Earlier this week, a report tabled the model numbers of Intel's 2012 Core processor family based on the "Ivy Bridge" silicon. Its processor model number scheme consisted of Core i5/i7 3000 series, targeting various market price points. Many of these model numbers are confirmed on the latest roadmap slide detailing the Core processor family for 2012. We are also getting to see what the nomenclature of next-generation Core i3 processors could look like.

The slide shows that Ivy Bridge processors will start selling in Q2 2012, which is consistent with reports of an April 2012 launch. Intel will begin with Core i3-32xx (xx = TBD), i5-3450, i5-3550, i5-3570K, i7-3770, and i7-3770K. Around this time, there will be a market transition among cheaper Core i3 parts. In Q3 2012, i5-3470 and i5-3570 will displace i5-3450 and i5-3550; while a faster Core i7-37x0K processor will displace the i7-3770K. The market transition among some Core i3 parts will continue in Q3. Q4 2012 will largely resemble Q3, except that the lower-end Core i3 lineup will have fully transitioned to Ivy Bridge. There will be no changes in the LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E HEDT lineup, except that an affordable quad-core part will be added in Q1 2012. For quick reference, we re-posted the table from the older report.

Japanese cooling expert Scythe has today announced the revision of the popular CPU Coolers Scythe Mugen 3, Mugen 3 PCGH and Ninja 3. Scythe has upgraded the CPU Coolers to Rev. B. Users can easily differentiate the new version from the old ones by the added suffix "Rev. B" in the names: Mugen 3 Rev.B, Mugen 3 Rev.B PCGH and Ninja 3 Rev.B. New Revision B brings support to the recently announced Socket LGA2011 and therefore compatibility to Sandy Bridge-E CPUs.

It looks like the Bulldozer disaster might have been too much of a setback for AMD to recover from. After 30 years of competing with Intel in the x86 processor market, AMD is about to give up, even with the 2009 1.25bn antitrust settlement they extracted from them. Mike Silverman, AMD company spokesman said, "We're at an inflection point. We will all need to let go of the old 'AMD versus Intel' mind-set, because it won't be about that anymore." He was vague on the exact strategy that AMD intends to pursue from now on, though. However, the company is widely expected to make a concerted effort to break into the smartphones and tablets market. The big problem with this strategy unfortunately, is that this arena is currently dominated by many other competitors. On top of that, their arch enemy Intel is also trying to muscle in on this space, hence AMD could find themselves back at square one, or likely even further back. AMD's graphics cards are doing well at the moment though and are quite competitive, so it looks like their expensive purchase of ATI back in 2006, might yet save the company from extinction. If they become primarily a graphics card company, they will inevitably end up a lot smaller than they are now though and that's a lot of lost jobs and personal hardship, along with a monopoly x86 market remaining and all of its negative effects on the market.

On our front page, we placed a poll in mid-September, ahead of AMD FX Processor family launch (based on the "Bulldozer" architecture). Based on the most plausible specifications and the hype surrounding the products at the time, we had a hunch that neither Bulldozer nor Sandy Bridge-E will meet our readers' expectations. AMD FX Processor family turned out to be a Duke Nukem Forever, clogged in the pipeline for too long (since 2007, as a matter of fact), when it came out, it made a mockery of itself. It's barely faster than its previous generation.

Sandy Bridge-E promised to be a pin-up processor platform that's eons faster than its predecessor, its specs-sheets warranted its hype. As it turns out, although they're the fastest processors, they aren't much faster than previous-generation Westmere six-core chips at multi-threaded applications, and aren't much faster than Sandy Bridge LGA1155 Core i7 processors at gaming and serial loads. We set out to find out which would turn out to be a bigger "fail" (failure, in internet jargon). To stuff the poll up with more options, we experimented with the idea of placing a seemingly-unbeatable poll option "Our Politicians", just to see if either of the two could fail so hard, that politicians end up better. The myth that politicians always win at a failing contest is busted, at least in this case.

