Core i3 2120K - unlocked dualcore sandy!?

[bunnyfubbles]

http://www.xfastest.com/cms/tid-61002/

makes sense considering the i3 SB line cannot be overclocked at all whereas the non K i5 and i7 SBs can be tweaked to the extent that Turbo Boost allows and of course the K versions can be pushed to the absolute limit, but the i3 has had neither Turbo Boost or unlocked multi and thus you're stuck with what you get

with Bulldozer looming ever closer I'm sure it was inevitable for Intel to bridge the gap a bit for enthusiasts with an unlocked i3

 

[StinkyPinky]

What kind of enthusiast would still buy a dual core?

 

[pantsaregood]

The budget-oriented enthusiast. Not to mention a dual core CPU gives you fewer chances of getting a core that won't overclock for crap. I'm sure a hyperthreaded dual core Sandy Bridge at 4-4.5GHz could manage with games.

 

[Syzygies]

What kind of enthusiast would still buy a dual core?

I have the opposite question: Sandy Bridge opens up overclocking to anyone who can figure out which way to screw in a light bulb. Why do we still see all these forum queries that include "I'm not planning to overclock..." Having a "policy" like this is effectively wearing a sign, "I've made up my mind and I'm not going to consider new information." Building a computer rather than buying it from Dell involves a bit of skill, like buying a cpu that fits the motherboard socket, not jamming the cpu in the wrong way, and figuring out how to dress the cables. The overclock is the easy part.

A Sandy Bridge overclock only kicks in when needed, without affecting idle power usage. It will take years for the unwashed masses to get over the horror of seeing water cooling rigs and pre-GUI BIOS screenies, but a conservative overclock is just a couple of clicks and some testing. It's a total waste of money not to overclock.

So if I'm building basic rigs for my wife and her daughter, I'm thrilled there's a dual core K option.

 

[ydnas7]

a 2120k is probably higher up the binning list than either the 2500k or the 2600k, as the more premium model dual cores are 149mm2 models, not the 131mm2 models. Add to that that duals tend to OC cooler.

Matched with a good graphics card, this should game quite well.

 

[Tuna-Fish]

What kind of enthusiast would still buy a dual core?

One that needs absolutely the best single-core performance?

This will be the highest-binned chip of it's kind, and it has more tdp headroom for OC. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this one would very soon make a superpi record.

 

[RyanGreener]

I would totally hop onto this if this thing had the ability to hit higher clocks on lower voltages than the 2500k/2600k.

 

[Zap]

What kind of enthusiast would still buy a dual core?

I would. My main rig is already a quad, but I'm perfectly fine with duals for my notebooks, HTPC, etc. Also, while I have a Core i5 750 in my LAN party rig right now, for pure LAN gaming I think a dual core with HT would be fine. Heck, my secondary LAN party rig uses a Core i3 550 and it seems to run everything I've encountered at LANs as well as my i5 750.

 

[exar333]

Dual-core Sandys already rival high-clock AMD triple-cores and low to mid-end AMD quads in many tasks. A overclockable dualie from Intel could be a monster OC chip. Also, think of the bargains that could be had with this at MC, for example. A Dual core Sandy + MB for $200? That would be awesome.

As others have said, this would be an awesome chip for those who need awesome single-core performance or those that do not need a quad, but still want a solid system for a good price.

Interesting indeed!

 

[ElFenix]

I would. My main rig is already a quad, but I'm perfectly fine with duals for my notebooks, HTPC, etc. Also, while I have a Core i5 750 in my LAN party rig right now, for pure LAN gaming I think a dual core with HT would be fine. Heck, my secondary LAN party rig uses a Core i3 550 and it seems to run everything I've encountered at LANs as well as my i5 750.

how many lan parties can you be at at once?

 

[Janus67]

I could see it doing well in non-threaded applications if it clocks well (superpi, 3dm01) but I don't see much purpose behind it. I wonder how well the chips would bin as well.

 

[Avalon]

It seems too expensive at $150 when the 2500K is $220. I think if they made a lower bin model for $125-130, that would be nice.

 

[Janus67]

True, especially with places like microcenter selling 2500ks for $180, maybe if they sold this chip for $100-$110 would it even really be considered when $50 jumps you from a dual to a quad.

 

[Concillian]

My current i3 @ 4 GHz plays the games I want fine. Don't NEED a quad for a whole lot right now. A few games benefit, a few apps that I don't use much. I rip a couple things a year, I do it at night, I can live with a few extra minutes there for $$$ in my pocket.

The nicest part of a SB i3 is that you get all the benefits of the quad. The i3-5xx was crippled compared with the i5-7xx, but the i3-2xxx is pretty much the same in single core performance as an i5-2xxx at the same speed.

The questions are: is HT enabled? and how high will it clock?

If it has HT and can reliably get into the 5GHz range, it should perform pretty well even in games that can use quads. $150 is a bit steep for it though. Good to have an option for those who don't really need a quad, but highly regard single threaded performance. The lower power requirement should also mean you can save on a motherboard. Don't need a mobo with a million power phases. This is for the normal gamer who will get a <$150 single card mobo, a midrange single video card, and plays games that don't really use quads yet (Starcraft II, MMOs, likely Diablo III). What I've described is pretty much all the PC gamers I know, but I'm older and not really into the FPS scene anymore. Obviously there is a segment of gamers who will benefit from quads, but it's good to have the option there.

