More Sandy Bridge E Laptops: Eurocom Panther 4.0 and Maingear Titan 17

Clevo was the first in line to release Sandy Bridge E based laptop a couple of days ago, which naturally means that all the usual suspects that use Clevo's chassis are coming out of the woodworks as well; say hello to the Eurocom Panther 4.0 and Maingear Titan 17. 

Eurocom Panther 4.0

 

Specifications of Eurocom Panther 4.0Screen17.3" LED Backlit (Options for glossy/matte and 120Hz 3D)Resolution1920x1080ProcessorIntel Core i7-3930K (6/12, 3.2GHz/3.8GHz, 12MB L3) or
Intel Core i7-3960X (6/12, 3.3GHz/3.9GHz, 15MB L3)Graphics

NVIDIA: GTX 580M, 560M; Quadro 5010M, 4000M, 3000M (Options for SLI)
AMD: HD 6990M, 6970M (Options for CrossFire)

MemoryUp to 64GB (4x16GB) DDR3-1866StorageUp to 3x1TB (Options for SSD or hybrid drives)Optical DriveDVD-RW, BD-RW, or fourth hard driveConnectivity3x USB 3.0
2x USB 2.0
eSATA
ExpressCard 34/54
FireWire 400
DisplayPort 1.2
DL-DVI
HDMI 1.4
Gigabit Ethernet
WiFi
Audio in/outDimensions (WxDxH)16.8" x 11.4" x 2.5"Weight12.1lbPriceN/AAvailabilityMarch 15, 2012

Gallery: Eurocom Panther 4.0 Gallery

Specification wise, the Panter 4.0 is similar to Clevo's P270WM. The biggest difference is that Eurocom offers more graphics choices and the possibility for a fourth hard drive instead of an optical drive. Eurocom also supports 16GB SO-DIMMs, though pricing for such modules is extremely high right now. There is also an option for 120Hz 3D display which is something that the Clevo does not currently list. Unfortunately Eurocom has not revealed pricing so it's hard to say if Panther 4.0 is a better buy than Clevo P270WM, which is priced at $3122. If the past is any indicator, Eurocom will likely have a price premium as they like to target the Mobile Workstation market, which requires additional testing/validation on their end.

Maingear Titan 17

Specifications of Maingear Titan 17Screen17.3" LED Backlit (Option for 120Hz 3D)Resolution1920x1080ProcessorIntel Core i7-3930K (6/12, 3.2GHz/3.8GHz, 12MB L3) or
Intel Core i7-3960X (6/12, 3.3GHz/3.9GHz, 15MB L3)GraphicsNVIDIA GTX 580M with 2GB GDDR5 (Optional SLI)
NVIDIA Quadro 5010M with 4GB GDDR5MemoryUp to 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3-1866StorageUp to 3x1TB (Options for SSD or hybrid)Optical DriveDVD-RW (Option for BD-RW)Ports2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, eSATA, ExpressCard 34/54, SDXC-card reader, FireWire 400, DisplayPort 1.2, DVI, HDMI 1.4, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, audio in/outDimensions (WxDxH)16.5" x 11.3" x 2.4"Weight12.1lbPriceStarts from $3499AvailabilityMarch 10, 2012

Gallery: Maingear Titan 17 Gallery

The Titan 17 follows the same pattern as Panther 4.0 and P270WM. Compared to Panther 4.0, there are fewer graphics options but the 3D display is still available, although Titan 17 loses one USB 3.0 when compared with the Clevo and Eurocom (which is probably just an error on their spec sheet, since all three notebooks use the same chassis). Price wise, Titan 17 is a couple hundreds more expensive than a similarly configured Clevo P270WM. Of course, things like support and warranty are important when buying such an expensive system, so while Clevo is cheaper it isn't necessarily a better buy.

We are working to get one of these behemoths in for review to see how they fare in actual use. If you need the most performance you can pack into a notebook, these SNB-E based offerings should fit the bill. Hopefully the issues with overloading the power brick on the X7200 have been addressed with this round of updates.