The latest Sandy Bridge-E 6 core processors have just been released, to excellent reviews. However, the architecture is designed for 8 cores, so these current i7-3960X & i7-3930K processors actually contain those 8 cores, but with two turned off in order to enable them to fit within a manageable 130 W power envelope. Hence there's quite a bit more potential to be released and soon. Therefore, anyone looking to invest in the premium-priced SB-E platform right now, should note that these processors are at the initial C1 stepping and have the VT-d hardware virtualization issue and PCI-E 3.0 compatibility uncertainty. The VT-d problem will be a real show stopper where hardware acceleration of a virtual machine is a must, so it shouldn't be ignored.

VR-ZONE brings us news that the fully unlocked SB-E 8 core chips will be released as the long awaited Xeon E5 family of processors, which will be built on the C2 stepping, solving the above issues. However, being 8 core, these will be very power hungry indeed, consuming around 150 W at just 3 GHz with all 8 cores active and 20 MB of L3 cache. At 2.5 GHz though, the new processors are expected to fit within the 95 W power envelope.

Earlier this week, Intel launched the fastest desktop processors under its Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" platform, with is partners, motherboard, memory and cooler vendors. Less than a week into its shelf life, Sandy Bridge-E already has a successor taking shape at Intel, slated for the fourth quarter of 2012, but that's far from being the most interesting part of this news. According to a new internal slide scored by a source at XFastest, Ivy Bridge-E will be compatible with today's Intel X79 platform, and LGA2011 socket.

Suddenly, Sandy Bridge-E makes for a sweeter deal because its platform longevity (for upgrades) is at least two years. Ivy Bridge-E, like Ivy Bridge LGA1155, will be built on the 22 nanometer silicon fabrication process. We don't expect Ivy Bridge-E to be much more than an optical shrink of today's Sandy Bridge-E silicon, but the shrink could leave scope for enabling some of its components otherwise locked out for the Core processor family. Sandy Bridge-E silicon physically holds 8 cores and 20 MB of L3 cache, but the fastest Core processor based on it has just 6 of those cores, and 15 MB of L3 enabled. The source at XFastest says that while Ivy Bridge-E is slated for Q4 2012, the LGA1155 Ivy Bridge will launch across Q1 and Q2 of 2012 (March~April).

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced a range of HyperX Genesis memory in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB kits to support the new Intel Sandy Bridge-E X79 quad-channel processors and X79 Express-based motherboards. Kingston HyperX Genesis is the perfect solution for enthusiasts who require 4x raw performance increases afforded by quad channel over single channel solutions.

For extreme users who require both the fastest memory and largest capacity, Kingston's 2400MHz and 2133MHz will soon be available in both 8 GB and 16 GB kits of four modules. Other HyperX Genesis memory for X79 systems include 1866 MHz and 1600 MHz frequencies in kits of four and eight, with capacities ranging from 8GB to 32GB. All of Kingston's HyperX kits have achieved Intel XMP certification and are compatible with the latest X79 motherboards from vendors such as ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI and ASRock.

NVIDIA today announced that system builders worldwide are now shipping the fastest PC gaming platforms ever built, thanks in part to NVIDIA SLI technology and the just-released Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition processors and X79 chipset-based motherboards.

The combination of NVIDIA SLI technology -- which allows for multiple GPUs to run on a single PC -- and new X79-based motherboards allow gamers to customize their PC experience with up to four NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPUs, including the GeForce GTX 580 and GTX 570, the world's fastest DX11 GPUs. Licensed by the world's leading motherboard manufacturers -- including Intel, ASUS, ASRock, EVGA, Foxconn, Gigabyte and MSI, SLI technology is crucial for playing this year's hottest graphics-intensive games, such as the recently released Battlefield 3 and upcoming Batman: Arkham City with detail, resolution and immersion settings cranked up.

Team Group Inc. announces the Xtreem LV/ Dark series are now fully compatible with the latest flagship Intel X79 platform. After long anticipation, the new Sandy Bridge-E (LGA-2011) of high-end processor Intel Core i7 is officially released this week. In response to the expectation of overclocking enthusiasts, X79 platform adopts the quad-channel memory up to 51.2GB/s ultra-broad bandwidth. Only Team's Xtreem LV/Dark series could perfectly suit every X79 motherboard in the market and operate processor Core i7 to the extreme.

