Thursday, December 10th 2015
Intel Core i7 "Broadwell-E" Lineup to Feature Four SKUs
Intel is breaking away from its tradition of three Core i7 HEDT (high-end desktop) processors per generation, capturing price points of $400, $600, and $1000; with its upcoming Core i7 "Broadwell-E" HEDT lineup. According to leaked documents accessed by BenchLife.info, the company is readying four SKUs based on the 14 nm "Broadwell-E" silicon, these include the Core i7-6800K, the Core i7-6850K, the Core i7-6900K, and the Core i7-6950X.
The Core i7-6800K and i7-6850K are six-core chips, with HyperThreading enabling 12 logical CPUs, and 15 MB shared L3 cache. The i7-6800K is clocked at 3.40 GHz, with a 3.60 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. The i7-6850K is a notch above, with 3.60 GHz core, and 3.80 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. The slide doesn't mention if either of the two parts feature a limited PCIe root complex, like the one on the i7-5820K.
As we move up the lineup, there's the Core i7-6900K. This is an eight-core chip, with HyperThreading enabling 16 logical CPUs, and with 20 MB L3 cache at its disposal. Its core is clocked at 3.20 GHz, with a rather healthy 3.70 GHz Turbo Boost. At the very top of the lineup, is the Core i7-6950X. Intel's first consumer 10-core chip, with HyperThreading giving your OS a whopping 20 logical CPUs to deal with, this chip features 25 MB L3 cache, and is clocked at 3.00 GHz, with 3.50 GHz Turbo Boost.
All four chips in the lineup feature 140W TDP, unlocked base-clock multipliers, and will be compatible with existing socket LGA2011v3 motherboards with firmware updates. The low clock speeds on some of these chips right off the bat, could be Intel's way of not letting the rated TDP be higher than 140W. With the right cooling, the target consumers of these chips could overclock these chips.
Intel is planning to launch these Core i7 "Broadwell-E" chips in the second quarter of 2016.
Source:
BenchLife.info
The Core i7-6800K and i7-6850K are six-core chips, with HyperThreading enabling 12 logical CPUs, and 15 MB shared L3 cache. The i7-6800K is clocked at 3.40 GHz, with a 3.60 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. The i7-6850K is a notch above, with 3.60 GHz core, and 3.80 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. The slide doesn't mention if either of the two parts feature a limited PCIe root complex, like the one on the i7-5820K.
All four chips in the lineup feature 140W TDP, unlocked base-clock multipliers, and will be compatible with existing socket LGA2011v3 motherboards with firmware updates. The low clock speeds on some of these chips right off the bat, could be Intel's way of not letting the rated TDP be higher than 140W. With the right cooling, the target consumers of these chips could overclock these chips.
Intel is planning to launch these Core i7 "Broadwell-E" chips in the second quarter of 2016.
59 Comments on Intel Core i7 "Broadwell-E" Lineup to Feature Four SKUs
Broadwell, Skylake, and Kaby lake are all going to be based off of 14nm processes. The Intel enthusiast offerings have been one generation behind mainstream for the last couple of years, which means that Broadwell-e will at least be on the same lithography as Skylake.
The TDP is high, though that isn't exactly a concern. Be real here, the TDP is going to mean nothing when people get their hands on these chips. They'll be under water, and OC'd before the first week. Complaining that an enthusiast offering has to high of a TDP is a joke.
This being said, I'm unimpressed. The CPU is clocked the same as a 3930k, with two extra cores. That's not exactly great. Likewise having full SATA III is awesome, but buying 32-64 GB of RAM is just a painful proposition right now. I see why Broadwell-e exists (and I was wrong to state earlier that it would disappear like Broadwell did), but it's not worth it here. Maybe Skylake-e will change that, but I really can't see how Kaby lake versus Skylake-e is going to sway me nearly as much as the AMD offering. Zen vs Kaby lake vs Skylake-e will actually bring something fun to the table. Until then, color me unimpressed.
As others have said, the power draw is disappointing. IMO, it's disappointing because we're looking at improvements in tech, comparing it to previous generations and other tech like huge server chips, and it seems a lot of power draw for what it is. I'm fine with a 140W HEDT chip, but I want the performance to go with it. It just doesn't seem to match up. That said, the 6 core chip and the 10 core chip share the same TDP ratings, though clockspeeds are different...
You reply that it's a question of incremental performance. Fine. My original response was that the incremental improvements (IPC being an unknown, an additional two cores, and extra connectivity) are underwhelming as yet. I compare it to the 3930k, because that's what I've got. It's an underwhelming improvement, which you seem to agree with me on. Why exactly is this a discussion?
Basically I'm saying I agree with that, just pointing out that there is something to be had, even if it's not much, especially considering the die shrinks, the raw performance, and the TDP. Again, no problem with a higher TDP on a part like this, but it doesn't seem to balance out with what we gain from it.Eh, don't worry about that. Folks are holding even SB parts and looking at this and saying 'meh'.