Sources: Eurocom and Maingear

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Intel Releases Seven Sandy Bridge CPUs

Today, Intel has released seven new Sandy Bridge based CPUs: three Core i5 and four Celeron models. All the i5 SKUs are desktop models, whereas the Celeron SKUs are mobile: two standard voltage and two ultra-low voltage models. Below is a table of the new SKUs. 

Specifications of New Intel CPUs (1/30/2012)SKUCore/Thread CountFrequencyMax Turbo FrequencyL3 CacheTDPPriceCore i5-2550K4/43.4GHz3.8GHz6MB95W$225Core i5-2450P4/43.2GHz3.5GHz6MB95W$195Core i5-2380P4/43.1GHz3.4GHz6MB95W$177Celeron B8152/21.6GHzN/A2MB35W$86Celeron B7201/11.7GHzN/A1MB35W$70Celeron 8672/21.3GHzN/A2MB17W$134Celeron 7971/11.4GHzN/A1MB17W$107

You may be wondering what the P at the end of two Core i5 SKUs stands for. Intel has not updated their product database yet so we aren't 100% sure, but VR-Zone is reporting that it implies a GPU-less model. VR-Zone is also stating that the i5-2550K is GPU-less as well, which would be a step down from the i5-2500K that features Intel HD 3000 graphics.

This is a logical move as Intel must have a stack of chips with fully working cores and other parts, but the IGP isn't functional. On the other hand, it's good to keep in mind that a disabled IGP means no Quick Sync. Since the price and specification differences between the models with IGP and the models without is so small, we recommend buying a model with the graphics as you never know when you might want/need Quick Sync or more video outputs. The 100MHz increase in frequency isn't worth the loss of the IGP. 

As for the CPUs in general, i5-2550K is obviously the successor of i5-2500K. It has 100MHz (i.e. one CPU bin) higher frequencies than i5-2500K and is priced $9 higher. Similarly, i5-2450P and i5-2380P are successors of i5-2400 and i5-2320—the i5-2450P being $11 more expensive and i5-2380P being priced the same as its predecessor. Celeron B815 replaces B810 at the $86 price point; they share the same core specs while the GPU gets a bump in maximum clock from 950MHz to 1050MHz. Meanwhile, B720 succeeds B710 with 100MHz higher frequency and the same $70 price tag. Celeron 867 becomes the new high-end ULV Celeron by taking the place of 857 at the price point of $134 with 100MHz higher frequency, and 797 increases the frequency by 100MHz to 1.4GHz in the $107 category and replaces 787.

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Intel to bundle liquid cooler with Sandy Bridge-E CPUs

Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge-E processors will be the company's first to ship with an all-in-one liquid cooling system.

The coolers, manufactured by Asetek but branded by Intel, will ship as part of a bundle with the Core i7 3000-series processors, and will also be available separately.

Like CoolIT's Advanced Liquid Cooling, the cooler consists of an external 120mm fan - which sits at the back of your PC's case - as well as a pump and a heatsink to keep things nice and chilly.

Step into Liquid

It marks Intel's first move away from traditional air cooling, and the all-in-one design means users don't need a City and Guilds plumbing certificate to liquid-cool their PCs.

The cooler also means Intel is keen for users to overclock its forthcoming super-chip to extreme temperatures and frequencies.

The standalone cooler will be compatible with the Sandy Bridge-E's LGA2011 platform, as well as LGA1155, LGA1156 and LGA1366 platforms.

There's no word on whether it has user-modifiable fan speeds, though - a feature we loved in the original CoolIT system.

We've seen liquid cooling become more common in recent years, and with prices of all-in-one systems dropping considerably it's become the bedroom enthusiast's method of choice.

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Intel Releases New Sandy Bridge Processors

Intel has announced a total of 16 new Sandy Bridge processors today, augmenting its lineup in the mid and low-end markets on the desktop and in the high and low-end markets on laptops.

On the desktop side, we have four new Core-series processors, one i5 (the 2320) along with three i3s (the 2130, 2125, and 2120T. Along with these comes three new Pentium processors (the G860, G630, and G630T) and four low-end Celerons (the G540, G530, G530T, and G440). The G440 has the dubious honor of being the only single-core Sandy Bridge of which I am aware.