Xtreem LV flagship overclocking memory modules has been widely preferred among players. After making great R&D efforts, the product now well adapts Sandy Bridge-E series of processor Core i7 besides its outstanding stability and compatibility. Xtreem LV series have passed the most strict product trials and overclocking tests to provide the greatest reliability. Meanwhile, Xtreem Dark provides audiences the best way to experience the ultra speed of overclocking with its great cost-effectiveness.

Digital Storm, the predominant name in computer system integration and engineering, proudly announces the flagship system in its award-winning line of ODE gaming computers - ODE Level 4. This new system takes the pre-built and fully customized concept to the next level by integrating Intel's X79 chipset, Core i7 3930K six-core CPU, and overclocking it to 4.6GHz. ODE Level 4 gaming PCs are packed with lightning fast components that have been optimized to deliver unparalleled performance, while not breaking the bank.

Based on Intel's X79 chipset, ODE Level 4 boasts blazing fast speed that creates unrivalled gameplay. Digital Storm engineers have also taken advantage of the quad-channel memory controller on the new X79 chipset by designing a luxurious 16GB configuration of DDR3 memory that delivers an even more responsive user experience. Additionally, a configuration of three NVIDIA GTX 570 1.2GB video cards, in triple SLI, generates fluid smooth graphics, creating an immersive gaming experience.

Motherboard platforms change frequently, especially when a new chipset is unleashed. The big change coming from Intel recently is the high-end X79 chipset, taking over from the crusty old X58 chipset. The new socket boasting a scarcely credible 2011 pins to allow the new Sandy Bridge-E processor has more memory channels. The newly released X79 platform is known for the astonishing OC capability. Designed for serious overclockers, ASRock is excited to introduce several high-performance motherboards based on Intel X79 chipset.

"The motherboard is the basis of your rig, and will dictate how well the rest of your PC's components perform." Commenting on the new release, James Lee, V.P of ASRock Sales and Marketing, is with confidence. "ASRock X79 Overclock KING Motherboard Series offer the Digi Power (the most stable CPU voltage), Premium Gold Caps (top-tier capacitors), X-FAN (the smart cooling design) and Game Blaster (a Sound & LAN 2-in-1 card exclusively offered from ASRock), everything essential for overclocking. Our exciting X79 mobos could boost the performance of any kind of PC!" He stated.

CyberpowerPC, a leading manufacturer of custom gaming desktop PCs, gaming notebooks, and performance workstations, today announced a new series of enthusiast gaming PCs based on Intel's 2nd Generation Core i7-3000 Series CPUs (code named Sandy Bridge-E) and X79 chipset motherboards.

CyberpowerPC gaming systems receiving the new CPU makeover includes the Gamer Xtreme 3D series, the FANG EVO Black Mamba and Cobra as well as its award winning Gamer Xtreme XE and XI systems. The series will include the flagship Intel Core i7 3960X (3.33Ghz and Turbo Boost up to 3.9Ghz), and the Core i7 3930K CPU (3.2Ghz and Turbo Boost to 3.8Ghz) to deliver unmatched performance, the ability to customize your rig, and features that put you in control of the action.

Intel today released its Core i7-3000 series processor family, codenamed "Sandy Bridge-E". These new processors, along with the new Intel X79 chipset, make up for an entirely new platform. The processors are an upscale of the Sandy Bridge architecture found on chips in the LGA1155 package. The Sandy Bridge-E silicon measures 20.8 x 20.9 mm, with a humungous transistor count of 2.27 billion. In its Core i7-3000 configuration, the silicon has up to 6 cores, up to 15 MB of L3 cache, four DDR3 memory channels, and 40 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes ("some" devices "may" support Gen 3.0, Intel's words).

