Ivy Bridge CPUs
Consumer grade IB CPUs include the i5 and i7 series.
The i5 series is quad core with hyper-threading disabled.
HT is a feature reserved for the i7 series with a premium of around $100 over the closest i5 CPU.
i5 CPUs cluster around $200 so the HT premium is about 50%.
Server grade (Xeon) IB CPUs are given a product number of the type E3-12XX V2.
I expected such products to have a large price premium over the i5/i7 products with similar clock frequencies.
Curiously enough, this is not always true. The lowest 4 Xeon E3s are in the low $200 price range but everything above the lowest 2 include HT. Examples:
E3-1230 V2 3.3/3.7 GHz with HT costs $235.
i7-3770 3.4/3.9 GHz with HT costs $290.
There is only one chipset optimized for the E3-12XX V2 Xeons, the C216, which adds USB 3.0 and Smart Response Technology to the C206. Compared to the Z77 chipset, C216 adds vPro and AMT support, but note that full vPro is only possible with a CPU that has graphics and there are other costs associated with vPro. Regular IPMI seems like a better deal at this point.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/xeon-e3-benchmark-review,3258-3.html
Currently only Asus and Supermicro make workstation class motherboards with the C216.
Asus P8C WS
http://www.servethehome.com/Workstation-detail/asus-p8c-ws-review-c216-based-workstation-motherboard/
Expansion: 4 x16 (physical) PCIe slots, x8/x8/x4/x4 electrically plus 1 x1 and 1 PCI slot.
Pro: 3 yr warranty (but there have been complaints about the RMA process...)
Firewire (who cares)
Con: No Intel AMT/vPro. Only video out is 1 DVI (single link).
Lots of unhappy Newegg customers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131849
There are two Supermicro MB: X9SAE and X9SAE-V.
X9SAE-V Expansion:
2 physical x16 (electrically PCI-E 3.0 x8),
1 physical x8 (electrically PCI-E 2.0 x4),
2 physical x4 (electrically PCI-E 2.0 x4),
1 physical x1 PCIe 2.0 and
1 PCI slot
Pro: Intel AMT/vPro.
Onboard video support: VGA plus 2 HDMI outputs (but you need a more expensive E3-12X5 series Xeon to use the MB onboard video).
About $30 less than P8C WS. One LAN port is a higher grade chip.
Con: 1 yr warranty
Comparison of Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge Xeon:
http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-e31230-v2-ivy-bridge-xeon-review-4c8t-33ghz/
The i5 series is quad core with hyper-threading disabled.
HT is a feature reserved for the i7 series with a premium of around $100 over the closest i5 CPU.
i5 CPUs cluster around $200 so the HT premium is about 50%.
Server grade (Xeon) IB CPUs are given a product number of the type E3-12XX V2.
I expected such products to have a large price premium over the i5/i7 products with similar clock frequencies.
Curiously enough, this is not always true. The lowest 4 Xeon E3s are in the low $200 price range but everything above the lowest 2 include HT. Examples:
E3-1230 V2 3.3/3.7 GHz with HT costs $235.
i7-3770 3.4/3.9 GHz with HT costs $290.
There is only one chipset optimized for the E3-12XX V2 Xeons, the C216, which adds USB 3.0 and Smart Response Technology to the C206. Compared to the Z77 chipset, C216 adds vPro and AMT support, but note that full vPro is only possible with a CPU that has graphics and there are other costs associated with vPro. Regular IPMI seems like a better deal at this point.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/xeon-e3-benchmark-review,3258-3.html
Currently only Asus and Supermicro make workstation class motherboards with the C216.
Asus P8C WS
http://www.servethehome.com/Workstation-detail/asus-p8c-ws-review-c216-based-workstation-motherboard/
Expansion: 4 x16 (physical) PCIe slots, x8/x8/x4/x4 electrically plus 1 x1 and 1 PCI slot.
Pro: 3 yr warranty (but there have been complaints about the RMA process...)
Firewire (who cares)
Con: No Intel AMT/vPro. Only video out is 1 DVI (single link).
Lots of unhappy Newegg customers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131849
There are two Supermicro MB: X9SAE and X9SAE-V.
X9SAE-V Expansion:
2 physical x16 (electrically PCI-E 3.0 x8),
1 physical x8 (electrically PCI-E 2.0 x4),
2 physical x4 (electrically PCI-E 2.0 x4),
1 physical x1 PCIe 2.0 and
1 PCI slot
Pro: Intel AMT/vPro.
Onboard video support: VGA plus 2 HDMI outputs (but you need a more expensive E3-12X5 series Xeon to use the MB onboard video).
About $30 less than P8C WS. One LAN port is a higher grade chip.
Con: 1 yr warranty
Comparison of Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge Xeon:
http://www.servethehome.com/intel-xeon-e31230-v2-ivy-bridge-xeon-review-4c8t-33ghz/
posted by Philip Ngai | 11:25 AM
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