Intel Core i7-3960X - Sandy Bridge E Processor Review @ [H]

Who gives a fuck what Tom says?

Perhaps Mrs Tom and Tom's kids?? But certainly none of us here.. unless we are related to Tom and/or are in his will!


Intel tells its partners that they can expect around 20 percent performance increase from Sandy Bridge, which is roughly the same gain that Sandy Bridge had over Nehalem based CPUs.

Ivy Bridge is expected to offer a 20 percent overall performance boost over comparable Sandy Bridge CPUs on the processing side.

The top 4C/8T model (the i7-3700K) will have a 77W TDP, down from the 95W TDP of the 2500K and 2600K. 22nm Quad-cores with TDPs of as low as 45W will also be available.

Seems like the prudent thing to do is wait another 4-5 months and pick up an Ivy Bridge CPU. That 20% performance boost plus hopefully higher overclocking ability than Sandy Bridge should erase much of the 3960X's dominance in multi-threaded applications.. and for a lot less $.
 
the 3960X chews through multi-threaded encoding and rendering faster than Herman Cain goes through secretaries.

LOL! nice one.

nearly 4 years later and overclocked i7 920 users still do not have anything worthwhile to upgrade to.

lol, but the upgrade itch is so strong!!!

I can wait for IB-E after seeing those power consumption numbers haha
 
Intel has been beating the drum about this being the "Ultimate Desktop Processor for Gamers," I think that is a lot of horse shit.

And this is why [H] is the best site in the universe. Reviews that pull no punches and don't sugarcoat it when a product eats it.

Thanks Kyle
 
Perhaps Mrs Tom and Tom's kids?? But certainly none of us here.. unless we are related to Tom and/or are in his will!


Intel tells its partners that they can expect around 20 percent performance increase from Sandy Bridge, which is roughly the same gain that Sandy Bridge had over Nehalem based CPUs.

Ivy Bridge is expected to offer a 20 percent overall performance boost over comparable Sandy Bridge CPUs on the processing side.

The top 4C/8T model (the i7-3700K) will have a 77W TDP, down from the 95W TDP of the 2500K and 2600K. 22nm Quad-cores with TDPs of as low as 45W will also be available.

Seems like the prudent thing to do is wait another 4-5 months and pick up an Ivy Bridge CPU. That 20% performance boost plus hopefully higher overclocking ability than Sandy Bridge should erase much of the 3960X's dominance in multi-threaded applications.. and for a lot less $.

Leaks on IB TDP aside, I think that one thing to take away from this review is that, "Intel says a lot of things," if you know what I mean.

LOL! nice one.



lol, but the upgrade itch is so strong!!!

I can wait for IB-E after seeing those power consumption numbers haha

If you don't mind me asking, why are you waiting for socket 2011 if you only have 6GB of RAM and a single video card? A 2600k would be faster and use a lot less power than what you have now.

Are you planning to go to 32GB of RAM and triple cards?
 
If you don't mind me asking, why are you waiting for socket 2011 if you only have 6GB of RAM and a single video card? A 2600k would be faster and use a lot less power than what you have now.

Are you planning to go to 32GB of RAM and triple cards?

yup, I've been saving my pennies for a monster build using IB-E, dual socket motherboard, tri-sli, case-labs MH10, and enough watercooling to cool a nuclear reactor haha
 
yup, I've been saving my pennies for a monster build using IB-E, dual socket motherboard, tri-sli, case-labs MH10, and enough watercooling to cool a nuclear reactor haha

Awesome. This is going to need pics when it's done.
 
Released after the midrange, no die shrink after midrange launch, and like Bulldozer we can live without those extra server parts that bloat up the CPU die size resulting in more heat and power (and despite fusing off two cores).

I see I wasn't the only one who noticed Intel fused off 2 cores. However, for $1K I feel like we should be getting all eight cores, competition or no.
 
I have a i7 920 running at 3.7GHz and it does very well. I have been considering a CPU upgrade sometime in the near future and the i7 2600K or 2700K has been at the top of my list. I've been wondering how the 3930K would do but considering the results I just saw and my uses I doubt it is worth it. Now the real @ 3.7GHz until Ivy Bridge or go with a i7 2600K/2700K now. My i7 920 will be 3 years old in January. I can't remember the last time I had a CPU for that long. I think I paid $329 or $369 CAD for it, well worth it. I only remember that my MB and CPU with $329 and $369, I just don't remember which was which.
 
Kyle, if I didn't know better, I'd say you really didn't want to do this review, lol. I guess the people who waited for SB-E know how the people that waited for BD feel now...sorta.
 
So basically if you have a LGA 1366 system, and want this processor, just buy the i7-980x? they are both 6core/12thread cpu's on the 32nm process. The only difference being minor IPC improvements?

Or did I miss the point?
 
If you check tom's the increase in performance from the 3.0 express lanes and 3-GPU scaling is pitiful compared to how hyped it was and the numbers people were expecting. 20-30% doesn't translate to 1-7 frames per second when you're getting well over 100. Anand shows that the performance is better than SB on most games at low res with a single GPU, but that's strictly for testing the CPU and taking away as much of that GPU and GPU ceiling factor as they can.

If I were you I'd skip this chip completely. In terms of being marketed as a gaming chip this is about as FX as bulldozer is

Fair enough. Are there any good Z68 boards for 3 way Crossfire / SLI?

Once the next gen boards from AMD/Nvidia hit, I am considering moving to three rather than two. I know there usually is not much performance impact going from 16x to 8x, but with only 20 PCIe lanes it's tough to see how I effectively can get 3 video cards and a discrete sound card working well.
 
