New Intel Sandybridge i3, i5 & i7 CPUs

Hi,

Has anyone here got their hands on a new Intel Sandybridge CPU based PC yet? Early days I know. :wink:
What I am interested in, is the on-board Intel HD Graphics. No need for a gfx card in theory, but I’d like to know if this is seemless in practice with a DAW.

Any news on this topic out there??

Neil.

In particular, the new i5-2500 looks especially good in terms of performance versus price. :smiley:

a question i want an answear to also
All the processors have GPU, it seems to be down to motherboard chipset whether there is a graphics out socket on the motherboard or not.
So is the H67 (grapics out) chipset without an added Graphics card with say the 2600k processor running the graphics more efficient than the –
P67 (no graphics out) chipset with an added Graphics card and same processor.

so far I think the 6 core 980X is still king as far as cubase is concerned, but the 2600 and 2600k seem impressive on the performance cost ratio, probably better than previous i7 quads like the 950 and they seem to run very cool and the (k) versions overclock well. Waiting for reports before taking the plunge, apparently there maybe a Z68 chipset coming and hexcores on a different socket later in the year.
Hope there are no gremlins, but only time will tell.

The P67, as with the previous generations “P” chipset is the performance model which lacks the on-board GPU functionality as well as offering more flexibility for the consumer. H67 gives us our display outputs, will tend to be found on mATX boards and is a little more restricted on what we can do in terms of configuration

Cheers,
Bernard

Good review.
Shame they did not test against an i7 with a 58a chipset though

Can someone tell me which benchmarks I should check to find out which processor is best for using in a DAW?

No such thing!
Benchmarks just show how a CPU computes certain algorithms to do certain tasks.
At the end of the day, a modern CPU with a minimum of dual-core and a few Gig of RAM should see most hobby music-makers happy for a while.
Bigger is better…more is better…so if you can afford the latest and greatest CPU and 24Gb DDR3, then go for it - that’ll make an amazing DAW, but for the rest of us, a nice quad-core CPU with 6Gb or quick RAM will be good for a load of tracks and FX.

Neil.

Soon enough there will also be AMD’s new Bulldozer CPU family available. Let’s hope that they will be competitive with Sandy Bridges, so that healthy competition will keep prices down and our DAW performances up! :sunglasses:

Yep! I agree.
AMD’s chips look pretty cool to me. I like Intel, but I can see that AMD offer a damn good alternative. I like the competition. As you say - it’ll keep prices competitive. Perfect. :smiley:

Neil.