Intel Haswell Chips - coming soon

Mobile computing is moving along at a rapid pace, thanks to continued progress and innovations -- especially from the efficient and powerful Intel series of chips.  We're excited about the Haswell chips that are slated to come out in June 2013.  These chips promise an improvement in power and efficiency of about 30% over the current lineup of Intel i5/i7 series of chips -- and should enable new form-factors (!!) for new PCs.

xBitLabs reports:

The new chips that are made using 22nm process technology promise to revolutionize notebooks and ultrabooks as besides of increased performance they will feature lower power consumption.

“We started production of our next-generation micro-architecture product code-named Haswell, which we expect to qualify for sale this quarter. This production prior to qualification for sale resulted in an increase in [older-generation] inventory write-offs,” said Stacy Smith, chief financial officer of Intel, during quarterly conference call with financial analysts.

The fourth-generation Intel Core i “Haswell” processor family will enable true all-day battery life, representing the most significant battery life capability improvement in Intel history, the company revealed earlier this month. Intel executives disclosed that new systems are expected to deliver up to 9 hours of continuous battery life. Thanks to higher performance and lower power consumption compared to predecessors, Intel Core i “Haswell” will be able to power new breed of laptops that will, among other advantages, feature touch-screens, voice recognition and gesture controls. Intel itself believes that ultrabooks powered by Haswell will revolutionize the market of mobile PCs in a similar way Centrino did a decade ago.  

Read more here:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20130117233616_Intel_Starts_Production_of_Next_Generation_Haswell_Microprocessors.html 

Intel Ivy Bridge Chips - Launch Date is 4/29/12

From CPU-World:

The original launch date for Ivy Bridge was to be April 8th, but that has had to be adjusted, not least because of surplus stocks of Sandy Bridge wafers that need to be used up. It seems that the 7 series desktop chipsets - Z77, Z75, H77 and B75 - will be available from retailers on April 8, but Ivy Bridge processors will start rolling out 3 weeks later, on April 29.

There are ten i5 and i7 processors due for release on April 29. These include i7-3770, i7-3770K, i7-3770S and i7-3770T from the i7 range. For the i5 range, we will see i5-3570K, i5-3550, i5-3550S, i5-3570T, i5-3450 and i5-3450S processors.

Five weeks later, on June 3, Intel will launch several more i5 processors, as well as the mobile chipsets. The processors to be launched at this stage include i5-3470, i5-3470S, i5-3475S, i5-3570 and i5-3570S. Core i3 and Pentium processors with the new core will not be available until the holiday season.

Read more here:

http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2012/2012031301_Ivy_Bridge_revised_launch_schedule.html

Intel 2nd Gen (Sandy Bridge) i7 vs. i5

The Intel Second Generation i5 chip -- also known as the Sandy Bridge i5 -- has been in our sweet spot in terms of price versus performance for quite a while.  You can purchase a powerful laptop with this chip -- for about $550-$600 (and get your favorite combination of RAM, hard-drive, and other specs).  That is a great value.

However, laptops with the more powerful 2nd generation i7 chip have stayed stubbornly in the $700-$900 range.  We expect prices to drop, however, with an improvement in specs due to Intel's new Ivy Bridge chip set, due out in April 2012.  If you had to get a laptop now, is the i7 really worth the extra bucks?  When prices drop, how much better is the i7 versus the i5?

We decided to investigate:

• If you are a "light" laptop user (browse the net, read news, check email), the 2nd generation i3 will be a great value and serve your purposes.
• However, if you are interested in performance, the i7 is definitely more powerful than the i5, which is more powerful than the i3.  The number / name of the chips i3 (***), i5 (****), and i7 (*****) -- as well as the star ratings -- are indicative of processor power.  Below are some details.
• Number of Cores:  i3 chips are dual core, while most i5 and i7 chips are quad core.  NOTE that for laptop chips, i7 Quad Core CPUs are indicated by a Q (for example, i7-2630QM)
• Hyper-Threading: normally, one core can serve only one thread.  Thus, a dual core chip can normally only have two threads.  However, Intel introduced hyper-threading, which allows cores to serve multiple threads.  Many i3 dual core chips use this technology, so the two cores can have four threads.  Note that some i5 quad core chip sets do not support hyper-threading, which means that four cores could be served, the same number of many i3 dual core chip sets that allowed two threads to be served!  The i7 chip set benefits from both the quad core technology and hyper-threading -- so this is one area where the i7 particularly shines (8 threads!).  
• Cache Size:  Many computer enthusiasts know that RAM is an important feature to study when purchasing a new computer.  Computers store data in RAM, which it is able to access faster than reading data from the hard-drive.  Cache is similar to RAM, except that it is even faster because the cache is built into the processor.  (RAM minimizes hard-drive access time and Cache minimizes RAM time by storing frequently used data in cache).  The i3 has 3MB of cache, while the i5 has 6MB, and i7 has 8MB.   
•   Intel Turbo Boost:  when the pc recognizes the need for additional computing power, the i5 and i7 chips are equipped with this turbo boost technology that allows it to dynamically increase its clock speed (as a function of the number of cores, processor temperature, and estimated power consumption).  

We will be saving our money for an i7 laptop -- and will be keeping an eye on the Intel Ivy Bridge chip -- which looks very promising!