 

[OS]

I have the opposite question: Sandy Bridge opens up overclocking to anyone who can figure out which way to screw in a light bulb. Why do we still see all these forum queries that include "I'm not planning to overclock..." Having a "policy" like this is effectively wearing a sign, "I've made up my mind and I'm not going to consider new information." Building a computer rather than buying it from Dell involves a bit of skill, like buying a cpu that fits the motherboard socket, not jamming the cpu in the wrong way, and figuring out how to dress the cables. The overclock is the easy part.

A Sandy Bridge overclock only kicks in when needed, without affecting idle power usage. It will take years for the unwashed masses to get over the horror of seeing water cooling rigs and pre-GUI BIOS screenies, but a conservative overclock is just a couple of clicks and some testing. It's a total waste of money not to overclock.

So if I'm building basic rigs for my wife and her daughter, I'm thrilled there's a dual core K option.

your time must not be worth very much

 

[Zap]

Also, think of the bargains that could be had with this at MC

BOIOIOIOING!!!!

how many lan parties can you be at at once?

Oh, I've been known to leave one LAN party to go to the next. :twisted: The secondary machine is for my wife (when she goes with me) or as a spare in case someone needs it, so we can play LAN games and not play "fix homies computer."

True, especially with places like microcenter selling 2500ks for $180, maybe if they sold this chip for $100-$110 would it even really be considered when $50 jumps you from a dual to a quad.

I'd pay $110 for a 2120K.

 

[Arkadrel]

Question is:

i3 2120k (dual core) vs A6-3450 (Llano Quad core)
The Llano Quad Core is rumored to go for about 110$ and be 65watt TPD.

The Llano GPU will be a 320 shader version, so that bound to be faster than the i3 2120k's.... also for single threaded performance the i3 2120k is bound to be faster too, question is if it will when it comes to applications that can use 4 threads though.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

can't you overclock regular SB 2100? you can't increase the BCLK?

Edit: Odd. I always looked at the K series as unecessary after seeing how we overclocked our i7 920s/930s to past 4ghz easily. While an unlocked multiplier is NICE, I always thought it only bought you a little more speed.

But apparently with the SB chips, overclocking BCLK doesn't let you lock in the PCI-e bus to 100mhz like you can with previous CPUs/chipsets? This is odd. So it's like K-series or bust for overclocking it seems?

Edit 2: Answered my own question reading the AT article again. Dang. BCLK OCs are dead... lol.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

can't you overclock regular SB 2100? you can't increase the BCLK?

Edit: Odd. I always looked at the K series as unecessary after seeing how we overclocked our i7 920s/930s to past 4ghz easily. While an unlocked multiplier is NICE, I always thought it only bought you a little more speed.

But apparently with the SB chips, overclocking BCLK doesn't let you lock in the PCI-e bus to 100mhz like you can with previous CPUs/chipsets? This is odd. So it's like K-series or bust for overclocking it seems?

yes, its pretty common knowledge that intel purposefully broke standard overclocking with Sandy Bridge

as a business it makes a lot more sense to charge people extra for the ability to get extra performance from their product instead of giving it away for free

Sandy Bridge E on LGA2011 will likely be able to be overclocked with the BCLK (but of course that platform is bound to be far more expensive), but for Sandy Bridge on 1155 you're limited to whatever Turbo Boost lets you unless you have an unlocked multiplier.

Since the SB i3 line has had neither Turbo Boost or unlocked multis they couldn't be overclocked at all until Intel introduces a K series i3

 

[bart1975]

I would have went with the i3 2120k if it was available when I was building my system

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

can't you overclock regular SB 2100? you can't increase the BCLK?

Edit: Odd. I always looked at the K series as unecessary after seeing how we overclocked our i7 920s/930s to past 4ghz easily. While an unlocked multiplier is NICE, I always thought it only bought you a little more speed.

But apparently with the SB chips, overclocking BCLK doesn't let you lock in the PCI-e bus to 100mhz like you can with previous CPUs/chipsets? This is odd. So it's like K-series or bust for overclocking it seems?

Edit 2: Answered my own question reading the AT article again. Dang. BCLK OCs are dead... lol.

Yup, found this out late in the game too, hah!

 

[996GT2]

Honestly, if it's only $50-70 less than a 2500K, I think it makes more sense to go with the quad-core unless you're on an extreme budget.

 

[Zap]

can't you overclock regular SB 2100? you can't increase the BCLK?

What rock have you been hiding under for the past five months? ^_^

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Honestly, if it's only $50-70 less than a 2500K, I think it makes more sense to go with the quad-core unless you're on an extreme budget.

Yeah the $150 kind of kills it for me. If I could find this chip along with a motherboard capable of taking it to over 4ghz for around $200 shipped, then I'd seriously consider upgrading my secondary E2180 (overclocked to 2.8ghz) system. I could carry over all the components inside of it already, and maybe even ditch the HD 2600 Pro if the integrated graphics on the 2120k is better. Plus I've got 8GB of spare DDR3 laying around that I haven't been able to resell due to low RAM prices.

Other things that would be major for me include:
- HT enabled?
- VTd or VTx?

 

[Syzygies]

your time must not be worth very much

Are you saying I shouldn't overclock, or I should instead use a 2500K or 2600K in all my builds? I have no idea which.

Some of us like to do things with our hands, rather than sit in front of a TV. No one said it's rational, it just is what it is.