Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture exposed
In a slightly unusual chain of events, thanks to Anandtech we already knew a fair amount about the performance of Intel's new Sandy Bridge architecture before we even knew anything about its intricacies. Luckily, a whole pile of new information about said architecture is now available, so we can finally answer the question "f$%#ing Sandy Bridge, how does it work?"...
The largest performance improvement on Sandy Bridge vs. current Westmere architectures actually has nothing to do with the CPU, it’s all graphics. While the CPU cores show a 10 - 30% improvement in performance, Sandy Bridge graphics performance is easily double what Intel delivered with Clarkdale/Arrandale at the beginning of the year.
While the ‘dales improved performance by moving graphics to a 45nm process, increasing shader hardware and clock speed, SNB graphics improves through a significant increase in IPC.
The Sandy Bridge GPU is on-die built out of the same 32nm transistors as the CPU cores. The GPU is on its own power island and clock domain. The GPU can be powered down or clocked up independently of the CPU. Graphics turbo is available on both desktop and mobile parts, and you get more bins with graphics turbo on Sandy Bridge than you did with Arrandale.
Read the full breakdown of what makes Sandy Bridge tick at Anandtech.While the ‘dales improved performance by moving graphics to a 45nm process, increasing shader hardware and clock speed, SNB graphics improves through a significant increase in IPC.
The Sandy Bridge GPU is on-die built out of the same 32nm transistors as the CPU cores. The GPU is on its own power island and clock domain. The GPU can be powered down or clocked up independently of the CPU. Graphics turbo is available on both desktop and mobile parts, and you get more bins with graphics turbo on Sandy Bridge than you did with Arrandale.
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NVIDIA GeForce/ION 260.63 beta driver released
As promised following yesterday's GeForce GTS 450 launch, NVIDIA have now lifted the lid on their 260 series of GeForce drivers, albeit only in a beta form at present. As well as an all-new installation process, these drivers also offer up numerous performance improvements for GeForce 400 series graphics board owners.
Increases performance for GeForce GTX 400 Series GPUs in several PC games vs. v258.96 WHQL drivers. The following are examples of some of the most significant improvements measured on Windows 7. Results will vary depending on your GPU and system configuration:
GeForce GTX 480:
+ Up to 10% in StarCraft II (2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF Ultra)
+ Up to 14% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 16% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 6% in Aliens vs. Predator (SLI – 1920x1200 noAA – Tessellation on)
GeForce GTX 460:
+ Up to 19% in StarCraft II (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF Ultra)
+ Up to 15% in Battlefield Bad Company 2 (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2560x1600 noAA)
+ Up to 9% in Aliens vs. Predator (1680x1050 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)
+ Up to 7% in Metro 2033 (1680x1050 noAA – Tessellation on)
+ Up to 11% in Dirt 2 (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in Crysis:Warhead (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF Gamer)
+ Up to 13% in Far Cry 2 (2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in H.A.W.X (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF SSAO Very High)
+ Up to 5% in Just Cause 2 (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 22% in Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (1920x1200 noAA)
+ Up to 5% in 3DMark Vantage (Extreme Preset)
You can download the beta GeForce 260.63 driver release from the links below:GeForce GTX 480:
+ Up to 10% in StarCraft II (2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF Ultra)
+ Up to 14% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 16% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 6% in Aliens vs. Predator (SLI – 1920x1200 noAA – Tessellation on)
GeForce GTX 460:
+ Up to 19% in StarCraft II (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF Ultra)
+ Up to 15% in Battlefield Bad Company 2 (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2560x1600 noAA)
+ Up to 9% in Aliens vs. Predator (1680x1050 4xAA/16xAF – Tessellation on)
+ Up to 7% in Metro 2033 (1680x1050 noAA – Tessellation on)
+ Up to 11% in Dirt 2 (SLI – 2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in Crysis:Warhead (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF Gamer)
+ Up to 13% in Far Cry 2 (2560x1600 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 12% in H.A.W.X (SLI – 1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF SSAO Very High)
+ Up to 5% in Just Cause 2 (1920x1200 4xAA/16xAF)
+ Up to 22% in Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (1920x1200 noAA)
+ Up to 5% in 3DMark Vantage (Extreme Preset)
Windows Vista/7 (32-bit)
Windows Vista/7 (64-bit)
Windows XP Home/Professional
Windows XP Professional x64
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Intel Developer Forum 2010 - CEO keynote coverage
With Intel's latest Developer Forum event kicking off yesterday, as you might expect things started with a keynote from the company's CEO Paul Otellini, while head of the firm's architecture group David Perlmutter also put in an appearance. While Intel's forthcoming Sandy Bridge architecture was high on the agenda of course, the company were keen to stress that they're more than just a processor manufacturer.
Mr. Otellini began his presentation by talking about the huge growth in internet-connected smart devices and how the PC market has changed in such a way that the conversation is no longer centered on the “one PC per household†concept, but rather “one, or multiple PCs per personâ€, depending on how you define the PC. He said that current projections estimate that the number of connected smart devices will likely double in the next 4 years and that for many users, no single device will suffice. Intel’s goal moving forward is to not only power these devices, but to fulfill the needs of developers and end-users to seamlessly connect and share data among all of the devices.
Intel plans to achieve that goal though more complete hardware and software solution and more service-oriented offerings. Mr. Otellini then mentioned that Intel’s 22nm manufacturing process, which will be a key component of future platform offerings, is on track and that processors are already being manufactured using the technology—not just simpler the SRAM devices, which were shown off at last year’s IDF.
Hot Hardware has full coverage of the keynote speeches.Intel plans to achieve that goal though more complete hardware and software solution and more service-oriented offerings. Mr. Otellini then mentioned that Intel’s 22nm manufacturing process, which will be a key component of future platform offerings, is on track and that processors are already being manufactured using the technology—not just simpler the SRAM devices, which were shown off at last year’s IDF.
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