Sandy or Ivy: any clear difference in the mid-term range (exclud. 3D)?

[kozaki]

Have read the following articles/benchmarks by Michael (Intel SNA Ivy Bridge, Comparing Intel HD 2000/3000/4000 Linux Graphics, Intel Graphics Mature Greatly With The Linux Kernel, Intel HD 2500 Ivy Bridge Graphics On Linux) as well as their threads on the pts forum, + some others.
Tests show very little differences between the Sandy and Ivy Core i3/i5 configuration, except for 3D/OpenGL (of very little use for desktops at work).

What do you think will be the differences between Sandy and Ivy, in the mid-term range (i.e. 3-4 years)?
e.g. in the following fields:
1. Performances (e.g. compilation, Apache, MySQL, SQlite) - AFAIK Ivy has some advantage in terms of o/c capabilities
2. Graphic Driver support?
3. Graphic 2D performances (web integration tasks e.g. loaded Firefox, Image editing, Photos management)?
4. Hardware acceleration and GPGPU capabilities (Video decode, encode...)?
5. Power consumption?

Choice is e.g. between the two following (yeap, budget's limited):
- Core i5 2400 Sandy + MSI H61M-P20(G3) + 4 Go DDR3 (1333 Mhz) + SSD OCZ Agility 3 60 Go @ 300 EUR
- Core i3 3220 Ivy + MSI B75A-G43 + 4 Go DDR3 (1333 Mhz) + SSD @ 290 EUR

[Kano]

i would definitely use ivy bridge as it is much faster - at least when you use win for some games (on linux only old games work due to missing features). one other aspect is that ivy has got support for 24000/10001 refresh rate if you really can see the difference to 24 hz. I do not use it on a flat tv only with a 60 hz tft. Last thing: the price is basically the same, so why shoud somebody buy sandy bridge? Also ivy needs a bit less energy.

[kozaki]

Thanks Kano. I haven't noticed the lower consumption of the Ivys. e.g. minus 10 W for all Core i3 Ivy at full load really is a point. Now, Sandy already do great if I can believe xbitlabs (1)

Price: because some resellers are making good prices on Sandy based evolution kits (making it easier not going for a good AMD FX-4100 APU kit below 200 EUR total)

Perfs: other than in 3D apps? I mean, Sandy / Ivy look just the same into all the other, CPU/disk/2D tests (AAMOF last time I played a 3D game or even a Compiz desktop was a few hundred years ago i bet I found more funny stuff )

I should look for the 24000/10001 refresh rate as have got no clue about it (and sometime work up to nn hours on that gig)

Will the Graphic drivers capabilities evolve any differently for the Sandy and Ivy integrated GPUs (e.g. 2D / decode / encode hardware acceleration)?

---
(1) Power Consumption: Idle / CPU Burn / GPU Burn / 1080p Playback (full box, without monitor, under Windows)
Intel Core i3-2130 (Sandy): 23 / 65 / 45 / 35
AMD A8-3850 : 23 / 130 / 75 / 40

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/amd-fusion-intel-core-i3_8.html

[Kano]

Well i meant of course 24000/1001 which means every 1000 frames 1 frame would be dropped when running at pure 24 hz instead - so if you have got eagle eyes you could see it every 42 s when you run a tv at the same frequency as your movie. It has nothing to do with shuttering when there is fast movement. Btw. intel sells sandy+ivy bridge for the same price usually - there are just too many sandy bridge cpus out there. Next round will be in q2/2013 when haswell will join the party - but then you need s1150 boards.

[crazycheese]

Be(a)ware, some low-price Ivy Bridges have the heatsink not glued to them, but are using old-style thermal compound. This might very well lead to thermal problems when CPU is aging 2 years+.

[amphigory]

Strangely enough, it would appear that Sandy Bridge can do quite nicely relative to Ivy Bridge for a given price point.

From CPU benchmarks:

Intel Core i7-2640M @ 2.80GHz    4042    216    NA    NA
Intel Core i7-3517U @ 1.90GHz    3971    225    NA    NA

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

I picked up a Asus U36SG with I7-2640M & NVIDIA GT610. Awesome performance for the price. Seven hours of battery life (under light load) with Debian Sid (& Bumblebee built from source).