SB-E owners thread

[fastamdman]

IMO SB-E isn't all that amazing for the majority of users. I mean most applications aren't going to take use of all the cores and the most stressful application a lot of pc users do is game. Gaming wise the 2500k is right up on par with the rest of the chips out there, especially when over clocked.

Price to performance if you are a gamer, 2500k is your best bet. Now if you fold on the other hand, bench, or do anything else that can use the extra cores, then by all means go sbe . Personally, ima wait tell IB to upgrade. I might drop in a 2600k for more pts per day while folding, but thats about it.

 

[Makaveli]

the most stressful application a lot of pc users do is game

That is a mighty big assumption there my friend.

 

[fastamdman]

It's an assumption but besides folding what is the most stressful thing the MAJORITY of people do. There are a lot of people who do the "random" things, but gamers are the majority of "stressful" users. Hence why we see more "gaming builds" then we do anything else.

 

[Haserath]

Bumping my question as I never got a reply.

Cliffs : SB-E with two cores disabled (from 8 to 6), does/will it use the same power as the ones with all 8 cores enabled (Xeon only?)

The cores are fused off of the die.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5091/...dy-bridge-e-review-keeping-the-high-end-alive

Right below the die shot Anand says so himself.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Wanna get in that club bad. 2500k is awesome but i do much more than just gaming and SB-E looks great to me.

 

[mrjoltcola]

The cores are fused off of the die.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5091/...dy-bridge-e-review-keeping-the-high-end-alive

Right below the die shot Anand says so himself.

I've always had a question about die harvesting via disabling cores.

Does Intel actually fuse the same bottom cores for each die, or do they fuse bad cores only. I'd assume that any chips with a bad core or two could be harvested as a 6C, for the highest yields, but maybe that isn't how harvesting works?

 

[Arachnotronic]

Wanna get in that club bad. 2500k is awesome but i do much more than just gaming and SB-E looks great to me.

Do it. High end Intel chips are crazy fun to have.

 

[tweakboy]

I'm thinking IB-E too. My Q9450 seems to be handling Skyrim just fine.

No need, unless you want video editing to finish 2 minute faster.

Games don't use full 100 percent CPU , let alone 4 plus HT 8 cores.

 

[JoJoman88]

All right, up on first boot! Just some notes: having the backplate in already helped a lot with mounting the HSF( Hyper212 EVO). There is lots of room around the CPU socket, at least on my Sabertooth X79. Only crazy high heat sinks on you memory would be a problem. Haven't OC yet still installing the everyday stuff.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Do it. High end Intel chips are crazy fun to have.

Convincing the wife right now. My cristmas present to myself it's my defense hehe

 

[Haserath]

I've always had a question about die harvesting via disabling cores.

Does Intel actually fuse the same bottom cores for each die, or do they fuse bad cores only. I'd assume that any chips with a bad core or two could be harvested as a 6C, for the highest yields, but maybe that isn't how harvesting works?

I actually wonder that myself. It would make sense that Intel would fuse off any bad cores first to get the highest yield, but I don't know if there would have to be additional tweaking to do this and if it's worth it.

Is anyone able to get a SB-E up to 5ghz yet? Just due to the massive die, I would expect these extreme chips to be a little bit less average clock.

Convincing the wife right now. My cristmas present to myself it's my defense hehe

lol Good luck. You might be able to have a better chance if you stick with a 3930k to lighten the blow.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Convincing the wife right now. My cristmas present to myself it's my defense hehe

An idea: you may want to nab a used Gulftown. I got the mobo in my sig rig for $51 shipped. CPU for around $400. Recently bought (and then sold immediately in light of this 980x) a 970 from eBay for about $370.

 

[AdamK47]

You made out real good then by reselling that 970 for $370.

 

[Makaveli]

Apparently Skyrim loves SB-E!

http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-performance/

 

[AdamK47]

Apparently Skyrim loves SB-E!

http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-performance/

But that's impossible.

 

[Makaveli]

But that's impossible.

lol

According to tweakboy you are right.

 

[nanaki333]

wow.. the asus auto overclock software is pretty nice. it did all the adjusting and stability tests automagically and got me to a respectable 4.8ghz.

EDIT: asus p9x79 pro

 

[Diogenes2]

Which CPU ?

I hope to put together 3930 and same mobo later today ..

 

[nanaki333]

3930k with an H100

 

[AdamK47]

lol

According to tweakboy you are right.

The 3960X is 18.5% faster than the 2700K in Crysis 64-bit despite the 2700K being 200MHz faster.

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73960X-Extreme-Edition-Sandy-BridgeE-Review/?page=12

 

[aigomorla]

but then there is IB-E to wait for

i expect to make a lot of people jealous with this.

and u know my type of jealous... :wub:

 

[Arachnotronic]

You made out real good then by reselling that 970 for $370.

I sure did! While the 970 was awesome, there's nothing like being able to tick up the multiplier, get 4.05GHz, and call it a day.

While I am drooling over the 3960X, I am finally happy enough with my machine that I don't have to look at a dream newegg cart!

 

[Makaveli]

The 3960X is 18.5% faster than the 2700K in Crysis 64-bit despite the 2700K being 200MHz faster.

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73960X-Extreme-Edition-Sandy-BridgeE-Review/?page=12

So do you think the boost is just due to the extra cache?

 

[Haserath]

The 3960X is 18.5% faster than the 2700K in Crysis 64-bit despite the 2700K being 200MHz faster.

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73960X-Extreme-Edition-Sandy-BridgeE-Review/?page=12

Don't forget Turbo boosts the 3960 to at least 3.6ghz even with all threads maxed, and Crysis doesn't do more than two.

I assume that could be down to either the cache or the huge memory bandwidth difference. I place my bet on the cache, since the 990X is also outperforming the 2700k.

 

[Diogenes2]

Another Happy SB-E owner here.. 3930 on Asus P9X79 PRO

Darn UPS didn't show till after 5PM, so I'm just getting things rolling..

No overclocking yet, but at stock, Cinebench gets 11 and change, which beats my 2600K at 4.6g, and also a 980X I had at 4.1 ..

I'm using a 212+ for cooling, and I'm hitting high 60's running P95, so I can see that the 212+ might not cut it for serious overclocking, but I'll see what happens in a day or two ...