Published in PC Hardware

Sandy Bridge roadmap leaked

by on12 August 2010


Confusing branding as usual

German tech site Computer Base has managed to get hold of some new Sandy Bridge info which sheds quite a bit more light on Intel’s upcoming CPU lineup.

The leaked roadmap features information on new desktop and mobile processors, with some basic specs and branding details. Sandy Bridge will feature Core i3, i5 and i7 branding. The Core i3 moniker is reserved for hyperthreaded dual-cores with 3MB of L3 cache and TDPs ranging from 35W to 65W.

All but one Core i5 parts will feature four cores and 6MB of cache, but they don’t support hyperthreading. TDPs range from 45W to 95W and the highest clocked Core i5 2500 will run at 3.3GHz or 3.7GHz with Turbo. As usual, the Core i7 brand will be slapped on quad-core Sandy’s with hyperthreading and 8MB of cache. The fastest iteration, dubbed Core i7 2600 will run at 3,4GHz sans Turbo, or 3.8GHz with Turbo Boost.

In an effort to confuse consumers even further, Intel has also revised its naming scheme. Again. For the new series, the company adopted three new suffixes. Parts with the S suffix are energy efficient 65W models, while the T suffix is reserved for 35W and 45W CPUs. The K suffix indicates that the processor has an unlocked multiplier, which means that’s the one to go for.

There is also some info on six upcoming mobile parts, including dual-core Core i5 25xxM series models with 3MB of cache, HT and 35W TDPs and the Core i7 2620M with 4MB of cache and 35W TDP. The clocks are rather impressive, as the slowest dual-core Core i5 2520M will run at 2.5GHz/3.2GHz and the fastest Core i7 2620M ended up with 2.7GHz/3.4GHz clocks.

However, the new quad-cores are big news, as they will be the first mobile quads in 32nm. Despite this TDPs start at 45W for the Core i7 2720QM clocked at 2.2GHz/3.3GHz. The flagship Core i7 2920XM will feature 8MB of cache and 2.5GHz/3.5GHz clocks, however it has a massive 55W TDP and it will obviously cost an arm and a leg.

You can check out the slides here.

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