New Sandy Bridge Desktop CPUsNameCores/ThreadsCPU ClockL3 CacheGPUGPU ClockTDPPricei5-23204/43.0 GHz (3.3GHz Turbo)6MBHD 2000850 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)95W$177i3-21302/43.4 GHz3MBHD 2000850 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)65W$138i3-21252/43.3GHz3MBHD 3000850 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)65W$134i3-2120T2/42.6GHz3MBHD 2000650 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)35W$127Pentium G8602/23.0GHz3MBHD850 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)65W$86Pentium G6302/22.7GHz3MBHD850 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)65W$75Pentium G630T2/22.3GHz3MBHD650 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)35W$70Celeron G5402/22.5GHz2MBHD850 MHz (1000 MHz turbo)65W$52Celeron G5302/22.4GHz2MBHD850 MHz (1000 MHz turbo)65W$42Celeron G530T2/22.0GHz2MBHD650 MHz (1100 MHz turbo)35W$47Celeron G4401/11.6GHz1MBHD650 MHz (1000 MHz turbo)35W$37

Most of these processors are simple clock bumps of existing processors and their energy-effecient T-series counterparts. What's new here is the Celeron series of processors, most of which sacrifice 100 MHz of GPU Turbo speed and another MB of L3 cache compared to their Pentium counterparts (according to CPU World's listings, VT-x and EM64T remain available on all models). It's also important to remember here that the HD-series graphics has nothing to do with Intel's last-gen IGP - in Sandy Bridge models, the HD graphics series is basically the HD 2000 series with QuickSync and a few other video features disabled - see our Sandy Bridge Pentium review for more information on this.

The new laptop CPUs are fewer in number, and aimed at both the high-end and very low-end of the market.

New Sandy Bridge Laptop CPUsNameCores/ThreadsCPU ClockL3 CacheGPU ClockTDPPricei7-2960XM4/82.7 GHz (3.7GHz Turbo)8MB650 MHz (1300 MHz turbo)55W$1096i7-2860QM4/82.5 GHz (3.6 GHz Turbo)8MB650 MHz (1300 MHz turbo)45W$568i7-2760QM4/82.4GHz (3.5 GHz Turbo)6MB650 MHz (1300 MHz turbo)45W$378i7-2640M2/42.8GHz (3.5 GHz Turbo)4MB650 MHz (1300 MHz turbo)35W$346Celeron B8402/21.9GHz2MB650 MHz (950 MHz turbo)35W$86

The Core i7-2960XM is an Extreme Edition processor and is the fastest quad-core chip that Intel currently offers, and it has a pricetag to match. On the other end of the spectrum, the Celeron B840 is a dual-core processor that loses L3 cache and some GPU Turbo speed, though it retains VT-x and the same HD 3000-series GPU that all mobile Sandy Bridge CPUs possess.

Source: CPU World, CPU World

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Intel Cuts Prices of Some Sandy Bridge CPUs and Discontinues Some Pentium CPUs

In addition to releasing 16 new CPUs earlier this week, Intel has also discounted six low-power CPUs and discontinued three Pentium CPUs. 

Discounts

All of the discounted CPUs are based on the Sandy Bridge micro-architecture, which Intel released in January 2011. They are all low-power variants as well, meaning that their TDP value is lower than the standard. Low-power models can be identified by an S or T at the end (S stands for 65W while T stands for 35W). The actual price cuts are very modest though, only up to $12. Below is a table listing the CPUs and their old and new prices:

Discounted Sandy Bridge ProcessorsModelCore/Thread CountFrequencyL3 CacheOld PriceNew PricePrice ChangeCore i5-2390T2/42.7GHz3MB$195$184-$11 (-5.6%)Core i5-2400S4/42.5GHz6MB$195$184-$11 (-5.6%)Core i5-2405S4/42.5GHz6MB$205$201-$4 (-2%)Core i5-2500S4/42.7GHz6MB$216$205-$11 (-5.1%)Core i5-2500T4/42.3GHz6MB$216$205-$11 (-5.1%)Core i7-2600S4/82.8GHz6MB$306$294-$12 (-3.9%)

It's worth to note that these are the prices in one thousand quantities. Resellers don't always follow this pricing scheme and for example NewEgg is still selling the i5-2400S for $201, although even the old price was $195. Low-power models can also be harder to find since they aren't that popular and are more meant for OEM systems with more limited cooling (such as Apple's iMac). 

