The amazing part is the immense price difference vs. performance.
http://promotions.newegg.com/Intel/10-2904/index.htmlIntel's i7-980X
$999.99Intel Core i7-2600K
$329.99The benchmarks are amazing on the new Sandy Bridge i7. I want to preface everything posted below with the fact that for the most part applications such as video and file compression/decompression tools which fully take advantage of having 6 cores (12 HT) over 4 cores (8 HT) *will* run faster on the 980X. Otherwise, for the rest of the software most of us use everyday, the 2600K (unlocked) is still by far the faster processor for most applications. One additional caveat is that the new 2600Ks run on an LGA 1155 (one pin less than the first gen i5 LGA 1156) so you will need a new motherboard with the new LGA 1155 socket. This isn't simply an excuse to shell out extra money on a new motherboard. These new LGA 1155 boards will include the new P67 chipsets, 6 GB/s Sata transfers, USB v.3.0, and UEFI (replaces old BIOS) so file table formatting in GPT (replaces MBR) so > 2.14 TB drive partitioning will be no longer an issue (see:
post).
However, I will point out --
DON'T BUY ANY P67/H67 chipset based motherboards*. The P67 chipsets do *not* support the integrated GPU on the Sandy Bridge processors. Conversely, the H67 chipsets will support the integrated GPU on the processor but will *not* support overclocking of the CPU. Please wait until the Z68 chipset is released sometime in the Summer 2011. This chipset will support the on-dye GPU as well as overclocking of the CPU and memory. Additionally the new Z68 chipset will hopefully support what's called SSD caching (see:
HPHA) which essentially is technology designed to integrate SSD/HDDs by utilizing the high speeds of SSDs to "pre-cache" data off of traditional high storage HDD devices to optimize performance of the entire system -- essentially accelerating the access speeds of data stored on HDDs. Currently both drives act independently of each other, only linked by an operating system (hopefully stored on the SSD). While I believe this technology was primarily developed to dramatically increase the performance of servers and data centers (cloud centers, too), we'll have to see how user friendly this technology will be developed for the end user. All of this means you should hold off purchasing the new gen Sandy Bridges until the Z68 chipsets are released.
AnandTech's benchmark comparison between both processors
* While I feel being able to use the on-dye GPU on the Sandy Bridges is important, if you are the type that's going to be using $400 video cards in Triple-SLI/Crossfire then of course you aren't going to care about using the integrated GPU. Thus, the P67 is going to be a fine choice for you. However, I subscribe to the philosophy that you should get what you pay for -- and that means use of the integrated GPU.
On a personal note, I'm waiting for laptop manufactures to release their new series containing the Sandy Bridge. As powerful as these are for desktop processing, I really feel these chips' shining moment will be running in laptops. I can't *wait* to see benchmarks of these new Sandy Bridge laptops. My only hope is that they don't artificially jack up the prices on these simply because they are new -- considering the cost of the chips will be cheaper than what they are currently paying for first gen i-series Intel chips. The pricing war on these Sandy Bridge laptops will be very interesting to watch.
