Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E) And X79 Platform Preview

[verbalizer]

Still love my i5-750.

+1

 

[thebski]

Does anyone have any idea how well these chips might performan in statistical or mathematics packages? I honestly don't know how these programs work, so I don't know if they're thread limited or they're able to take advantage of 12 threads. I use programs like Stata, MatLab, SAS, R, etc. to run statistical simulations. The more iterations per second your CPU can crunch the faster the program will finish. Are these programs able to take advantage of the 6 core cpus?

 

[MetaDragon]

your so off base that I can't even begin to blast you..


you must not be paying attention or just that illiterate.
i7-2600K is supreme until we see what Ivy is about.
Ivy has yet to be released and after this, I need to see some benches but for some reason,
I have more faith in Ivy after seeing this report.
Intel is going to take a nice verbal lashing from enthusiast
therefore I feel Ivy will be what it needs to be.

LOl. Damn who drove a stick up your a**. I was saying in a perspective that this new processor has more cores then the one i'm about to get. And it seems to get 5GHz in Over clocking. Oh well.

P.S. you can take that stick out now.

 

[clonazepam]

[citation][nom]thebski[/nom]Does anyone have any idea how well these chips might performan in statistical or mathematics packages? I honestly don't know how these programs work, so I don't know if they're thread limited or they're able to take advantage of 12 threads. I use programs like Stata, MatLab, SAS, R, etc. to run statistical simulations. The more iterations per second your CPU can crunch the faster the program will finish. Are these programs able to take advantage of the 6 core cpus?[/citation]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stata

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matlab

Methinks a pattern is developing. I'm just having fun with you. I'm actually pretty much a moron. A quick view of Stata's wiki indicates there are many versions that may or may not utilize multi-cpu systems. They probably all benefit from more cores. You'd have to read the whole wiki cuz I'm not. It's above me, honestly.

 

[Casper42]

I really feel like buying a Zambezi just on principal after reading this.

2 big things kinda piss me off and they are aimed squarely at the Marketing Pukes at Intel.

1) 3xxx for the CPU model number when its clearly SNB and not IVB. Does it have considerably more features than a 2600? No. Its a scaled up version with more cores and more L3 cache (and no QuickSync). So call a spade a spade and make this the 28xx and 2900 family like you should. PS: The supposed 2700K also has the same issue. Its architecturally IDENTICAL to the 2600K except for a clock speed increase. So why not call it a 2620 or even 2610 like it really is. Then make the SB-E family 27xx/28xx/29xx with 4/6/8 cores. The well-read public already knows there will be an 8 core variant for servers so don't tell me its too hard for workstations.

2) The X79 chipset (or PCH if you want). PCIe 3? Nope. USB 3? Nope. better/more SATA6Gb? Nope. Again, explain why this isnt an X69 (aside from the snickering of 13 year olds)! There isn't really a single feature that warrants the generation jump.

The problem with both is Intel took their sweet time getting the Enthusiast and SNB Server platforms out, now they will launch these parts and then in less than 6 months have the new Ivy Bridge Consumer line (at 1/2 to 1/3 the price) make most SNB-E purchasers feel downright stupid. So if they make these the 3xxx and 7x products, when Ivy Bridge revs the mainstream those will look like they are catching up when in fact they are pushing the tech forward.

And I think the writer on this article was a little disingenuous when he says 3 years is acceptable for a Nehalem replacement. Core2 was around for a long time and the consumer line skipped Nehalem, went straight to Westmere and then jumped ahead to SNB in 12-18 months depending on the family. So why is it ok to wait 3 years for a new platform when low end desktops and laptops did it in 18 months? I understand staggering releases, this is just plain stupid.

 

[rantoc]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]I've been doing follow-up testing all day, and it looks like temperatures weren't the problem...removing 8 GB memory modules (adding up to 32 GB), I'm able to finish a 3ds Max run. So, I think at DDR3-1600, I was running into memory problems using a high-density kit. It looks like I'll probably need an alternate kit for the final review--likely a quartet of 4 GB DDR3-1600 modules able to do CAS 7 or 8.[/citation]

Cheers for being through and a good review!

 

[shin0bi272]

I think I'll keep my i7-920 for a little while longer then. Since in game the new $1000 cpus make almost NO difference. Now I AM looking forward to the new generation of video cards... Get to see AMD's offering this year hopefully then see what nvidia rolls out some time around marchish... then use my tax return to grab the better top end card.

 

[flong]

I think that there is a real consensus here: the 2500K/2600K remain the best values in computing. The I-7 760, 8XX, 920 - 950 are still solid and were a great choice. The new SBE, not so much.

 

[thunderising]

I'm quite disappointed.

 

[eltoro]

For those who were wondering what the heck does Gesher means. Well, the word Gesher comes from Hebrew, and as the logo shows, it means A Bridge.