Discontinuances

The discontinued CPUs are listed under the Pentium brand and are based on Intel's Core micro-architecture with 45nm manufacturing process. While these CPUs are not based on the latest technologies, they were all released between 2009 and 2010. Intel will still be taking orders until November 23rd and the last shipment date is December 30th. 

Discontinued Pentium ProcessorsModelCore/Thread CountFrequencyL2 CachePricePentium E58002/23.2GHz2MB$64Pentium E67002/23.2GHz2MB$75Pentium E68002/23.33GHz2MB$86

Considering that Intel has already populated the same price points with newer and faster CPUs (see our review of Sandy Bridge Pentiums), the discontinuation makes sense. 

Source: Intel, Intel

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Sandy Bridge Buyer’s Guide

GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 images revealed; Sandy Bridge for extreme gaming

We’ve just uploaded some new images of the our forthcoming GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 motherboard to our Facebook page. This was actually on display during Computex 2011 under the name ‘Z68 Gaming’. The G1.Sniper 2 will feature the latest Intel Z68 chipset supporting the high-performance Sandy Bridge processors.

 

That’s all we can really say for now. We’ll keep you informed regarding official launch dates etc.

Remember, you can view the complete GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 image collection on our Facebook page here.  And don’t be afraid to give us a ‘Like’ if you feel inclined to do so.

Chinese version here. 中文版

Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Sandy Bridge Processor Review

Legit Processor Reviews

Intel Core i3-2120 CPU - BX80623I32120

Last week when we reviewed the AMD A-Series Llano A8-3850 APU we had a bunch of readers wanting to see performance compared to more Intel Sandy Bridge processors. One of the processors that we were asked about was the Intel Core i3-2120, which retails for $149.68 and is one of the most popular budget-minded processors in the Intel arsenal today. We heard you and have gotten our hands on a retail boxed Intel Core i3-2120 processor to see how it performs against the Intel Core i3-2105, Core i7-2600k and the AMD A8-3850 APU. Before we jump into the benchmarks and testing we should at least show you the basic features of this processor and what comes with the retail boxed version.

The Intel Core i3-2120 is based on the 32nm 'Sandy Bridge' architecture and is a 3.3GHz dual-core processor with Hyper-Threading. The CPU does have a GPU on it and that would be the Intel HD Graphics 2000, which runs between 850MHz and 1100MHz thanks to a dynamic clock cycle. The multiplier is locked on the Core i3-2120 processor as it is not part of the 'K-series' of processors that are aimed at enthusiasts with unlocked multipliers. 

Intel Core i3-2120 CPU Specifications:

• Model #: BX80623I32120


• S-spec: SR05Y
  


• Launch Date: Q1'11


• Processor Number: i3-2120


• Supported Socket: LGA1155
  


• # of Cores: 2


• # of Threads: 4


• Clock Speed: 3.3 GHz


• Intel Smart Cache: 3 MB


• Bus/Core Ratio: 33


• Instruction Set: 64-bit


• Instruction Set Extensions: SSE4.1/4.2, AVX


• Turbo Core: No


• Hyper-Threading Technology: Yes
  


• Lithography: 32 nm


• Processor Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 2000


• Graphics Base Frequency: 850MHz
  


• Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency: 1100MHz
  


• Max TDP: 65 W


• Recommended Channel Price: $138.00

Since our review sample it the retail box Core i3-2120 (part number BX80623I32120) the processor comes with a CPU cooler along with a three year limited warranty. If you buy a tray processor you do not get the Heatsink Fan combo or the longer warranty.