Sandy Bridge-E has the same instruction set as Sandy Bridge, which includes SSE up to version 4.2, AVX, AES, and features Turbo Boost 2.0, HyperThreading. It's the memory controller that's complete upscale. It features four independent 64-bit paths to DDR3 DIMMs, making it a quad-channel DDR3 IMC. DDR3-1600 MHz is natively supported. There are three models, the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition leads the pack with a clock speed of 3.30 GHz, 3.90 GHz top Turbo Boost speed, and 15 MB of L3 cache. It has 6 cores and 12 threads with HTT enabled. This chip has all its multipliers unlocked and is geared for overclocking. It is priced at US $990 in 1000 unit tray quantities, though retailers might draw a decent margin for the boxed parts.

G.Skill has announced the development of its brand new RipjawsZ series quad-channel memory modules, designed specifically for Intel LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E processors and X79 systems.

A World First in Super-Sized & Super-Speed, the new RipjawsZ builds on a history of Ripjaws world first performance boundaries and award-winning quality, by including extreme performance kits such as, DDR3 2,500MHz 16GB (4GBx4) 1.65V kit, and super size kits including DDR3 64GB (8GBx8) 2133MHz at only 1.5V, and the fastest ever 8GB DIMMs in the DDR3 2,400MHz 32GB(8GBx4) kit. The following screens show two RipjawsZ 2,400MHz 32GB(8GBx4) kits running together at 2400MHz 64GB and booting at breath-taking 2600MHz 64GB with ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, notebook and mobile device manufacturer presents two king-level motherboards to join ECS Black Series as the best gaming station of next generation based on Intel X79 chipset supporting LGA2011 Sandy Bridge-E processors-X79R-AX Black Extreme and X79R-AX Black Deluxe.

ECS Black X79 Series unleashes the extreme power of Intel Sandy Bridge-E processors and breaks the limitation of your desktop computer to a height you could never dream of. ECS Black X79 Series is equipped with four PCIe Gen 3 x16 slots for 4-way GPUs supporting NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX graphics cards to construct an invincible gaming station. Also, ECS Black X79 Series supports quad-channel memory up to 64GB providing off-the-chart task processing speeds; the memory frequency support could also overclock to 2500MHz which is over 87% more than the traditional 1333MHz memory frequency.

EVGA made its SuperClock CPU fan-heatsink ready for Intel's new "Sandy Bridge-E" socket LGA2011 platform with a mounting kit update that can be purchased separately, as well as could be included in future batches of the product. Carrying the part number M020-00-000234, the LGA2011 mounting kit update for EVGA SuperClock, is priced at US $9.99 on the EVGA store. EVGA released the SuperClock CPU fan-heatsink this May, it is a tower-type fan-heatsink with design based on Swiftech Polaris 120. EVGA's implementation makes use of black fins, heat pipes, and a red LED-illuminated fan. Excluding the LGA2011 mounting kit, the EVGA SuperClock is priced at $55.

Just a handful of days ahead of Sandy Bridge-E's launch, a Chinese tech website, www.inpai.com.cn (Google translation) has done what Chinese tech websites do best and that's leak benchmarks and slides, Intel's NDA be damned. They pit the current i7-2600K quad core CPU against the upcoming i7-3960X hexa core CPU and compare them in several ways. The take home message appears to be that gaming performance on BF3 & Crysis 2 is identical, while the i7-3960X uses considerably more power, as one might expect from an extra two cores. The only advantage appears to come from the x264 & Cinebench tests. If these benchmarks prove accurate, then gamers might as well stick with the current generation Sandy Bridge CPUs, especially as they will drop in price, before being end of life'd. While this is all rather disappointing, it's best to take leaked benchmarks like this with a (big) grain of salt and wait for the usual gang of reputable websites to publish their reviews on launch day, November 14th. Softpedia reckons that these results are the real deal, however. There's more benchmarks and pictures after the jump.

Coolink today presented its first CPU cooler to support the upcoming Intel LGA2011 platform for Core i7-3000 series Sandy Bridge-E processors. Based on the award winning Corator DS, the new Corator DS - LGA2011 is equipped with the proven SWiF2 - 120P PWM high-performance fan as well as the latest edition of the SecuFirm 2 mounting system for LGA2011, featuring optimized mounting pressure for excellent cooling performance.

