Anyone else disappointed in Ivy Bridge E ??

[mdzcpa]

Based on all the leaked data I should not be surprised or disappointed by todays reviews after the NDA lifted. But...I am.

I knew the IPC gains would be minimal but I was hoping for some decent clocking opportunity with IB-E. I'm pretty disappointed that IB-E overclocks so poorly. Although some of the reviewers tried to put a good face on the situation it was very clear that IB-E on average falls well below SB-E overclocks. I'm guessing 100-300mhz on average when I went back and looked at the initial 3960X reviews. Although HiVizMan linked up a nice screenie yesterday of a IB-E 5Ghz clock (thanks you!!), my hopes slowly faded after the reviews came out.

Maybe it's BIOS immaturity...but I I'm not too sure about that. I think it might be the 22nm die shrink with the transistors running along the Z axis. It just may be prone to more leakage. Not sure.

Maybe I was expecting too much? With a true 6 core chip and revised IHS I though maybe IB-E would really soar.

In any case there is no way I'm retiring my beloved SB-E that benches stable at 5Ghz and runs 24/7 at 4.8Ghz at 1.38v for one of these IB-E chips at 4.6 at 1.4v...if I'm lucky. I know my 3960X is a runner but still...the IB-E reviews all around the net are only hitting 4.4-4.5 with more voltage doing nothing to help. What I' might gain in IPC with IB-E will be lost in mhz. I was hoping IB-E would at least match SB-E but that's not the case. And I don't feel liking binning 200 CPUs to find the golden chip.

I'm sure I may not be the only one here with a SB-E chip feeling the same way. So now I wait for Haswell E or simply give up on the "Extreme" enthusiast line that sadly offers an outdated X79 chipset and outdated CPU architecture. I know the technology release cadence of the " Extreme" line is that of the server market, but it doesn't make me any happier.

Oh well. I've been running my RIVE/3960X since November 2011. It honestly has been the most stable system I've ever built and even today, 22 months later, it offers a ton of performance. So I guess I can hold on a while more if I need to. The system still rocks and the RIVE is running like a tank. And maybe...just maybe...some BIOS maturity will help things with IB-E. But I'm not going hold my breath.

ending my rant now 🙂

[EruKaze]

Well I can understand that though. I'm sticking with my 3960X even though I'm on default clocks. I just don't find the point in upgrading to the Ivy bridge CPU's since its only like %5 - %10 percent improvement (If my info not correct pls correct me, all I know its not much improvement >.<) really and for gaming not so much.

I don't know if Im gonna move straight from Sandy Bridge to Haswell-E as yet. I guess its all to say on the price and if any improvement changes from the Sandy Bridge.

[EruKaze]

I guess that's another reason why I'm in a hard corner on making a decision, if there is a point doing water cooling on Sandy Bridge as yet since Haswell-E is like a year away. Time does fly fast pretty quick..

[DooRules]

I have seen nothing to move me either bud. My 3960 is doing just fine.

I am starting to wonder how Haswell X will OC considering how lacklustre the current crop is.

[RickROG]

Very disappointed Intel did not take care of the major errata, but, instead are going for the fast buck-like Intel needs it!! 🙂 I never was going to upgrade and if I was an x58 owner I would wait for Haswell e ; or go with the much cheaper and every bit the maximum performer 1150 Haswell's-some pretty awesome numbers for these chips according to the reviews I've read.

[Baalberith_NL]

Basicly the only reason to move to IB-E is its native PCI 3.0. So if not running the system at high resolutions (+1920x1080) or using it for heavy 3D aplications, i see no need going to a IB-E.

[Nodens]

Thing is native GEN3 PCIe doesn't give any performance gain at all with current hardware unless you go to Surround/Eyefinity resolutions and even then the gain is very very small. GEN3 imo would only matter with enterprise class RAID controllers right now.
Imo, IB-E's only strong point is the IMC. I can easily see people that have real use for RAM speed to eagerly jump to that wagon (eg database boxes).

Regarding the 22nm tri-gate fab process.. well we knew it had leakage issues from the pre-IB-E CPU samples but I was personally hoping they'd have them sorted out by now. I would not rule out early UEFI firmware not being optimized to the max though. Let's wait a bit and see.
I would also not rule out later steppings to be less power hungry..

[Snakeyes]

In exactly the same boat here. 4.8 GHz 24/7 stable and running cool. Would like a few more 6 GB Sata connections but otherwise see no present benefits. It's interesting that Maximum PC chose a similar set up using the RIVE for their new Dream Machine. Looks like Intel is moving towards laptops and energy efficiency.

[Arne_Saknussemm]

Yep mdzcpa! I too am a bit disappointed there's nothing really to get excited for.....Just bought a 3930K.....will keep my eye on IB-E steppings and results in the real world....right here on ROG Forum....but if the bought and paid for reviews are a bit lacklustre....I wonder about the results we'll be seing from your average Joe OC.....

That's some BIOS they're going to have to come up with...

Waiting for the RVE now....hope that's slightly more exciting.....

[cx-ray]

I agree with all of the above. However, the on the fly overclocking and voltage adjustment features without requiring a reboot are interesting. You could potentially have both a very power efficient and highly overclocked system, without the problems that may or may not crop up with off-set type of CPU tuning. Intel enables this though their AppTune utility, which allows for application specific clock profiles. Run your system at stock settings for regular use and crank it up for rendering or gaming.

Perhaps, this is the way forward. With some maturity of the software and a new iteration in Haswelll-E, it could make the next CPU generation very attractive to upgrade to.