As you can see this Intel Core i3-2120 is not an Engineering Sample processor and batch number of L047B255. You can also see the S-Spec number SR05Y on the integrated heat spreader (IHS) and that it was made in the country of Malaysia.

The Intel Core i3-2120 processor is designed for LGA1155 platforms and has a slightly different arrangement of resistors on the bottom of the processor compared to some of the other Sandy Bridge processors since some use Intel HD Graphics 2000 and others use Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics.  In the image above you can see the difference between the Intel Core i3-2120 with Intel HD Graphics 2000 and the Intel Core i3-2105 and Core i7-2600K that use Intel HD Graphics 3000.  If you want to use Intel Processor Graphics (PG) of the CPU you need to use a motherboard with the H67, or Z68 chipset that has video outputs and not the P67 based motherboards that don't support PG. 

Next Page - The Test System

Sandy Bridge Buyer’s Guide

Almost a half-year after the launch of the second-generation Core processors, Intel’s newest CPUs remain dominant in the mid- to high-end desktop computing markets. Since the January release of the initial Sandy Bridge chips, myriad newer, niche-specific CPUs have arrived at retailers. Importantly, the Cougar Point chipset debacle is entirely resolved, with all Sandy Bridge-supporting motherboards available through reputable retailers free of the degrading SATA ports that plagued Sandy Bridge’s first few months.

Like the Sandy Bridge CPUs themselves, the Cougar Point motherboards have diversified into a range of budgets and feature sets. Given the recently announced delay of AMD’s upcoming Bulldozer processors for desktops, Sandy Bridge will remain unchallenged at the high-end of desktop computing until at least September. If you want to build a powerful desktop to use when you’re not lounging by the pool and grilling delicious meats this summer, this guide has you covered with a $500 budget build, a $1,000 midrange system, and a $2,000 high-end gaming-centered system (give or take).

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Patriot: 16GB is the new 8GB for Sandy Bridge-E

Patriot gave me a preview of their new Viper Xtreme Division4 DDR3 memory due out later this year. Patriot is targeting this new line at Sandy Bridge E systems, which support up to four channels of DDR3 memory (official support for DDR3-1600, but overclocking will surely be an option).

Given the current price of memory, Patriot expects the default configuration for SNB-E systems to be a kit of four 4GB DIMMs for a total of 16GB. Sandy Bridge E isn't expected until the Fall at the earliest so memory pricing isn't certain, but Patriot expects a 16GB SNB-E memory kit to sell for around $130 when Division4 is released later this year.

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Patriot: 16GB is the new 8GB for Sandy Bridge-E

Patriot gave me a preview of their new Viper Xtreme Division4 DDR3 memory due out later this year. Patriot is targeting this new line at Sandy Bridge E systems, which support up to four channels of DDR3 memory (official support for DDR3-1600, but overclocking will surely be an option).

Given the current price of memory, Patriot expects the default configuration for SNB-E systems to be a kit of four 4GB DIMMs for a total of 16GB. Sandy Bridge E isn't expected until the Fall at the earliest so memory pricing isn't certain, but Patriot expects a 16GB SNB-E memory kit to sell for around $130 when Division4 is released later this year.

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HP Pavilion dv7 in addition to Intel Sandy Bridge processor shown

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HP Support web pages had shown by accident two dv7 Pavilion laptop computer versions offering Intel Sandy Bridge processor on their site. Later the web link was removed.

Although the fresh HP Pavilion dv7 version links were removed, CNET got as display grab of the Intel Sandy Bridge processor version numbers for the Pavilion dv7 notebooks. One of the Pavilion dv7 version has 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7-2820QM processor shown with SC Turbo Speed of 3.4 GHz. Its the Intel Turbo Boost technology which raises and decreases the processor chip speed to enhance the efficiency and power utilization.

As the additional Pavilion dv7 version was listed with 2 i7-2630QM  GHz Intel Core with SC speed Turbo of 2.90 GHz. Intel Core i7-2820QM and Core i7-2630QM both have a thermal type power of 45 Watts rating. A number of the Pavilion dv7 notebook versions feature Super Speed USB 3.0 slot with the regular USB 2.0 too.

