Quad i7 MBP's

[Hellhammer]

I think there's definitely a hole in what Wikipedia says. I don't think Intel would only release CPUs at either 20W for dual core or 45W for quad core. That's a big gap, that it seems likely a few 30-35W CPUs will fill.

If not, I highly doubt Apple will go for 20W CPUs in the 15" and 17" MBP at least, as they are likely to be quite slow. More likely they are destined for the MBA. Especially as with just a small redesign, or slight underclock, Apple could fit a quad core in there that would blow the present i5/i7 away.

But 45W quad sounds fair due IGP. Duals will top out at 35W, no way they are all 20W. Hard to say, we will see

AMD had/has a tri-core processor. Maybe intel will make a mobile variant of their own in the future?

Tri-cores are just quads with one core disabled which is IMO cheating. AMD has done that a lot to keep their prices low

 

[Erasmus]

But 45W quad sounds fair due IGP. Duals will top out at 35W, no way they are all 20W. Hard to say, we will see

The dual cores could all top out at 20W, doesn't seem all that far fetched to me. Which means the 45W quad core would just be the equivalent of two dual cores on the one die.

Of course, it's not that far fetched that Apple would put a 45W quad core CPU in the next MBPs. Considering most apps only use one core, some use two, and very few can use 4, a quad core CPU with a high TDP, with some inevitable fancy throttling and idle core shut downs would prevent the CPU from affecting your normal web-surfing battery life, while keeping the full speed of like 4x2.4GHz CPU cores within reach.

All Apple would have to do is at the most increase the size of the fans a tad, so they could move more air and subsequently heat, without producing more noise.

I've been waiting ever since I bought my Santa Rosa MBP for quad core, expecting it to come late 2010, early 2011. I will be incredibly disappointed if Sandy Bridge MBPs are all dual core.

 

[cyclical]

Personally I'd prefer the dual core version if they're able to do it at a 20W TDP

 

[Hellhammer]

The dual cores could all top out at 20W, doesn't seem all that far fetched to me. Which means the 45W quad core would just be the equivalent of two dual cores on the one die.

Of course, it's not that far fetched that Apple would put a 45W quad core CPU in the next MBPs. Considering most apps only use one core, some use two, and very few can use 4, a quad core CPU with a high TDP, with some inevitable fancy throttling and idle core shut downs would prevent the CPU from affecting your normal web-surfing battery life, while keeping the full speed of like 4x2.4GHz CPU cores within reach.

All Apple would have to do is at the most increase the size of the fans a tad, so they could move more air and subsequently heat, without producing more noise.

I've been waiting ever since I bought my Santa Rosa MBP for quad core, expecting it to come late 2010, early 2011. I will be incredibly disappointed if Sandy Bridge MBPs are all dual core.

Yeah but without die shrink it sounds ridiculous, especially as the IGP will take some watts as well. And there has and probably will always be difference variants as 20W is too hot for something but on the other hand, most laptops can easily handle more and thus get better performance.

I don't believe on it. They can't just provide all CPUs with 20W TDP IMO, especially due IGP. Wikipedia ain't the most reliable source anyway and TDPs are so far just guesses

 

[MrZebra]

Just because intel releases it doesn't mean it'll be ready for mass production.

Or that Apple will be among the early adopters.

 

[iMacmatician]

I don't believe on it. They can't just provide all CPUs with 20W TDP IMO, especially due IGP.

I think 20 W could be a TDP for one line of mobile CPUs and the other lines don't have their TDPs revealed yet.

That was the case with desktop quad-core Sandy Bridge. Earliest report that gave a number was 85 W at the middle of last year, then later reports say 95 W or 65 W depending on the model.

 

[Hellhammer]

I think 20 W could be a TDP for one line of mobile CPUs and the other lines don't have their TDPs revealed yet.

That was the case with desktop quad-core Sandy Bridge. Earliest report that gave a number was 85 W at the middle of last year, then later reports say 95 W or 65 W depending on the model.

That's what I meant Sure there can be some 20Ws but not all can be. I can see 20W replacing e.g. i7 6xxLM but it's way too "cool" to be the maximum TDP of dual core versions.

 

[mark28]

Yeah but without die shrink it sounds ridiculous, especially as the IGP will take some watts as well. And there has and probably will always be difference variants as 20W is too hot for something but on the other hand, most laptops can easily handle more and thus get better performance.

I don't believe on it. They can't just provide all CPUs with 20W TDP IMO, especially due IGP. Wikipedia ain't the most reliable source anyway and TDPs are so far just guesses

Sandy Bridge is a new architecture. They surely can bring down the dual core version to 20W. The old C2D are 25W, with new technology they could be more efficient than the old CPU's.

And the onboard GPU is weak. The intel GPU will get a die shrick to 32nm I believe, so the GPU also becomes more efficient. It's not like the intel GPU is an ATI HD5870 I'm pretty sure Intel can keep it at 20W with the die shrink of the GPU.

 

[Hellhammer]

Sandy Bridge is a new architecture. They surely can bring down the dual core version to 20W. The old C2D are 25W, with new technology they could be more efficient than the old CPU's.

And the onboard GPU is weak. The intel GPU will get a die shrick to 32nm I believe, so the GPU also becomes more efficient.

I know they can, but we were talking about will all dual cores be 20W as that's what has been rumored. There are 17W and even 10W C2Ds but there are 35W too, which e.g. 15" and 17" MBP used.

 

[mark28]

I know they can, but we were talking about will all dual cores be 20W as that's what has been rumored. There are 17W and even 10W C2Ds but there are 35W too, which e.g. 15" and 17" MBP used.

I don't think so. Sandy bridges focuses on power efficiency.

We see that the desktop Sandy Bridge CPU's only uses 65-95W, while the current core i7-920 uses 125W. That's 30-60W less than the current generation

So the laptop CPU's should also be alot more efficient than the current i7 ( 35 W). So I think they will all be 20W.

( And the quad cores will be the real high performance CPU's this time )

 

[Hellhammer]

I don't think so. Sandy bridges focuses on power efficiency.

We see that the desktop Sandy Bridge CPU's only uses 85W, while the current core i7-920 uses 125W. That's 40W less than the current generation

So the laptop CPU's should also be alot more efficient than the current i7 ( 35 W). So I think they will all be 20W.

( And the quad cores will be the real high performance CPU's this time )

How do you know? All those are just GUESSES, there are no facts about the TDPs yet. I know it'll concentrate on power efficiency but it would be ridiculous if mobile duals top out at 2.5GHz so they can be 20W while most laptops can handle 35W more than fine. Sure it would be good for battery life but most people wants performance. I wouldn't rely that much on Wikipedia and on their TDP guesses, just wait for some real info