"The upcoming release of Intel's Core i7-3000 series Sandy Bridge-E processors will raise the computing performance for enthusiast and professional users alike, so they can look forward to an interesting platform. However, these high performance processors need an adequate cooling solution to unleash their full potential and the Corator DS is predestined for this task", explains Timothy Chu, Coolink CEO. "With the Corator DS - LGA2011, which is based on the successful and award-winning Corator DS, we are proud to offer an attractive Core i7-3000 cooling solution for customers who are looking for great performance at reasonable costs."

German memory maker Exceleram is among the first to release quad-channel DDR3 memory kits, in time for Intel's Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" processor platform. Sandy Bridge-E processors pack a massive four-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller, and require at least four DDR3 modules to perform optimally. The kit released by Exceleram features in its "Grand" series, and totals 32 GB in size, spread across four 8 GB modules. These modules run at DDR3-1333 MHz speed, with timings of 9-9-9-24, and DRAM voltage of 1.5V. Exceleram did not give out pricing details, but you should be able to buy one of these in time for your big fat Sandy Bridge-E build.

MSI is among the most secretive companies with their socket LGA2011 motherboard early information as the big Sandy Bridge-E day approaches (mid-November), yet we managed to score some early pictures of their top-end product from our spy-satellites and a network of cold war era retirees. Enter the MSI Big Bang XPower II, the company's top-tier socket LGA2011 motherboard for enthusiasts. This board is designed in the XL-ATX form-factor, and will fit in cases with at least 10 expansion slot bays. Thanks to the added board area, it's able to accommodate both a strong VRM, and high room for expansion (with eight DDR3 memory slots and seven PCI-Express slots).

To begin with, the LGA2011 socket is powered by a 24-phase VRM that makes use of driver-MOSFETs, solid-chokes, and High-C POSCAP capacitors. The memory is powered by a 4-phase VRM. The board draws power, apart from the 24-pin ATX, from two 8-pin EPS connectors, and an optional 6-pin PCIe (to stabilize PCIe slot power delivery). We can see many accessories to this VRM, such as phase-loading LEDs, and consolidated voltage measurement points. We are particularly intrigued by the design of the heatsinks over the VRM and chipset. The one over the VRM looks like the barrels of a Gatling gun, while the one over the chipset looks like a small piece from an ammo belt. You will either love it or detest it.

A certain British retailer listed the two hexa-core Sandy Bridge-E chips, Core i7-3930K and Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition. The top-end i7-3960X is priced at £850.79 (including taxes), that converts to around US $1,361. The unlocked Core i7-3930K, on the other hand, is priced at £477.59 (including taxes), that's around US $764. Earlier this month, news surfaced of a Chinese retailer listing these chips. The Chinese put the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition at the equivalent of US $1,227, and Core i7-3930K at the equivalent of US $912.

While the British store is making the Core i7-3930K at least $150 cheaper, it's still a long shot from the $583 price point that the chip is expected to occupy. On the other hand, the British store is quoting a price that's about $130 higher for the Core i7-3960X. It looks like Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is increasingly unlikely to come with a three figure price.

With the Sandy Bridge LGA1155 platform, announced at the start of this year, the PC motherboard industry saw a wide transition to UEFI, a new board firmware that overcomes many of the limitations of the decades old BIOS, including the archaic user interface. The second biggest motherboard vendor by volumes, Gigabyte, wasn't part of that wave. It continued to use dated Phoenix AwardBIOS with a few riders that made it look like the company was dragging its feet over UEFI adoption.

First, it tried to address the 2.2 TB boot volume size limitation by coming up with an address-space tweak it ended up calling HybridEFI (which has nothing to do with EFI). Next, it addressed the need for a more intuitive (preferably GUI) setup program with a Windows-based CMOS setup program called TouchBIOS, it came with the Fisher Price looking interface that every other manufacturer's UEFI setup program had, topped off with touchscreen support. However, faced with the inevitability of facing lack of support for Ivy Bridge (more here) and Sandy Bridge-E, the company decided to take the plunge. It wants to come up with something that's a lot more functional than most others' UEFI setup programs that feel like the same old interfaces skinned. Enter Gigabyte 3D BIOS.