Number of Lenovo and Gateway laptop computer versions sporting Intel Sandy Bridge processors was identified last month. Hopefully to view few notebooks running Intel Sandy Bridge processors at the CES 2011 beginning next week.

HP Pavilion dv7picture

Computex 2011: Intel Demonstrates Fanless 95W TDP Sandy Bridge All-in-One System

That's right, what you're looking at is a 95W TDP Sandy Bridge All-in-One system that is cooled only via large heatsinks and no fan. Heat rises upwards and is vented out of the top of the machine but Intel says it doesn't need a fan. Apparently Intel holds some patents on the design and is willing to share it with its partners. 

{gallery 1105}

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Computex 2011: Intel's Thin miniITX Sandy Bridge Platform

Intel's Mooly Eden just showed off its new thin mini ITX Sandy Bridge platform. The form factor is a standard mini ITX but with a low profile backplane so it can fit into thinner systems - particular all-in-ones.

Could this be the start of a DIY all-in-one market? I'm not sure about that, but it will help standardize components there and hopefully lower costs as you can reduce the number of custom components in the system.

{gallery 1095}

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ASUS 2011 UX Series: Ultra Thin and Light Sandy Bridge

ASUS just unveiled its 2011 UX Series, which looks a lot like a MacBook Air:

 

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica}span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px}The new UX comes with a 6Gbps SATA SSD, although ASUS didn’t reveal the manufacturer of the drive or the controller inside. The SSD enables what ASUS promises will be a 2 second wake time on the notebook, a trend that you’ll hear more about later this week.

 

{gallery 1090}

 

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica}span.s1 {letter-spacing: 0.0px}With the lid shut the new UX will last for up to 7 days in sleep mode. 

 

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Asus bamboo upgraded to Sandy Bridge @ www.engadget.com

This laptop comes with an Nvidia Optimus configuration: Integrated Intel® GMA HD and
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM.

ASUS' bamboo-plated U43SD laptop graduates to Sandy Bridge, so does plain-jane U41SV -- Engadget

When we reviewed ASUS' first bamboo laptop, we raved about more than just its unconventional looks -- we were also impressed with its solid performance. So we're pleased, although not at all surprised, that ASUS is refreshing the line with Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processors. The U43SD doesn't appear to stray from its predecessor's industrial design (save for its bigger 14-inch screen), but it steps up to the latest Core i3 and Core i5 processors, along with NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M graphics with 1GB of video memory. You can also choose from 5,400RPM and 7,200RPM hard drive options and either a six- or eight-cell battery. While the company was at it, it also quietly unveiled another Sandy Bridge laptop, the U41SV, which offers the same configuration options as the U43SD -- and a plainer design. No word on pricing, and a cursory search turned up no availability. For now, though, you can have a gander at some official photos lifted from ASUS' own product pages.

ASUS U43SD

ASUS U41SV

HP Pavilion g6s Notebook with Sandy Bridge

For those who like colorful notebooks, HP introduce the Pavilion g6s low budget and easy  use notebook powered by Intel Sandy Bridge platform. The new laptop arrives in a option of glossy colors including charcoal gray (standard), sonoma red, pacific blue, sweet purple, luminous rose. It runs by a optional selection of Intel Core i3/i5 processors, up to 6GB of RAM, integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000, optional Radon 6470M graphics card, and up to 750GB hard drive.
 

The Pavilion g6s has a 15.6-inch 1366×768 LED-backlit display and provides HDMI output. It characteristic a HP webcam with microphone, built-in Altec Lansing speakers, multi-in-one card reader and a DVD SuperMulti burner The notebook is DLNA certified and supports Bluetooth and WiFi.

