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Lynnfield finally launches

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kureshii:
So, despite the pre-official leaks and quiet whisperings, Lynnfield finally launches today, to the anticipation of many hardware enthusiasts.

To sum up the reviews, Lynnfield is most probably the new mainstream gamer processor, as well as overall multi-threaded worker. Also, sets a few new numbers, such as the lowest idling power for a performance-oriented chipset, and very possibly breaks some records in processing-power-per-watt as well.

But don't mark my words, read the reviews yourself.

(links shamelessly gathered from Engadget and my usual RSS feeds)
HotHardware
PC Perspective
Tech Report
Tom's Hardware
Anandtech

Some noteworthy images:
Chipset diagram
No more Northbridge!
Amazing encoding performance
The future of processor power management (numbers are including GTX280 video card)

Newegg links:
i5-750
i7-860
i7-870

Why you should care:
1) Lynnfield i5 gives the AMD Phenom II X4 965 a really good run for the money.
2) Havendales with integrated graphics follow next year, this is a sneak peek at the kind of performance you can expect from the new generation of quad-cores.
3) Turbo mode is even better than on Bloomfield i7s, so you can expect great performance even on single and dual-threaded applications. No more nerfed single-threaded performance.
4) It turns out that dual-channel DDR3 doesn't actually nerf Lynnfield significantly, it also benefits from some of the lowest memory latency numbers ever (thanks to a higher-clocked uncore and memory controller).

The not-so-good:
1) Integrated PCIe controller makes overclocking tricky.
2) Does not scale well in multi-GPU setups with more than 2 GPUs, so hardcore gamers looking for quad-SLI should stick with socket 1366 and X58.

----------
I'm still hoping hard that AMD fights back with something good. Intel's been improving at a tremendous rate since their embarrassing Prescott days, and this really shows in their power consumption numbers. AMD, on the other hand, has been rather stagnant on the R&D front. At this rate, AMD's going to have to drop the prices on their already-cheap processors even lower (yay for us!), but I fear Intel will soon gain market monopoly on the higher-end range without any decent competition (uhuu). I like good performance from processors, but I like low prices as well, and the lack of a comparable high-end competitor is cause for worry.

To quote some quick prices from Newegg:
AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE retails at $249.
A DDR3 AMD 790GX board retails at no less than $115.

i5-750 retails at $210, i7-860 retails at $300.
A basic P55 motherboard can be had for as low as $105.

The AMD build above is advantaged by integrated graphics, but assuming we are all people who love our high-end systems with video cards, I'm afraid a Lynnfield build is simply better value for money. (Drop those prices quickly, AMD, and prepare a good comeback!)

So, comments? Don't want Lynnfield? Glad you bought that i7? Glad you didn't? Buying now? Buying later? Want Intel's babies? Will still only go AMD? Your replies please.

relic2279:
Hmm. I wonder if it's possible to enable the hyper threading on the i5 750.


--- Quote ---Keeping Hyper Threading off of the Core i5 is purely done to limit performance. There aren't any yield reasons why HT couldn't be enabled.
--- End quote ---

kureshii:
I've been wondering about that too. Just like it was discovered that the fourth core on the Phenom II X3 could potentially be unlocked, I don't see much reason for Intel to remove the circuitry required for HT just for the i5 series, especially since it shares so much in common with the Lynnfield i7. I believe it is most likely just BIOS-disabled, and perhaps there might be a workaround to enable it on certain steppings. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Drew:
Just bought one of these. Can't wait for it to get here. :D

Arveene:
So after looking at the benchmarks and headdesking repeatedly for about a day straight I've realized something. 5 months would have been a long wait for me, and I can at least look forward to Gulftown and beyond. It'll be interesting to see how each line evolves for 1156 and 1366.

Luckily for me SLI + being able to overclock easily are pluses for me. So after stepping away from the benchmarks and looking at my situation, the 1366 i7 was a better choice for me.

As for AMD, they don't stand a chance. Unless they have something really big up their sleeve, they can't compete. Intel is unloading their 45nm stuff because of the switch to 32nm next year. Sure, the Phenom II x4 965 is nice and all, but against the new Lynnfields I'm not really sure it can compete very well at it's current price. It'll need at least a price drop.

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