Motherboard vendors aren't the only ones getting ready for the big launch of Intel's new high-end desktop (HEDT) platform - Sandy Bridge-E, the ecosystem also consists of memory and cooling products vendors - more importantly, memory. Intel Sandy Bridge-E processors pack an integrated memory controller with a massive 256-bit bus width. To put it into perspective, if a motherboard is populated with four DDR3-1333 MHz modules, the system memory bandwidth would be a staggering 42,600 MB/s. Like everyone, G.Skill is expected to have memory kits with four DDR3 memory modules. It is likely that these kits consisting of four matched modules will be referred to as "quad-channel". Around this time, the company will have a new lineup, RipjawsZ.

RipjawsZ will make use of a new, slightly taller than standard heatspreader design, and will be available in at least two color options - black and red. Some of the kits will consist of just modules, while some will also pack Turbulence II air-coolers that use two fans. In all there are two basic types of modules: ZL, ZH; among these ZH provides the best timings for the frequencies it offers. These modules will be available in a variety of speeds: DDR3-1333, DDR3-1600, DDR3-1866, DDR3-2133, and DDR3-2400. Modules with speeds of up to DDR3-1866 make do with 1.5V DRAM voltage, DDR3-2133 needs 1.60V, while some higher speed modules need up to 1.65V. These kits are available in a variety of capacities - 8 GB (4 x 2 GB), 16 GB (4 x 4 GB), 32 GB (4 x 8 GB), and 64 GB (probably 8 x 8 GB). These modules will be Intel eXtreme Memory Profile (XMP) revision 1.3 compliant.

There sure is going to be fierce competition between motherboard vendors once "Sandy Bridge-E" Core i7 processors come out, a little later this month. Even the tiniest edge over competitors in terms of features can go a long way with market success. Gigabyte is ready with one such feature of its own: the Bluetooth 4.0 + WiFi b/g/n card, which it will bundle with the GA-X79-UD5, GA-X79-UD7(OC), and G1.Assassin 2. Simply put, this is a special addon card that will provide a Wireless b/g/n (wireless n at 150 Mbps), and Bluetooth 4.0 (24 Mbps) connectivity.

Here's how it works: the card sits on one of the board's PCI-Express x1 slots (or any PCIe slot for that matter), the PCIe connection is wired to the wireless network controller on the mini-PCIe card. We expect this to be a common Atheros AR9285-based card. The main card also has a Bluetooth 4.0 controller, which connects to the system using USB 2.0. A cable runs from the card to any of the board's USB 2.0 front-panel headers. The Bluetooth controller only uses one port, so the other is wired out as an internal USB 2.0 port (good for any DRM dongles you may have). The card is then wired to two antennas (included), one for the wireless network controller, the other for the Bluetooth, both have activity LEDs. It's not known if Gigabyte will sell this card separately, so just about anyone can use it.

Noctua today presented a new special edition of its award-winning NH-D14 cooler for the upcoming Intel LGA2011 X79 platform. Having received more than 250 awards and recommendations from the international press, Noctua's NH-D14 has become a benchmark in premium quality quiet cooling. The new SE2011 version is a special edition for Intel's soon to be released Core i7-3000 (Sandy Bridge-E) CPUs and comes equipped with Noctua's SecuFirm2 mounting system for LGA2011 as well as an exquisite NF-P12/NF-P14 dual PWM fan configuration.

"Hardware enthusiasts have every right to be excited about Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge-E processors, but to get the most out of it, you'll definitely need a high quality cooling solution", says Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "Our flagship model NH-D14 has earned a reputation as one of the finest high-end quiet coolers on the market, so we thought that this should be a perfect match. The new special edition for LGA2011 will keep your Sandy Bridge-E CPU cool no matter what you throw at it, and it will do so at minimum noise levels, thus appealing to overclockers and quiet enthusiasts alike."