This laptop has  A 6-cell battery to provide much power to the system and it runs with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium operating system.It has a  borderless touchpad and chiclet-like keyboard.The HP Pavilion g6s notebook price  starts at $549.99

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Lenovo X1 Leaked: Sandy Bridge Gets Thin

 

 Lenovo is taking another swing at the MacBook Air. Having discontinued their X300 ultraportable line, Lenovo seemed content to compete at the 11" and 12" form factor, without sitting a horse at the popular but Air dominated 13.3" form factor. But a listing on a Swiss computer distributor's site leaked and documents released on the Lenovo channel distributors' site confirmed that the ThinkPad purveyor is planning to take on the Air with a 21.5 mm thick ultraportable notebook called the X1.   While not quite as thin as the much hailed MBA, the X1 packs impressive specifications, especially for a device targeted at those of us used to sacrificing performance for lightweight. Headlining the device is a 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M CPU, the same processor as can be found in the 34.6 mm thick X220. Let me say that again, Lenovo managed to grow the screen and pack the same processor into a device one third less thick. A 13.3" 1366 x 768 Gorilla Glass screen, 160GB SSD, 8GB of RAM, an SDXC card reader and the excellent keyboard and build quality we've come to expect from the ThinkPad line round out the specifications. But that's not all.

Earlier today, Lenovo released slides from a distribution webinar that reveals that the X1 will sport a new type of battery which promise significant improvements in stamina and charging speed. Lenovo claims an 80% charge in just 30 plugged in minutes, for the sealed battery. This battery technology is expected to be included in all their future ultraportable notebooks including the previously announced Edge 220s and 420s, and the X1 is rated at 5 hours of use between charges. And there's one more thing.  In the same slide discussing the new warranty policies regarding these new batteries, Lenovo reveals that the battery tech will be included in the X Slate - presumably Lenovo's upcoming Honeycomb based tablet offering.]]>

Additional Details on Sandy Bridge-E Processors, X79, and LGA2011

The latest Intel roadmap has come out, and it's already being discussed elsewhere, so we're going to weigh in with our own analysis of the content as there's plenty of interesting bits of information to sift through. We’ll be looking at other areas over the coming days, but today we’re going to start with the Sandy Bridge-E (SNB-E) processors. Sporting a new socket and chipset, the SNB-E CPUs will start showing up in Q4 this year. None of this is new, as we’ve known the general timeframe for the launch since our Sandy Bridge review, but we can now add some concrete specs. According to the roadmap, the initial SNB-E lineup will consist of three CPUs: two hex-core processors and one quad-core. We don’t have model numbers yet, but we do have most of the other pieces of information.

The Sandy Bridge-E LineupFamilyCore i7 ExtremeCore i7Core i7Core/Thread Count6/126/124/8Frequency3.3GHz3.2GHz3.6GHzMax SC Turbo3.9GHz3.8GHz3.9GHzL3 Cache15MB12MB10MBOverclockingFully unlockedFully unlockedLimited unlock

The new chips will all use the LGA2011 socket with Intel’s X79 chipset, scheduled for simultaneous release with the CPUs. The platform replaces the current LGA1366 with X58 chipset, providing an upgrade path for high-end enthusiasts and workstation users. Memory support will move up to quad-channel DDR3-1333, so where the current Bloomfield can provide up to 25.6GB/s of bandwidth at the specified tri-channel DDR3-1066, LGA2011 kicks that figure up to 42.7GB/s—a 66% increase. The additional memory bandwidth should be particularly useful with certain workloads on the hex-core chips.

One interesting piece of information is that the roadmaps make no mention of integrated graphics or Quick Sync, suggesting the platform will be for discrete graphics only. That makes perfect sense on one level, as users likely to upgrade to such high-end systems are almost sure to have discrete GPUs. On the other hand, Quick Sync has proven very effective for video transcoding, providing up to a four-fold increase over CPU-based encoding, so the loss of the feature is unfortunate.

Intel hasn’t disclosed all of the various Turbo modes yet, but they have listed the maximum single-core Turbo speeds. Both the hex-core 3.3GHz and quad-core 3.6GHz top out at a maximum speed of 3.9GHz, and likely the hex-core chip can do 3.6GHz on QC workloads making it equal to or better than the QC chip on every potential workload. The 3.2GHz hex-core steps the maximum clocks speeds down 100MHz, along with cutting the L3 cache size. As with other i7 processors, all the new chips support Hyper-Threading, and while the hex-core chips will be fully multiplier unlocked the quad-core offering will be a “limited unlock”. The roadmap states that the limited unlock will allow up to six bins of overclocking above the maximum Turbo frequencies, which means that even that chip should be able to hit up to 4.5GHz (with appropriate cooling, motherboard, etc.)

