 months to see if a new stepping from Intel addresses the heat issues if not you might as well get a Sandy Bridge CPU now while you can.
IB i7-3770K OC:
4.7GHz @ 1.36v / 98C ; assumption = fixed vCore - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4663/asrock_z77_extreme6_intel_z77_with_ivy_bridge_motherboard_review/index11.html
4.8GHz @ 1.176v / 97C ; assumption = offset vCore - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/4621/intel_ivy_bridge_overclocking_with_the_core_i7_3770k_and_core_i5_3570k_cpus/index2.html
you using a chip because of your need, not of a trend.
Sorry, I meant when these laptop will have Ivy Bridge processors.
An arm and a leg.
Whats the difference between offset and fixed vcore? And he's running 1.36V through that! Damn, that's what I run on my CPU with 65nm transistors.
An Offset allows the voltage to drop as the load on the CPU drops; i.e. more efficient OC. There are Pros and Cons to both Fixed and Offset. Fixed adds greater stability to the OC but at the cost of throwing higher than needed voltage (temps and reduced lifespan), and generally a better option for running 'benchmarks'. Offset aides in reducing low-load voltage to the CPU which is perfectly fine, if stable, for more 'everyday' usage. Offset adds greater lifespan to the CPU and reduces the 'typical' load temps, but the trade-off is stability.
Me: "Intel isn't going to lower prices because they know they have no competition and can do whatever they want, just like in 2008."
I can't tell you how many times I got beat up over that in the forums. Did we really not see this one coming?