Intel Sandy Bridge-E have arrived! i7-3960X & i7-3930K

[jaquith]

NewEgg:

$1,049.99 i7-3960X - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116491
$599.99 i7-3930K - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

LGA 2011 MOBO's - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&SrchInDesc=2011&Page=1&PageSize=20
LGA 2011 CPU's - http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007671&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&SrchInDesc=2011&Page=1&PageSize=20

TigerDirect:

$1,049.99 i7-3960X - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1380571
$599.99 i7-3930K - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1380574

LGA 2011 MOBO's - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=13&sel=Detail%3B31_174_75627_75627
LGA 2011 CPU's - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=22&sel=Detail%3B112_174_75627_75627

Microcenter:

$1,149.99 i7-3960X - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0376492
$649.99 i7-3930K - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0376493

LGA 2011 MOBO's - http://www.microcenter.com/search/compare_products.phtml?search_id=eecdd489087ed564f1403ce111e5775f
LGA 2011 CPU's - http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?N=4294966995+4294930194&

--

I will update. Well at least the rumors I held to be correct were indeed correct of the November 14, 2011 release date. All the folks I told over the past several months i.e. cannot bitch at me

 

[rahulkadukar]

Can you guess the release date for Ivy Bridge

 

[jaquith]

Total guessing, March 26, 2012. The rumors have been mid-March to first week April 2012, but 'most' of them have been late-March 2012 (Q2 2012). This assumes no 'recall' from Intel or 22nm production delays which have otherwise plagued the 28nm GPU's i.e. GTX 600 series and HD 7000 series.

The GTX 600 & HD 7000 series were 'supposed' to be making their debuts in conjunction with the Sandy Bridge-E -- right now I see none listed.

 

[RetiredChief]

Currently have both an I5-2500k (16 Gigs ram + dual SSDs) and a I5-750 (8 gigs ram and dual SSDs). While I could afford the I7-3930k, at $600+ and the cost of a new MB, There is No way in He double L that I could justify the cost for a Home computer. This High end is geared more toward corporate use, or thoes with more money than b____.

The real benifit would be in the new MB supported features. If I were to recommend a new system, I'd lean toward the i7-2600k/2700k until the IB's/MBs drop in price which probably will not be until mid to late 2013.

To bad AMD can not produce a CPU/MB combo that would compete with the high end Intel as that MIGHT drive down the Intel higher end Sytem for home use.

 

[o1die]

I'm glad you posted some links. Too bad Intel is gouging people on this new cpu. Maybe slower models will show up soon.

 

[jaguarskx]

These processors are not for your typical consumers. They are targeted at enthusiasts and individuals who actually need their level of processing power.

 

[jaquith]

Well if you want 4-WAY SLI** and Sandy Bridge -- you have (1) choice LGA 2011. Ditto if you require a lot of memory 8 x __GB up to (64GB), but 8x4GB (32GB) is pretty cheap in comparison to LGA 1155 4x8GB (32GB). Have you priced 8GB SDRAM lately??!!

$1,299.99 G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 64GB (8 x 8GB) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231508
$184.99 G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (8 x 4GB) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231498
-
$649.99 G.SKILL Ripjaws Z Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231507

The cost for 32GB alone JUSTIFIES the LGA 2011! 32GB LGA 1155 $649.99 vs 32GB LGA 2011 $184.99. IF you need more then LGA 1155 won't work.

The Intel Core i7-3820 (4 core / 8 thread) will be coming soon'ish (Q1 2012) and is supposed to be priced under $300.

Currently, both the i7-3960X and i7-3930K both are (6 core / 12 thread), and an Intel 6-core for ~$600 isn't too bad (IMO).

** LGA 1155 4-WAY is possible with e.g. 2-WAY GTX 590's, and PLX Chipset equipped MOBO's with Ivy Bridge CPU's.

 

[RetiredChief]

Some excerpts:\
Quote
There are two aspects of today's launch that bother me: the lack of Quick Sync and the chipset. The former is easy to understand. Sandy Bridge E is supposed to be a no-compromise, ultra high-end desktop solution. The lack of an on-die GPU with Quick Sync support means you have to inherently compromise in adopting the platform. I'm not sure what sort of a solution Intel could've come to (I wouldn't want to give up a pair of cores for a GPU+QuickSync) but I don't like performance/functionality tradeoffs with this class of product. Secondly, while I'm not a SAS user, I would've at least appreciated some more 6Gbps SATA ports on the chipset. Native USB 3.0 support would've been nice as well. Instead what we got was effectively a 6-series chipset with a new name. As Intel's flagship chipset, the X79 falls short.
End qoute
On the Positive side:
Quote:
If you do happen to have a heavily threaded workload that needs the absolute best performance, the Core i7 3960X can deliver. In our most thread heavy tests the 3960X had no problems outpacing the Core i7 2600K by over 50%. If your livelihood depends on it, the 3960X is worth its entry fee.
End Quote.
Ref: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5091/intel-core-i7-3960x-sandy-bridge-e-review-keeping-the-high-end-alive/9