Intel makes no mention of pricing at this time, but the new chips should follow familiar patterns. The i7 Extreme will replace the current i7-990X and target the familiar $1000 price point. Moving down, the 3.2GHz hex-core replaces the current i7-980 (which is set to replace the i7-970 in the near future), taking over the $550~$600 range. At the bottom of the SNB-E lineup is the quad-core 3.6GHz chip, which will take over from the i7-960 as well as providing a competitor to the i7-2600 in the sub-$300 market.

Chipset Comparison X58X79Processor SupportLGA1366LGA2011PCIe Graphics2x16 or 4x8 (chipset)2x16 or 4x8 (CPU)PCIe Based Uplink to CPU for StorageNoYes (x4)USB 2.0 Ports1214SATA Total (6Gbps)6 (0)14 (10)

One final area to discuss is the chipset. We’ve included X58 in the above table as a reference point, and we can see that X79 improves a few areas but still fails to support a few newer technologies. While the X79 chipset will include native support for SATA 6Gbps (up to 10 ports, with four additional SATA 3Gbps ports), USB 3.0 support is still missing, similar to the current 5- and 6-series chipsets. X79 natively supports dual x16 PCIe graphics, or quad x8 graphics, but this time the PCIe lanes come directly from the CPU instead of from the chipset, providing lower latency GPU access. There’s another extra, as the CPU (chipset) has the option to use four additional PCIe lanes from the PCH dedicated to storage bandwidth, presumably to help with performance on fast SATA 6Gbps devices (e.g. SSDs).

Given the 2x16 PCIe lanes for graphics and quad-channel memory, we can account for most of the pinout increase relative to LGA1366 and LGA1155, and adding in these remaining storage PCIe lanes with a DMI link to the chipset should take care of the rest. Intel doesn't state whether they're using DMI or QPI, but DMI 2.0 only provides up to 20Gbps between the CPU and chipset, so supporting 10 SATA 6Gbps ports with fast SSDs would certainly saturate that.

That wraps up the consumer side of the SNB-E platform. Note that Intel will also have SNB-E Xeons launching in a similar timeframe. The bigger concern for us is that SNB-E continues the strengths of the Bloomfield/Gulftown processors but doesn’t address some of the weaknesses (i.e. lack of Quick Sync). SNB-E looks like a very capable processor, but if you’re willing to forego the current SNB lineup and wait for SNB-E, you’ll then have to contend with Ivy Bridge. That will be Intel’s first 22nm CPU and it’s scheduled for release in the first half of 2012, but that’s a story for a separate article. We’ll also have additional information on Atom CPUs and Intel SSDs in the near future.

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Lucid's Virtu Enables Simultaneous Integrated/Discrete GPU on Sandy Bridge Platforms

We first met LucidLogix (now just Lucid) 2.5 years ago at IDF. The promise was vendor-agnostic multi-GPU setups with perfect performance scaling. The technology was announced at a very important time. Intel and NVIDIA were battling out support for SLI on Nehalem motherboards. NVIDIA didn't want SLI enabled on any non-NVIDIA chipsets, and Intel wasn't about to let NVIDIA build any chipsets for Nehalem. Lucid's Hydra technology seemed to be exactly what we needed to get around the legal holdup that kept Nehalem users from enjoying SLI.

Three things made Lucid's technology less interesting as time went on. Hydra took two years to come to market, NVIDIA enabled SLI on Intel platforms and single GPU performance got really, really good.

What made Lucid's Hydra tech possible was a software layer that intercepted OpenGL and DirectX calls from the CPU and directed them to a GPU of Lucid's choosing. While Hydra saw limited success, parts of the technology had another application.

Read on for our performance preview of Lucid's Virtu for Sandy Bridge platforms.

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