Intel CPU Core i7 2600K Sandy Bridge perspective

Sandy Bridge is the

codename A code name, codename, call sign, or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in ...

for Intel's 32 nm

microarchitecture In electronics, computer science and computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as μarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular ...

used in the second generation of the Intel Core processors ( Core i7, i5, i3). The Sandy Bridge microarchitecture is the successor to Nehalem and Westmere microarchitecture. Intel demonstrated an A1 stepping Sandy Bridge processor in 2009 during Intel Developer Forum (IDF), and released first products based on the architecture in January 2011 under the Core brand. Sandy Bridge is manufactured in the 32 nm process and has a soldered contact with the die and IHS (Integrated Heat Spreader), while Intel's subsequent generation Ivy Bridge uses a 22 nm

die shrink The term die shrink (sometimes optical shrink or process shrink) refers to the List of semiconductor scale examples, scaling of metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) devices. The act of shrinking a Die (integrated circuit), die creates a somewhat ...

and a TIM (Thermal Interface Material) between the die and the IHS.

Technology

Intel demonstrated a Sandy Bridge processor with A1 stepping at 2

GHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or Cycle per second, cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in ter ...

during the Intel Developer Forum in September 2009. Upgraded features from Nehalem include:

CPU

* Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 * 32 KB data + 32 KB instruction L1 cache and 256 KB L2 cache per core * Shared L3 cache which includes the processor graphics ( LGA 1155) * 64-byte cache line size * New μOP cache, up to 1536-entry * Improved 3 integer ALU, 2 vector ALU and 2 AGU per core * Two load/store operations per CPU cycle for each memory channel * Decoded

micro-operation cache A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, whic ...

, and enlarged, optimized

branch predictor In computer architecture, a branch predictor is a digital circuit that tries to guess which way a branch (e.g., an if–then–else structure) will go before this is known definitively. The purpose of the branch predictor is to improve the flow ...

* Sandy Bridge retains the four branch predictors found in Nehalem: the

branch target buffer In computer architecture, a branch target predictor is the part of a processor that predicts the target, i.e., the address of the instruction that is executed next, of a taken conditional branch or unconditional branch instruction before the ta ...

(BTB), indirect branch target array, loop detector and renamed return stack buffer (RSB). Sandy Bridge has a single BTB that holds twice as many branch targets as the L1 and L2 BTBs in Nehalem. * Improved performance for transcendental mathematics,

AES encryption The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES is a variant ...

(

AES instruction set An Advanced Encryption Standard instruction set (AES instruction set) is a set of instructions that are specifically designed to perform AES encryption and decryption operations efficiently. These instructions are typically found in modern process ...

), and

SHA-1 In cryptography, SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm 1) is a hash function which takes an input and produces a 160-bit (20-byte) hash value known as a message digest – typically rendered as 40 hexadecimal digits. It was designed by the United States ...

hashing * 256-bit/cycle ring bus interconnect between cores, graphics, cache and System Agent Domain *

Advanced Vector Extensions Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX, also known as Gesher New Instructions and then Sandy Bridge New Instructions) are SIMD extensions to the x86 instruction set architecture for microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). They w ...

(AVX) 256-bit instruction set with wider vectors, new extensible syntax and rich functionality * Up to 8 physical cores, or 16 logical cores through hyper-threading (From 6 core/12 thread) * Integration of the GMCH (integrated graphics and memory controller) and processor into a single die inside the processor package. In contrast, Sandy Bridge's predecessor, Clarkdale, has two separate dies (one for GMCH, one for processor) within the processor package. This tighter integration reduces memory latency even more. * A 14- to 19-stage

instruction pipeline In computer engineering, instruction pipelining is a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. Pipelining attempts to keep every part of the processor busy with some instruction by dividing incoming Mac ...

, depending on the micro-operation cache hit or miss * Increased ROB to 168 entries (From 128) * Larger Scheduler buffer (54-entry, up from 26-entry) : : All translation lookaside buffers (TLBs) are 4-way

associative In mathematics, the associative property is a property of some binary operations that rearranging the parentheses in an expression will not change the result. In propositional logic, associativity is a valid rule of replacement for express ...

GPU

* Intel Quick Sync Video, hardware support for video encoding and decoding * Integrated graphics is now integrated on the same die * OpenGL 3.3 support (from 2.1)

I/O

* Integrated PCIe Controller

Models and steppings

All Sandy Bridge processors with one, two, or four cores report the same CPUID model 0206A7h and are closely related. The stepping number cannot be seen from the CPUID but only from the PCI configuration space. The later Sandy Bridge-E processors with up to eight cores and no graphics are using CPUIDs 0206D6h and 0206D7h. Ivy Bridge CPUs all have CPUID 0306A9h to date, and are built in four different configurations differing in the number of cores, L3 cache and GPU execution units:

Performance

* The average performance increase, according to IXBT Labs and Semi Accurate as well as many other benchmarking sites, at clock to clock is 11.3% compared to the Nehalem generation, which includes Bloomfield, Clarkdale, and Lynnfield processors. * Around twice the integrated graphics performance compared to Clarkdale's (12 EUs comparison).

List of Sandy Bridge processors

¹Processors featuring Intel's HD 3000 graphics are set in bold. Other processors feature HD 2000 graphics, HD graphics (Pentium and Celeron models) or no graphics core (Graphics Clock rate indicated by N/A). * This list may not contain all the Sandy Bridge processors released by Intel. A more complete listing can be found on Intel's website.

