Intel CPU timeline

[patentman]

Hey all. I have a tendency to buy hardware at the end of a product cycle. I.e., I got in on the P4 when AMD's semprons, opty's and eventually dual cores came to fruition. I then bought into AMD's dual core lineup about a month before Intels Core 2 Duo's came on the scene (man was I pissed about that).

Anyways, I have some extra cash sitting around, and I am thinking about upgrading to the core 2 duo lineup now, so that I will be able to take advantage of later core 2 duo processor upgrades before intel decides to change the socket again. Yes, I know this means I will have to get new ram and a new mobo, but I expect I will be able to pull down at least 350 bucks ebaying old parts to offset these costs.

Anyways, can anyone point me to a link showing Intel's projected CPU timeline? Also, I'd appreciate recommendations for coolers for the 6700/6600 core 2 duo.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Furen]

Intel is releasing 45nm parts in Q3. It's releasing a whole new architecture (with new sockets) in the second half of 2008 (I believe). The 2H2008 parts should be Nehalem and they should have an integrated memory controller (likely DDR3). One thing that is a big unknown is whether all the parts will actually use the integrated memory controller or whether this will be a multi-socket-only feature. I've also heard about SMT making a comeback but I'm not sure if it's scheduled to come out with Nehalem or with Bloomsfield.

Personally, I don't think you need to upgrade at all, since you already have a dual-core system. Perhaps waiting for Intel's 45nm parts would be a good idea, since you'd be getting the newest Intel tech and would be able to get AMD's K8L (which should come out a little bit earlier) if they prove to be the better performers. Also, in Q2 you'll be able to get a Q6600 for about $510, and that will still be a pretty good performer and have twice the number of cores.

 

[nyker96]

I personally will wait until Q3/2007 to see what K8L is like compare that to 45nm intel dual cores//other intel quads see what they got available but Q3 should be the time for new stuff and this will tell ya which way to go is better. But then again if you can't wait that far can get you hands on E4300 for 113 or 130 one of these prices I forget. anyways cheap c2d.

 

[BrownTown]

Nothing new is comming till Q3 2006 like several people have already said, if you want to wait 6-9 months than that *might* be a good time to buy since AMD and Intel will have new stuff out, if not than just buy now. Either way don't get too bogged down in their whole outdated technology stuff, no matter you buy something it will be outdated in a few months, all that matters is that you buy something that fits your needs. If your computer can do everything you want it to to than who cares that someone else has a better processor or more RAM? I guess it might be bad for your e-penis to not have the best new technology, but its alot better for your wallet to just not worry about it.

EDIT: i have a 1.6Ghz processor, I have a graphics card with 4 pipelines at 200 mhz, my computer does everything it needs to do, I am happy with it and am not gonna buy a new one for another several years assuming this one holds up. I have a tiny e-penis.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Why do you want to buy now?

If you're system does what it needs to, save your money.

If it doesn't, buy core2 - k8L is not likely to change the world.

 

[patentman]

Thanks for the comments/advice. While I appreciate the "you don't need to upgrade now" statements and understand them, I have a budget pc for work. My home pc is to me what a boat is to many people, a hole into which I throw money in order to derive enjoyment.

I am always tinkering with my machine to make it faster or better in some way. And I don't really care about the whole e-penis thing, as I really never brag about my machine to anyone. Heck, most of my friends think I am a huge dork because I am a 30 year old gamer who builds his own computer rather than buys it from Satan's electronic store (Dell) or Worst Buy.

Anyways, what I would really like to do is get a CPU that won't limit my video card (an 8800 gtx, which may become 2 8800 GTX's). Right now I feel like I have the Ferrari of video cards, which needs premium gas to really flex its muscles, but I am feeding it 87 octane regular. Also, I plan to use my PC for a lot of video capture when I get vista (I will be adding a 500GB HD and an HDTV tuner/capture card in the near future). I figure some extra CPU horsepower can't hurt.

All in all I think the parts for my proposed upgrade would cost me ~$650-750 bucks (6600 C2D, 2GB ram (might go with 4gb), mobo, and a decent cooler). As I mentioned I could sell my old parts for ~$350 on ebay. $300-400 for a 30-40% increase in performance ain't bad. Granted, my evaluation of what is affordable is probably different than some people.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Just get either a E6600 or E4300, OC the heck out of it and be happy

 

[IntelUser2000]

Anyways, can anyone point me to a link showing Intel's projected CPU timeline? Also, I'd appreciate recommendations for coolers for the 6700/6600 core 2 duo.

