The Intel Core i7-3960X was a desktop processor with 6 cores, launched in November 2011, at an MSRP of $990. It is part of the Core i7 Extreme lineup, using the Sandy Bridge-E architecture with Socket 2011. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 12 threads. Core i7-3960X has 15 MB of L3 cache and operates at 3.3 GHz by default, but can boost up to 3.9 GHz, depending on the workload. Intel is building the Core i7-3960X on a 32 nm production process using 2,270 million transistors. You may freely adjust the unlocked multiplier on Core i7-3960X, which simplifies overclocking greatly, as you can easily dial in any overclocking frequency.
With a TDP of 130 W, the Core i7-3960X consumes a lot of power, so good cooling is definitely needed. Intel's processor supports DDR3 memory with a quad-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 1600 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. For communication with other components in the machine, Core i7-3960X uses a PCI-Express Gen 3 connection. This processor does not have integrated graphics, you will need a separate graphics card.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Core i7-3960X, which greatly improves virtual machine performance. Additionally, IOMMU virtualization (PCI passthrough) is supported, so that guest virtual machines may directly use host hardware. Programs using Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) will run on this processor, boosting performance for calculation-heavy applications.