Intel Releases Core i7 ''Sandy Bridge-E'' Processors

[qubit]

Except when it is; http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...ch-core-i7-3960x-processor-review-skyrim.html

It's gaming advantage is very limited though and in some benchies it was actually very slightly worse - it all depends on which review you read. As bene and others have pointed out, this is an incremental change to the architecture, so single threaded performance improvements were not the target of this release, adding more cores was. Oh and vastly increasing the price, too.

 

[xenocide]

It's gaming advantage is very limited though and in some benchies it was actually very slightly worse - it all depends on which review you read. As bene and others have pointed out, this is an incremental change to the architecture, so single threaded performance improvements were not the target of this release, adding more cores was. Oh and vastly increasing the price, too.

Yea, I read through just about all the reviews, and admittedly cherry-picked. The point is with a multi-card setup, there is definitely a performance gain. When the CPU isn't the stressing factor though, you obviously won't see a difference. I don't think anyone that wants to spend this much on a CPU plans on pairing it with anything but a top of the line GPU.

I think the cost is justified for what it is intended for. As a work station CPU, it is substantially better than the 2600\2700k. That is the prime audience. When Intel said Enthusiast, everyone assumed they meant GAMER, which just isn't true. I believe you yourself have at times said Gamers make up a small percentage of the hardware market, so it should come as no surprise that Intel considers those building high-powered Work Stations as Enthusiasts.

Also, amazing line from the Tech Report SB-e Review;

...most of today's games aren't particularly CPU-intensive, since they're cross-developed for game consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, whose microprocessors have more in common with the engine control computer in a Ford Contour than they do with a Sandy Bridge Extreme.

 

[n-ster]

The next best chip in the series is Core i7-3930K. With clock speeds of 3.20 GHz and 3.80 GHz (Turbo), this chip has a slightly smaller L3 cache size of 12 MB, though it is still unlocked and geared for overclocking. Like the i7-3960X, this is a 6 core / 12 thread chip. This chip commands a price of $555

Intel Core i7-2700K Sandy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Tu...

i7 2700K = 370$
Now let us add 50% to show the extra 2 cores and 50% more cache...
555$

Would ya look at that... I see something in common here

I think the price is spot on especially compared to Gulftown and the i7 2700K... OK yes the 370$ is an inflated price etc, but you have to consider a price premium for quad-channel and the other goodies

 

[Joe Public]

Personally, the only people I know that buy hex core Intels are people doing stuff like F@H. (bigadv)

 

[Wile E]

@Wile-e: As far as overclocking the sbe. If the cores are the same as 2600k plus an additional mem controller then I would expect the overclocks to be the same as the 2600k IF the additional heat can be managed. Sound about right?

I'm thinking that power delivery will play into it as well. If the heat is well managed, I'm gonna say still a little under the 2600k in terms of clocking ability. Just pulling random numbers out of my ass, but I'd take a 4.8Ghz SB-E over a 5.2Ghz SB any day.

 

[hat]

I'm surprised how everyone seems to be so disappointed. It's just a 6x core SB chip. We know how multiple cores go, there's a diminishing return at some point with the vast majority of things, games being one. Many games see a dramatic boost going from one core to two, but the boost gets smaller going from two to four. It's only reasonable to think that the boost would narrow even further or even simply disappear from four to six.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

ordered mine!