 

[Guest]

@thebski

from my understanding most statistical calculations are simple mathematical integer ops, you actually dont need the functionality of a full core to perform these calculations, instead of sinking your cash into a chip that will give you 6 cores, maybe go look at a tesla addon card (as much as it pains me to support CUDA, i would much sooner see an open source GPGPU solution) though not cheap they will give you access to 400 odd stream processor which will give you performance in the upper 100 of gigaflops (we talking grid computing level performance in a desktop) and i believe MatLab has CUDA support right off the bat

 

[Guest]

forgot you dont need a tesla to actually take full advantage of CUDA, nVidia built Fermi with CUDA support in mind, so even your run of the mill geeforce GTX cards will support CUDA as well as the top tier GTS cards, ideally a Quadro would be the order of the day but non of these will come close to the performance you get from a tesla card, but they will be significantly cheaper

 

[tomfreak]

lol 2600K, Why do u have to be this fast and this cheap

I am guessing Intel will be using 3600K,3500k for Ivy bridge.

 

[pro-gamer]

wow!intel you rock plz upgrade 2500k

 

[David 617]

im going to wait till ivy bridge

 

[dickcheney]

[citation][nom]flong[/nom]I think that there is a real consensus here: the 2500K/2600K remain the best values in computing. The I-7 760, 8XX, 920 - 950 are still solid and were a great choice. The new SBE, not so much.Ill replace my 2500K@4.5 b[/citation]

For high end PCs, definitively. AMD has the value crown (bunch of cheapskates IMO). I can see their A8 APU as superior in the SFF, AOI and mid range laptop segments.

 

[Guest]

Poor little Phenom lol.

 

[flong]

[citation][nom]dickcheney[/nom]For high end PCs, definitively. AMD has the value crown (bunch of cheapskates IMO). I can see their A8 APU as superior in the SFF, AOI and mid range laptop segments.[/citation]

Yeah I hear you. IMHO I do not understand why people choose any AMD product over the 2500K - I just saw it on sale for $179.00. For the power and speed you get from the 2500K I don't see downgrading to save $50 - $100.

 

[dgingeri]

X79: 14 USB 2.0 ports, 6 SATA ports with 2 of those at 6Gb, PCIe 2.0 x8 slot.

Basically, the x79 is nothing more than the z68. why bother with changing the name? This is pathetic. the chipset is nothing more than what we have, and certainly not good enough for the enthusiast community.

The chip itself holds promise, but not really that big of a deal. Very little even uses quad core capabilities these days, let alone 6 core. HT with 6 cores is totally wasted. the architecture isn't memory bandwidth limited, so the quad channel memory isn't anything special.

I'm still on my Core i7-920 at 4.2GHz, and it looks like my next upgrade will be a Core i7-2600k or a Bulldozer based chip, depending on performance. However, my memory capacity will likely drop from 12GB to 8GB, but that's not really that big of a deal either. Maybe they'll come out with a nice 2X8GB DDR3-1600 kit for a decent price I can use.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Thank you for including the Adobe products test results.

 

[thunderising]

I'm actually gonna wait till 14nm for my next upgrade, should be the Haswell refresh.

Till then, my trusty Athlon II X4 and HD5850 can power games from medium to high!

 

[vdr369]

I really hate Intel At this moment cause they are releasing a new platform for every 6 months, I hate u Intel really

 

[tlg]

Not full PCIE 3 ??? This is just a joke. AMD will put new PCIE 3 graphics card soon. What kind of gamer will buy a PCIE-2 super expensive platform when MSI and ASrock offers PCIE3 support on Z68 nowadays? I dont expect a performance jump in games with this platform... and I dont think I will upgrade from my current LGA1366. As many ppl say, i also hope the launch of X79 means a small price drop on CPU for LGA1366 socket. With what the X58 and Z68 can do (with overclocks), nall games will run smooth on these platforms before next gen consoles comes to the market cause most developers just develop console-based games. (and u know what this means)

Most probably the X79 will be exactly in the same situation with X58. One year later a Z or P series will come out (something like Z89 ?) and will bring back all the missing features plus the PCIE 3 and USB3 full support).

 

[tlg]

[citation][nom]dgingeri[/nom]X79: 14 USB 2.0 ports, 6 SATA ports with 2 of those at 6Gb, PCIe 2.0 x8 slot.Basically, the x79 is nothing more than the z68. why bother with changing the name? This is pathetic. the chipset is nothing more than what we have, and certainly not good enough for the enthusiast community. The chip itself holds promise, but not really that big of a deal. Very little even uses quad core capabilities these days, let alone 6 core. HT with 6 cores is totally wasted. the architecture isn't memory bandwidth limited, so the quad channel memory isn't anything special. I'm still on my Core i7-920 at 4.2GHz, and it looks like my next upgrade will be a Core i7-2600k or a Bulldozer based chip, depending on performance. However, my memory capacity will likely drop from 12GB to 8GB, but that's not really that big of a deal either. Maybe they'll come out with a nice 2X8GB DDR3-1600 kit for a decent price I can use.[/citation]

Totally agree,
And I have the same CPU too so we are in the same situation, seeing the same thing.

 

[new003]

No usb 3.0 and pci e 3.0 is a big mistake. I think alot of people out there are waiting for a motherboard with 3.0 gpu and great cpu compatibility to come out. That is to say if the new ati 7000 series and nvidia 600 series graphics cards need it. Maybe other companies will come out with "extreme gaming" versions of x79 with more then 2 usb 3.0(maybe 4 would do it) and 10 pci 3.0 lanes lol
I'm just hoping it brings other motherboards down in price. I'm content with pci 2.0 maybe 2 years from now it will be totally saturated and 3.0 is mainstream and cheap and 4.0 is on the way lol.