You won't be able to guarantee future support by just roadmaps alone. Who knows, maybe Intel's 45nm CPUs aren't compatible with current motherboards and you need to buy a newer one anyway.

(You may be able to upgrade Core 2 Duo to the Wolfdale-M, which is similar to Conroe, see below)

Expected sometime in Q1
Pentium E1000 series based on Conroe-L
1.5-2GHz
-800MHz FSB
-Single core
-1MB L2

Celeron 400 series based on Conroe-L
-1.5-2GHz
-533MHz FSB
-Single core
-512KB L2

Expected in late Q1/early Q2
Core 2 Duo with 1333MHz FSB
E6850-3.0GHz
E6750-2.66GHz
E6650-2.33GHz
-Only change is FSB for the performance side

Core 2 Duo E6800
-Like X6800, but with mainstream pricing

Core 2 Quad models(all models have 4MB L2 per dual core)
-Q6600 is out now, Q6400 and Q6300 is expected later this year
-Power to go down to 95W from current 105W for all Core 2 Quad(not extreme)

Expected in early Q4/late Q4
45nm Core microarchitecture based on Penryn core(SSE4/increased caches/some small changes to core)
Yorkfield XE: 3.46-3.73GHz/quad core/1333FSB/12MB total L2(not sure whether it is shared or seperate 2x6MB)/130W

Yorkfield(mainstream): Greater than 3.0GHz/95W/all other specifications same as XE

Wolfdale: 3.5-4.0GHz/dual core/1333FSB/6MB L2/65W
Wolfdale-M: 3.4-3.7GHz/dual core/1066FSB/3MB L2/65W
Wolfdale-L: 2.4-3GHz/single core/800FSB/1MB L2/35W

 

[Hulk]

Now is a great time to buy.

It'll probably be a YEAR before Intel releases a C2D part factory clocked as high as my $220 E6200 overclocked to 3.2GHz.

And even if they do it will most likely cost around $1000.

But really, you can get and E6300/6400 for not a lot of money and even without overclocking it's a great performer.

 

[jcrash]

there are a couple budget CPU's coming out Monday (e4300). They may impact AMD's pricing on the low end...may not.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Hulk
Now is a great time to buy.

It'll probably be a YEAR before Intel releases a C2D part factory clocked as high as my $220 E6200 overclocked to 3.2GHz.

And even if they do it will most likely cost around $1000.

But really, you can get and E6300/6400 for not a lot of money and even without overclocking it's a great performer.

link on teh 6200? :beer:

 

[Duvie]

First off this is hardly the end of the product cycle of C2D's.....Many of us did not even get them until first of september (major shipping and distribution shortage)...I think at best you are maybe 1 month off from the prime time for buying them....

That being said there is something said to not buying at the beginning of the product cycle. the chipset get a chance to mature...you get to find out the quirks the cpu has with different boards....you get tons of data to find the best bang for the buck....



I would get a C2D now. As you will see quad cores are new to the market with more coming and they are sckt 775....You are no where near the fvcking end of the product cyclke.


I had X2s and sold them for C2D's...smart move as these things toast them. My X2 topped at 2.6ghz. My opterons topped at 2.5....My E6600 at stock was faster then both of them and ocing them to 3.4ghz just makes them ridiculously faster. I fold and these things are twice as fast in most units and some bonus units that like large cache I am 4 times faster then my opterons at 2.5ghz...

I consider it one of my best and smartest upgrades/changes I have made.

 

[Hulk]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Hulk
Now is a great time to buy.

It'll probably be a YEAR before Intel releases a C2D part factory clocked as high as my $220 E6200 overclocked to 3.2GHz.

And even if they do it will most likely cost around $1000.

But really, you can get and E6300/6400 for not a lot of money and even without overclocking it's a great performer.

link on teh 6200? :beer:

Sorry, typo. 6400

 

[imported_cinder]

The Quad Core Q6600 sounds like a good buy for you. If you don't have the money for a Q6600 ($870) you could always wait for a Q6400 or Q6300. You may be able to take advantage of the cores while video editing and compressing. Also, in the near future games will be moving to support "multi-core" processing. For instance, the source engine is going to be upgraded for Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2 to support multi-core. Future gaming titles may be heading to multi-core as well too.... Waiting until the Q6400 is released in a couple of months might be a wise choice for you too.