Some good sources:
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/386100/what_difference_between_an_intel_core_i3_i5_i7_/?pp=2

And introducing the Intel Ivy Bridge chip set:
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Benchmarks-Intel-Ivy-Bridge-CPU-sandy-bridge,14144.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5174/why-ivy-bridge-is-still-quad-core


Ivy Bridge -- said to cost the same as Sandy Bridge and perform about 10% better...
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4062878026



   

Laptop Specs - Holidays 2011

We keep track of laptops that we like for everyday / business use. Some people may like the most powerful laptops -- or more stylish looks -- but the specs shown in the chart below represent the "sweetspot" in terms of performance, price, and value. Here's a record of what you can get for the given price point over recent years.

It's exciting to have the new Intel "breakthrough" Core i3/i5/i7 series of chips -- and now, the Second Generation (Sandy Bridge) of this Intel series in this price category. Note that the "-2xxx" in the Intel core chips (for instance, "i5-2430") signifies the Second Generation.  We hope and expect the Second Generation i7 chips to come into our "sweet spot" soon!  Other features that we have our eye on include:

• The Second Generation of i7 chips and 6GB (or 8GB) of RAM memory are a little pricier than the laptops in the chart below.  You can step up to this level for about $750 to $800 (about $200 more than our sweet spot below).  
• We sometimes see specials of about $699 for the Second Generation i7 chip, 8GB ram & 750 GB hard-drive.
• Most laptops have around 4 hours of battery life - but a few have up to 8 hours.  Over time, the batteries degrade -- so you will see less than the listed battery life specs...
• Some laptops have increased battery life.  You will have to look for this feature, however, as most do not have the extended battery life.  Extended battery life will cost a bit more.
• LED screens are now the standard.  They use much less power than LCD screen -- meaning improved battery life.
• Those concerned with battery life might want to consider a slightly smaller screen (13 or 14 inches instead of 15 inches means a smaller surface area to light up). (This is a trade-off for smartphones as well: a larger screen means more battery drain.)
• HDMI output is generally available nowadays as well, but check if you really want this feature.

Date	Processor Speed	Memory	Harddrive	Battery	Price
Dec 11	2.4 Ghz (i5 – 2xxx)	4 or 6GB (exp to 8)	600-720GB	4.5 / 6 hrs	$500-$600
Apr 11	2.5 Ghz (i3) Win 7	4GB (exp to 8)	500 GB	4.5 hrs	$550
Jan 11	2.4 Ghz (i3) Win 7	4 GB (exp to 8)	500 GB	4.5 hrs / 8 hrs	$500-$600
Nov 10	2.4 Ghz (i3) Win 7	4 GB (exp to 8)	320 GB	4 hrs	$500
Dec 09	2.2 Ghz (x2) Win 7	4 GB	300 GB	4 hrs	$550
Aug 09	2.1 Ghz (x2) Vista	3 GB	320 GB	3 hrs	$500
Dec 08	2.0 Ghz (x2) Vista	3 GB	300 GB	2.5 hrs	$550
Aug 08	1.9 Ghz (x2) Vista	3 GB	250 GB	2 hrs	$550
Dec 07	1.6 Ghz (x2) Vista	1.5 GB	120 GB	1.5 hrs	$550

Intel Chips: Second Generation Core Processors

Intel's Second (2nd) Generation Core Processors, also known as Sandy Bridge, have been out since the beginning of 2011, but these chips are now entering our (zroundtable.com's) "sweet-spot" in terms of price-to-performance for laptops.  The chips are an improvement on Intel's i3 / i5 / i7 series of powerful and low-power chips -- with noticeable improvements in CPU -- and especially s step-up for graphics.  We'll update our chart of laptop specs sometime soon.

It was just a year ago that Intel released its first generation Core processors, so what exactly makes this platform different? Well, a few things. For those that haven't followed the Sandy Bridge saga, the new family of processors are all based on Intel's 32nm microarchitecture and are the first to put both the processor, memory controller, and graphics on the same die. What's that mean for you? In short, it means the package is smaller and all the parts get to take advantage of each other better -- for instance, by dynamically clocking both the CPU cores and graphics to match whatever workload you throw at it, and giving them up to 1MB of shared cache. Speaking of those graphics, while they may still not be on par with a discrete video card, they're more powerful than ever before. According to Intel, the new HD 2000 and 3000 processor graphics provide 2x the performance of Capella-based systems, and that actually holds up with what we've seen in early benchmarks (so long, GMA 4500). What's more, Intel's improved its Turbo Boost and Hyper-threading technologies such that the new chips enable higher levels of CPU performance as well -- up to a 60 percent improvement with quad-core mobile CPUs.   

Read more here:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/03/intels-2nd-generation-core-processor-family-announced-includes/

 ... see Core i3, i5, and i7 branded chips on the market. The number immediately following the "i" modifier-a "2"-will indicate that said CPU is a part of the Sandy Bridge family, as it's a second-generation CPU. Three more numbers will indicate the specific processor SKU, and a letter possibly appended to the end-"K," "S," or "T"-will detail whether the CPU is unlocked for overclocking, optimized for "lifestyle" computing, or optimized for power-savings.

Read more here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/215190/intels_sandy_bridge_cpus_what_to_expect.html#tk.mod_rel