Desktop platform

Suffixes to denote: * K – Unlocked (adjustable CPU ratio up to 57 bins) * P – Versions clocked slightly higher than similar models, but with onboard-graphics deactivated * S – Performance-optimized lifestyle (low power with 65W TDP) * T – Power-optimized lifestyle (ultra low power with 35-45W TDP) * X – Extreme performance and unlocked (adjustable CPU ratio with no ratio limit) * C – Embedded/Communications - BGA packaging NOTE
3970X3960X3930K
an
3820
are actually of Sandy Bridge-E edition.

Server platform

All 1600/2600/4600-series models: * support 40

PCI Express PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a high-speed standard used to connect hardware components inside computers. It is designed to replace older expansion bus standards such as Peripher ...

3.0 lanes * support DMI 2.0 * support

LGA 2011 LGA 2011, also called ''Socket R'', is a CPU socket by Intel released on November 14, 2011. It launched along with LGA 1356 to replace its predecessor, LGA 1366 (Socket B) and LGA 1567. While LGA 1356 was designed for dual-processor or ...

as a socket with varying scalabilities Suffixes to denote: * L – Low power * W – Optimized for workstations

Mobile platform

* Core i5-2515E and Core i7-2715QE processors have support for ECC memory and PCI express port bifurcation. * All mobile processors, except

Celeron Celeron is a series of IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor, microprocessors targeted at low-cost Personal computer, personal computers, manufactured by Intel from 1998 until 2023. The first Celeron-branded CPU was introduced on April 15, ...

and

Pentium Pentium is a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The Pentium (original), original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; Pentium was Intel's flagship proce ...

, use the HD 3000 (12 EUs) iGPU. Suffixes to denote: * M – Mobile processors ** UM – Ultra low power mobile (dual-core) ** LM – Low power mobile (dual-core) ** M – Dual-core mobile ** QM – Quad-core mobile ** XM – Quad-core extreme mobile (unlocked clock multiplier) * E – Embedded mobile processors ** QE – Quad-core ** LE – Low power ** UE – Ultra low power

Cougar Point chipset flaw

On 31 January 2011, Intel issued a recall on all 67-series motherboards due to a flaw in the Cougar Point Chipset. A hardware problem exists, in which the chipset's SATA II ports may fail over time, causing failure of connection to SATA devices, though data is not at risk. Intel claims that this problem will affect only 5% of users over 3 years; however, heavier I/O workloads can exacerbate the problem. This hardware bug cannot be fixed by BIOS update. Intel stopped production of flawed B2 stepping chipsets and began producing B3 stepping chipsets with the silicon fix. Shipping of these new chipsets started on 14 February 2011 and Intel estimated full recovery volume in April 2011. Motherboard manufacturers (such as ASUS and

Gigabyte Technology GIGA-BYTE Technology Co., Ltd. (commonly referred to as Gigabyte Technology or simply Gigabyte) is a Taiwanese manufacturer and distributor of computer hardware. Gigabyte's principal business is motherboards, It shipped 4.8 million motherboards i ...

) and computer manufacturers (such as

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

and

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

) stopped selling products that involved the flawed chipset and offered support for affected customers. Options ranged from swapping for B3 motherboards to product refunds. Sandy Bridge processor sales were temporarily on hold, as one cannot use the CPU without a motherboard. However, processor release dates were not affected. After two weeks, Intel continued shipping some chipsets, but manufacturers had to agree to a set of terms that will prevent customers from encountering the bug.

Limitations

Overclocking

With Sandy Bridge, Intel has tied the speed of every bus (USB, SATA, PCI, PCIe, CPU cores, Uncore, memory etc.) to a single internal clock generator issuing the basic Base Clock (BClk). With CPUs being multiplier locked, the only way to overclock is to increase the BClk, which can be raised by only 5–7% without other hardware components failing. As a work around, Intel made available K/X-series processors, which feature unlocked multipliers; with a multiplier cap of 57 for Sandy Bridge. For the Sandy Bridge-E platform, there is alternative method known as the BClk ratio overclock. During IDF ( Intel Developer Forum) 2010, Intel demonstrated an unknown Sandy Bridge CPU running stably overclocked at 4.9 GHz on air cooling.

Chipset

Non-K edition CPUs can overclock up to four bins from its turbo multiplier.

vPro remote-control

Sandy and Ivy Bridge processors with

vPro The VPRO (stylized vpro; originally an acronym for ''Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep'', lit. 'Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcaster', nowadays known as ''Omroepvereniging VPRO'') is a Netherlands, Dutch Public broadcasting, public broadca ...

capability have security features that can remotely disable a PC or erase information from hard drives. This can be useful in the case of a lost or stolen PC. The commands can be received through 3G signals, Ethernet, or Internet connections. AES encryption acceleration will be available, which can be useful for video conferencing and VoIP applications.

Intel Insider

Sandy and Ivy Bridge processors contain a DRM technology that some video streaming web sites rely on to restrict use of their content. Such web sites offer 1080p streaming to users with such CPUs and downgrade the quality for other users.

Software development kit

With the introduction of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture, Intel also introduced the Intel Data Plane Development Kit (Intel DPDK) to help developers of communications applications take advantage of the platform in

packet processing In digital communications networks, packet processing refers to the wide variety of algorithms that are applied to a packet of data or information as it moves through the various network elements of a communications network. With the increased perf ...

applications, and network processors.

Roadmap

Intel demonstrated the Haswell architecture in September 2011, released in 2013 as the successor to

Sandy Bridge Sandy Bridge is the List of Intel codenames, codename for Intel's 32 nm process, 32 nm microarchitecture used in the second generation of the Intel Core, Intel Core processors (Intel Core i7, Core i7, Intel Core i5, i5, Intel Core i3, i3). The Sa ...

and Ivy Bridge.

Fixes

In 2015, Microsoft released a microcode update for selected Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs for Windows 7 and up that addresses stability issues. However, the update negatively impacts Pentium G3258 and Core i3-4010U CPU models.