You could also decide to go with a new E6320 or E6420 which will Conroe chips like their elders but they have the an extra 2MB of cache unlocked making the total 4MB cache like the E6600 and E6700.

Either one is a wise choice. Especially if you are not concerned about your e-penis as these CPUs are not THE BEST of their groups but definitely great CPUs (at least we know the ones that are released are great and the new releases will be based on Conroe/Kentsfield we can assume they will be great too.)

 

[patentman]

Hey all, I ended up getting the 6600, the EVGA 680i mobo (I know I know,update the bios first), and 4GB of Corsair DDR2 800 Ram (more ram is always good, but dear god it is expensive now!). All in all it ran me just under $1000 bucks (1/2 of that for the RAM). Now its time to ebay my old stuff. I figure my CPU will go for ~$175-200, Mobo for ~$90-100, and Ram for about $200. Thus, total upgrade cost =~$500 for quite possibly a 40% increase in speed (especially when I overclock this 6600 to over 3GHz).

I decided to forego quad core right now because, as many people have mentioned, there just isn't software out there (at least none that I would use) that will take advantage of 4 cores. I figure with the EVGA 680i mobo I am future proofed for the near term, in that I will be able to upgrade to a quad core processor a year or two from now when it might actually matter.

Thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes when I get the parts.

 

[imported_cinder]

Nice choices and Good Luck!!!

 

[Duvie]

Originally posted by: patentman
Hey all, I ended up getting the 6600, the EVGA 680i mobo (I know I know,update the bios first), and 4GB of Corsair DDR2 800 Ram (more ram is always good, but dear god it is expensive now!). All in all it ran me just under $1000 bucks (1/2 of that for the RAM). Now its time to ebay my old stuff. I figure my CPU will go for ~$175-200, Mobo for ~$90-100, and Ram for about $200. Thus, total upgrade cost =~$500 for quite possibly a 40% increase in speed (especially when I overclock this 6600 to over 3GHz).

I decided to forego quad core right now because, as many people have mentioned, there just isn't software out there (at least none that I would use) that will take advantage of 4 cores. I figure with the EVGA 680i mobo I am future proofed for the near term, in that I will be able to upgrade to a quad core processor a year or two from now when it might actually matter.

Thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes when I get the parts.

At stock probably 20%...however why drop 240 on a board like that if you didn't intend to OC, right? You could have oc'd just as far with a board at 40% the cost. So that upgrade for most would have been cheaper cause I likely only would have bought 2gb of memory and saved 100 on the board.

good luck on selling those old parts...definitely ebay them cause those ppl are idiots. try selling that stuff in teh forums here and you will need heavy discounts to move it. Nobody appears to be biting on the old stuff here. Ask MarkFW900, as he has had a helluva time moving his old X2s...

 

[patentman]

Originally posted by: Duvie

At stock probably 20%...however why drop 240 on a board like that if you didn't intend to OC, right? You could have oc'd just as far with a board at 40% the cost. So that upgrade for most would have been cheaper cause I likely only would have bought 2gb of memory and saved 100 on the board.

good luck on selling those old parts...definitely ebay them cause those ppl are idiots. try selling that stuff in teh forums here and you will need heavy discounts to move it. Nobody appears to be biting on the old stuff here. Ask MarkFW900, as he has had a helluva time moving his old X2s...

Oh I intend to OC the heck out of this cpu. Just going to stay on the mild side for a while. I'm gonna put my Thermaltake Big Typhoon to work now, and I'll get a vapochill cooler once I really want to crank it up. Plus I liked the features of the 680i. Lots of upgrade room pretty much everywhere, be it video, ram, fsb, etc. Should be fun tinkering around with this board, I've heard lots and lots of good things. Seems like most of the kinks have been worked out of the evga 680i now too.

I got 4GB of Ram because games are getting more and more memory hungry, and I don;t think that trend is going to stop anytime soon. Just about every game I actually play now gobbles up Ram like there is no tomorrow. I just figured I would take the hit now and future proof a little while I had the extra cash lying around.

As for selling the old stuff, you are probably right, I may have a tough time getting rid of the x2 and the mobo. The Ram I have is still sellin like hotcakes on newegg, so that should be easy to dump. Worst comes to worst I throw my old board/cpu in a small form factor case with a 250GB hard drive, a tv tuner, and a copy of media center and have a high powered custom dvr.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

I have a tiny e-penis.

eww too much info