The WB0DGF Antenna Site

Russell and Roger's Computer Building Project

(24 Sep 2011)

Russell (KC0ECT) and Roger (WB0DGF) are planning to build 2 state-of-the art computers for personal use.  We want the experience of collecting and assembling the parts, diagnosing problems and loading and tweaking the operating sytem.  The system that we are considering uses the Intel i5-2500K CPU running at 3.3 GHz, installed in the ASUS P8Z68-V PRO motherboard.  Memory will likely be the Corsair Vengeance 8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz.  The hard drive will be at least 500 GB SATA-III 6 GB/s.  Russell is considering using a video card for better game graphics, while I may use the internal motherboard video for now.  As our design gets finalized and parts are ordered, I will post images and links below.

CPU Choices:
There a lot of desktop CPU choices to consider.  Currently, our fastest computer at home is a 65nm Pentium Dual Core E2200 running at 2.2 GHz with 3 GB RAM. This processor was released in Dec. 2007. There are several generations of Intel and AMD processors to choose from.  In the Intel CPU's, we have the older 65 and 45 nm fabrication architecture, such as the Core 2 Duo (Conroe, Allendale, Wolfdale) and the Core 2 Quad (Kentsfield and Yorkfield) released 2006-2008.  Intel also has the newer 45 and 32 nm devices, such as the Core i3 (Clarkdale and Sandy Bridge), Core i5 (Lynnfield, Clarkdale and Sandy Bridge), and Core i7 (Bloomfield, Lynnfield, Gulftown and Sandy Bridge). The Gulftown is a 6-core CPU! There are also extreme versions of both the 4-core i7 and 6-core i7, but you pay dearly for this new technology.  First figures indicate that at equivalent clock rates, depending on the software, the Gulftown has up to 50% higher performance than the identically clocked quad core Bloomfield Core i7 975. However, consumer software that utilizes six real cores is still quite rare as of 2011, and not every multithreaded program is able to take advantage of this many cores. Despite having 50% more transistors, the CPU strongly benefits from the 32-nm process, drawing the same or even less power (depending on the operating system) than its Bloomfield predecessors with merely four cores.

On the AMD side, there are also many types of processors to choose from.  There are the Opteron (130 to 45 nm), Athlon 64 (130 to 65 nm), Athlon 64x2 ( 90 to 65 nm), Opteron (130 to 45 nm), Phenom (65 nm) Athlon II (45 nm), and Phenom II (45 nm).  Since one of the objects of this project is to build a state-of-the-art system, we will only be evaluating the most current devices, the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 along with the AMD Phenom II.

Core i3

Released on January 20, 2011, the Core i3-2xxx line of desktop and mobile processors is a direct replacement of the 2010 "Clarkdale" Core i3-5xx and "Arrandale" Core i3-3xxM models, based on the new microarchitecture. While they require new sockets and chipsets, the user-visible features of the Core i3 are largely unchanged, including the lack of support for Turbo Boost and AES-NI. Unlike the Sandy Bridge based Celeron and Pentium processors, the Core i3 line does support the new Advanced Vector Extensions.

Codename
(main article)		 Brand name (list) Cores L3 Cache Socket TDP I/O Bus
Sandy Bridge (Desktop) Core i3-21xx 2 3 MB LGA 1155 65 W Direct Media Interface,
Integrated GPU
Core i3-21xxT 2 3 MB LGA 1155 35 W Direct Media Interface,
Integrated GPU


Core i5

In January 2011, Intel released new quad-core Core i5 processors based on the "Sandy Bridge" microarchitecture at CES 2011. New dual-core mobile processors and desktop processors arrived in February 2011.

The Core i5-2xxx line of desktop processors are mostly quad-core chips, with the exception of the dual-core Core i5-2390T, and include integrated graphics, combining the key features of the earlier Core i5-6xx and Core i5-7xx lines. The suffix after the four-digit model number designates unlocked multiplier (K), low-power (S) and ultra-low-power (T). The desktop CPUs now all have four non-SMT cores (like the i5-750), with the exception of the i5-2390T. The DMI bus is running at 5 GT/s.

Codename
(main article)		 Brand name (list) Cores L3 Cache Socket TDP I/O Bus
Sandy Bridge (Desktop) Core i5-2xxx
Core i5-2xxxK		 4 6 MB LGA 1155 95 W Direct Media Interface,
Integrated GPU
Core i5-2xxxS LGA 1155 65 W Direct Media Interface,
Integrated GPU
Core i5-2xxxT 2-4 35-45 W Direct Media Interface,
Integrated GPU

Core i7

The Core i7 brand remains the high-end for Intel's desktop and mobile processors, featuring the Sandy Bridge models with the largest amount of L3 cache and the highest clock frequency. Most of these models are very similar to their smaller Core i5 siblings. The quad-core mobile Core i7-2xxxQM/XM processors follow the previous "Clarksfield" Core i7-xxxQM/XM processors, but now also includes integrated graphics.

Codename
(main article)		 Brand name (list) Cores L3 Cache Socket TDP Process I/O Bus Release
Date
Sandy Bridge E (Desktop) Core i7-3820 4 10 MB LGA 2011 130 W 32 nm Q4 2011
Core i7-3930K 6 12 MB
Core i7-3960X 15 MB
Sandy Bridge (Desktop) Core i7-2600, 2600K 4 8 MB LGA 1155 95 W Direct Media Interface,
Integrated GPU		 Jan 2011
Core i7-2xxxS 65 W


Comments are welcome!

rgcox2 (at) gmail.com

russ10cox (at) gmail.com

Ferrysburg, MI