When Purchasing an Intel Processor Can Be Confusing

When the time rolls around when a PC enthusiast needs (or wants) to build a new computer, choosing the right components more often than not isn’t that difficult. For those not too familiar with computer hardware, it’s a different story. If minimal research is done, someone could end up purchasing a processor that either far exceeds their needs, or doesn’t meet them.

Believe it or not, with Intel’s most recent Sandy Bridge processor launch, there are a couple of factors that could cause enthusiasts, even those who know their stuff, to overlook a couple of things and wind up with a less-than-stellar product.

Earlier this month, Ars Technica posted an article entitled, “What processor should I buy? Intel’s crazy pricing makes my head hurt“, and I didn’t think too much of it. I was a bit intrigued, but given the sheer number of models Intel offers, I figured I knew what the bulk of the story would be about. Fast forward to the other day, when our beloved SSD editor Robert Tanner brought it to my attention again. Then I began to understand that there actually are some problems with mentioning.

The article focuses on three CPU models; Core i7-2600, 2600S and 2600K. By all accounts, the 2600K would strike most people as being the de facto model to get. After all, it’s unlocked, isn’t a low-powered model, and is designed for enthusiasts. Would you believe, though, that the 2600K includes a better GPU than the 2600? Indeed, it does (2000 vs. 3000).

Something like that could be considered ironic, since enthusiasts are not the ones that are going to be running IGPs. Rather, those would be the regular consumer who wants to make sure they get the best IGP solution available. Without the K version, that won’t happen.

More strikingly, the 2600K does not include Intel VT-d, the virtualization technology beginning to take off that helps give hypervisers unrestricted access to machine hardware (hint: we need this). The 2600 and 2600S include this, but not the 2600K. Oh, and ditto for vPro and TXT. The “enthusiast” K offering doesn’t have them, but the lowly 2600 and 2600S both do.

To me, there just can’t exist viable reasons behind the omissions here. At their heart, all three of the 2600 models are extremely similar, and it’s not as though Intel trimmed off the silicon that has the support for these features. Instead, they were simply disabled, to help differentiate the products better (or to improve overclocking – who knows?). That’s far from being a good idea, given things like VT-d are features that enthusiasts could want to take advantage of down the road.

Before you jump on your next processor, I’d recommend hitting up Intel’s Ark and compare different models. If you want to check out all three 2600 models in an easy-to-read manner, check out this compare link.