Hi guys, recently I upgraded my pc platfom from AMD Phenom II X4 to Intel i7 2600K. Although in reality my previous setup still performs very well on most games like BattleField 2, Call of Duty BlackOps,Dirt3 and a lot more, I decided to change it so that I won't upgrade anymore( I hope so..lolz).
Lets take a look a brief introduction Of Intel latest processor the i7 2600k. (credits from bitech)
Intel is calling Sandy Bridge its second-generation Core architecture, which is wrong. The first Core-branded CPU was a laptop-only CPU based on the Yonah architecture of early 2006, followed by Conroe and its mobile equivalent Merom, which was sold under the Core 2 brand. Ignoring the Conroe update that was Allendale, manufacturing process shrinks of Wolfdale and Penryn, and the Core 2 Quad CPU designs, Intel should have realised that Nehalem counts as a new architecture.
What's New in Intel's Sandy Bridge
Intel has beaten AMD to be the first CPU company to integrate a GPU into the silicon die of an x86 processor – it managed to integrate a GPU into the processor packaging for its Clarksfield-based Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs. We expect AMD’s Fusion combined CPU-GPU chips early this year, with desktop parts available in mid-2011.
Sandy Bridge uses a ring bus to connect its sub-units.
The Intel GPU in question is a significant update from previous Intel HD graphics, with enhanced gaming, video playback and GPGPU capabilities. It’s available in two flavours – the Intel HD 2000 and the Intel HD 3000.
The interesting aspect regarding the graphics unit is that it shares the ‘last-level’ cache (LLC) of the entire die with the CPU execution cores. Intel’s Shared Cache technology has worked incredibly well for it over the years.
There’s a big pool of Level 2 or 3 cache, and any CPU can reserve any amount it requires, therefore making that cache work as efficiently as possible. Allowing the GPU to tap into this shared resource is a logical step, but it required a radical rethink of how processing units access and address it.
In the end, Intel has implemented a ring bus, and not even an Intel Ring Bus Technology®, which is an odd move for a company that loves to brand anything and everything that it creates.
A ring bus controller polls each unit in a looping sequence, accepting or offloading data as it progresses – if the GPU requires data from the main memory (via the processor cache), it will have to wait until the CPU cores have been served first, before sending that request to the System Agent unit, which can pass it onto the integrated memory controller.
So enough for this very complicated explanation. I try benchmark this processor to see how powerful it is. Check it out.
My Test Rig:
Intel i7 2600K @ 3.4Ghz ( Turbo boost on)
MSI Z68 GD80 B3
4GB Gskill Ripjaws X DDR3 2133
Gigabyte AMD Radseon 6950 Windforce 3X
700 watts Cougar CMX power supply
3Dmark 2006
