Intel Core i5 Review - Few Months Before Release

jmke · 29th May 2009, 20:57

Take the Core i7, shave off one memory controller and replace the high bandwidth QPI link with Intel’s slower DMI and you’ve got the makings of a (more) mainstream Nehalem. Many have been calling this processor the Core i5 although I’m not quite ready to jump on that bandwagon, so I’ll keep referring to it by its socket (LGA-1156) or codename (Lynnfield). The new socket requires a new cooler. The four mounting holes are closer together on the LGA-1156 socket than they are on LGA-1366 boards, but further apart than LGA-775. It’s just different enough to require a brand new cooler, or at least a new mounting bracket.

Instead of crippling graphics on its mainstream platform, Intel did the next best thing and integrated 16 PCIe 2.0 lanes onto the die of its mainstream Nehalem part. All of the processors are quad-core Nehalems with the same cache sizes as the Core i7. The only crippled beast is the entry level Lynnfield that has Hyper Threading disabled. The current rumors in the press are that Lynnfield is being held back in order to clear out excess Core 2 Quad inventory before it ships, because once this thing ships no one is going to want a Penryn anymore. Based on what I've seen, Lynnfield isn't ready just yet - it's not an artificial delay. The motherboards are in rough shape, CF/SLI isn't working and we're still at very early revs of the CPU's silicon. While I think that the chip will be ready far in advance of its rumored September shipdate, the CPU and motherboards aren't yet.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3570

jmke · 29th May 2009, 21:01

When I got to the last page and started reading the Why would anyone want a LGA-1366 system then? , I got a nasty flashback. S939 vs S754: we all knew S754 was a dead end, right from the start; why o why is Intel taking this same decisions? Build one platform, let it scale all the way up and down; why force people to upgrade motherboard to upgrade their CPU

29th May 2009, 21:49

Should I be looking into buying an i7 920 D0 before September then?

geoffrey · 29th May 2009, 22:53

Depends on what you have now, if you own a Pentium 3 and photoshop crashes when you try to run it together with winamp I'd say it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend you money wisely now already

29th May 2009, 20:57	#1
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,019	Intel Core i5 Review - Few Months Before Release Take the Core i7, shave off one memory controller and replace the high bandwidth QPI link with Intel’s slower DMI and you’ve got the makings of a (more) mainstream Nehalem. Many have been calling this processor the Core i5 although I’m not quite ready to jump on that bandwagon, so I’ll keep referring to it by its socket (LGA-1156) or codename (Lynnfield). The new socket requires a new cooler. The four mounting holes are closer together on the LGA-1156 socket than they are on LGA-1366 boards, but further apart than LGA-775. It’s just different enough to require a brand new cooler, or at least a new mounting bracket. Instead of crippling graphics on its mainstream platform, Intel did the next best thing and integrated 16 PCIe 2.0 lanes onto the die of its mainstream Nehalem part. All of the processors are quad-core Nehalems with the same cache sizes as the Core i7. The only crippled beast is the entry level Lynnfield that has Hyper Threading disabled. The current rumors in the press are that Lynnfield is being held back in order to clear out excess Core 2 Quad inventory before it ships, because once this thing ships no one is going to want a Penryn anymore. Based on what I've seen, Lynnfield isn't ready just yet - it's not an artificial delay. The motherboards are in rough shape, CF/SLI isn't working and we're still at very early revs of the CPU's silicon. While I think that the chip will be ready far in advance of its rumored September shipdate, the CPU and motherboards aren't yet. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3570 __________________

29th May 2009, 21:01	#2
jmke Madshrimp Join Date: May 2002 Location: 7090/Belgium Posts: 79,019	When I got to the last page and started reading the Why would anyone want a LGA-1366 system then? , I got a nasty flashback. S939 vs S754: we all knew S754 was a dead end, right from the start; why o why is Intel taking this same decisions? Build one platform, let it scale all the way up and down; why force people to upgrade motherboard to upgrade their CPU __________________

29th May 2009, 22:53	#4
geoffrey [M] Reviewer Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 4,127	Depends on what you have now, if you own a Pentium 3 and photoshop crashes when you try to run it together with winamp I'd say it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend you money wisely now already __________________

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29th May 2009, 21:49	#3
Faiakes Posts: n/a	Should I be looking into buying an i7 920 D0 before September then?