?? How many Home users more than 16 gigs ram ??? Great for a larger Ramdisk

 

[jaquith]

Use depends upon need. I won't argue that most folks don't need 32-lanes of PCIe nor 8xDIMM. Most quality orientated MPEG-2/4/H.264 aren't from QuickSync though it would have been nice to have included it.

Personally, I have a lot of different PC's: Notebooks, Desktops, HTPC, Workstations, NAS, and Servers. So I am not one of those with Blinders on.

However, I do have an Extreme Gaming rig - 'my plan' is to simply replace the older 3-WAY GTX 470's with 3-WAY and maybe 4-WAY GTX 3GB+ vRAM GTX 600 series on my EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1.

--

That said, IF I were to build from scratch 'today' it would be with the i7-3960X and until I see better using the $450 EVGA X79 Classified and with 4x4GB DDR3-1866 or DDR3-2133 or DDR3-2400 (soon as I see stability & benchmarks). I have several tentative builds for the LGA 2011 using 4-WAY. Images of EVGA X79 Classified. The 'hold' is the GPUs!!! Maybe the $450 ASUS Rampage IV Extreme but I need to see some comparisons.

 

[jaquith]

Updated TigerDirect

 

[gmaster456]

Great for people who's line of work requires such a chip. It's obviously not for gaming.

 

[noob2222]

rofl, $224 for a micro atx motherboard.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

I'm glad you posted some links. Too bad Intel is gouging people on this new cpu. Maybe slower models will show up soon.

Actually Intel's tray price is $990 for the 3960X and $550 for the -30X, so it is Newegg, Tiger, etc that are gouging by up to $70. Once the novelty wears off I'm sure you'll see prices at (or in Microcenter's case, below) the list price.

Anyway, these seem more geared towards workstations than home or gaming use anyway, so just a few more months until Ivy Bridge, for me anyway.

 

[determinology]

Im personally waiting on ivy bridge

 

[jaquith]

Same can be said about the SB-E -> 'IB-E' or SB -> IB. It all seems mystical until it's out there and the assumptions of expectations don't deliver. The SB vs SB-E vs IB vs IB-E will offer the same 0~4FPS on the same GPU(s) when benchmarked in 6 months.

Bottom-Line, ANY SB-E in 4-WAY will beat ANY SB/IB in 3-WAY SLI - period. Fair no, Reality yes.

The benchmarks, most of them, once the CPU Multiplier and BCLK are both OC'ed will show the SB-E the clear choice. Plus there's OMG more than Gaming for the advantages to the SB-E. The tests I've seen toss-in a 'stock' SB vs SB-E and mean zip.

So far I've seen the SB-E running >5.6GHz with DDR3-2400 that won't happen on the LGA 1155 SB -- not to mention 4-WAY GTX 580's!

 

[eddieroolz]

I'm waiting for Ivy Bridge before I do my build.

 

[noob2222]

So far I've seen the SB-E running >5.6GHz with DDR3-2400 that won't happen on the LGA 1155 SB -- not to mention 4-WAY GTX 580's!

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?264912-SandyBridge-breaks-5.6-GHZ-and-does-benches-a-bit-below...

You mean similar to this single core OC?

Seeing the reviews brave enough to post temps, 4.75 ghz at 91c. Can't see 5.6 without either a few cores or extreme cooling such as ln2.

 

[jaquith]

Well I spoke too soon, I noted a post at Overclockers and in both cases they're on LN2. Clunk's was on LN2 as well... http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1587182 guaranteed. I ass-u-med wrong "SB-E running >5.6GHz" was on water - it's not; see -> http://hwbot.org/submission/2221250_nickshih_3dmark11___performance_4x_geforce_gtx_580_27928_marks The 4-WAY (4 x GTX 580) is still impossible on the LGA 1155.

 

[rds1220]

I love my I5 but no way would I pay that much for a CPU those prices are insane.