So basically if you have a LGA 1366 system, and want this processor, just buy the i7-980x? they are both 6core/12thread cpu's on the 32nm process. The only difference being minor IPC improvements?

Or did I miss the point?

Yes and no.

SB-E will clock higher AND has a IPC gain, resulting in an overall 22% performance gain in heavily multithreaded apps.

If 22% is not significant to you, then yes, it's fine.

IMHO, in the computer world 22% is freaking huge.

For some reason 990X's are still going for over $800 new even at the cheapest retailers, so in this case you may actually be able to get a 3930K + motherboard for less (or at least about the same) as as a 990X.
 
if you have a LGA 1366 system, and want this processor, just buy the i7-980x

If you do this, no upgrade path for you in the future..

04.png


This slide also mentioned Ivy Bridge-E for the first time - ready to get excited for that yet??
 
W00t! Great article, Kyle. This is the exact tone and attitude I expect at the [H]. Just because a part is the fastest part out there, it does not necessarily mean it is the best. Thank you for your conclusion as one does always need to consider "Who is this product for anyways?"
 
Zarathustra[H];1038018622 said:
Fair enough. Are there any good Z68 boards for 3 way Crossfire / SLI?

Once the next gen boards from AMD/Nvidia hit, I am considering moving to three rather than two. I know there usually is not much performance impact going from 16x to 8x, but with only 20 PCIe lanes it's tough to see how I effectively can get 3 video cards and a discrete sound card working well.

Same case mate... running 2 570s, discreete sound and PCIe-3.0 SATA 3/USB3.0 card... and eveyrhting works. When I add 3rd 570s (when they go for sale or people will get rid of theirs to go for keplers :p) I won't go out of lanes, and they won't work in 8/8/4 :)
 
IVB-E was always going to appear on lga 2011, although again after it appears on lga 1155 which of course then just reinforces the belief that buying a 3900 is a rather expensive mistake for most.
 
Only thing missing from the review, aPlatinum [H] award fir the 2500k.
 
Same case mate... running 2 570s, discreete sound and PCIe-3.0 SATA 3/USB3.0 card... and eveyrhting works. When I add 3rd 570s (when they go for sale or people will get rid of theirs to go for keplers :p) I won't go out of lanes, and they won't work in 8/8/4 :)

So I'm not alone then :p

What I really am hoping to see is a confirmation that 3930K's will hit 4.8Ghz on off-the-shelf sealed water coolers, like the H100.

If I can get confirmation of this, I am in for one. (I have no need for one of those crazy 2 socket 12 core/24 thread setups.)

IMHO, if only the 3820 were a K part, that might be the one for me. I know x79 is supposed to bclk overcloock better than cougar point, but I don't want to rely on that too much.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038018622 said:
Fair enough. Are there any good Z68 boards for 3 way Crossfire / SLI?

Once the next gen boards from AMD/Nvidia hit, I am considering moving to three rather than two. I know there usually is not much performance impact going from 16x to 8x, but with only 20 PCIe lanes it's tough to see how I effectively can get 3 video cards and a discrete sound card working well.

I agree with you and share your enthusiasm. Tri-fire/sli and a 3.0 PCI express are something that should be standard soon enough -- even without three card setups the bandwidth on those discrete GPUs should increase -- but slapping that feature (with currently very slim benefits) on a board/chipset void of other already standard features is a poor decision. There's a very good reason why people are upset with the x79's, and it's offering a measly few frames per second increase and a ~$600 minimum upgrade price. Though when you're buying an Intel extreme chip I suppose price isn't really a major factor.

Thanks for the review. I'm glad at least one review site isn't afraid of telling it like it is. As always, I went to read this first before heading elsewhere. Needless to say, the other reviews were subsequently far more comical
 
Stop the nonsense about discussing SB-E in the same breath as BD. FX was an unmitigated failure. SB-E is an SB extension into the workstation space with a reasonably priced 3930 entry (if we can get someone to review it!)
 
So when do these things officially go on sale?

I've found the 3930K on both Amazon and Newegg, but both are listed at a good bit above the MSRP, so I presume it is some sort of pre-sale.

Also, there are no x79 motherboards to be found on Newegg yet...
 
Definitely only for someone with deep pockets and a true need for the 2 extra cores.

This pretty much sums up the review.
Unless you are running something that's highly multithreaded, and plan to spend big $ both on the CPU/motherboard and a high-end water cooling system, an overclocked 2600K or 2700K will give you close to the same performance for alot less.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038018815 said:
So when do these things officially go on sale?

I've found the 3930K on both Amazon and Newegg, but both are listed at a good bit above the MSRP, so I presume it is some sort of pre-sale.

Also, there are no x79 motherboards to be found on Newegg yet...

The boards aren't listed under the motherboard section on Newegg but if you search for x79 they'll come up. I just ordered an ASRock x79 mATX board for work earlier this morning (I've been waiting for SB-E to upgrade a couple workstations) along with a 3930k after I decided that I didn't want to go with one of the ASUS boards Microcenter has on their website. Pricing is just a little over MSRP; 's just an early adopter tax, not a pre-sale.
 
I could picture this being a great platform for Virtualization... No wait, it's a "K" CPU, so VM support isn't proper, never mind. Seriously do, one could slap XEN on this with 32GB or even 64GB DDR3 and run tons of VMs. Other than that, I don't see the point of it. Then again, a setup with Dual Opteron 6128 and 64GB of RAM will be cheaper and much better, since there are actually 16 Real Cores (It's not Bulldozer based).
What ever the scenario, the only advantage I can see here for the ordinary desktop user is the ability of using an extra 16GB of RAM cheaply.

After Bulldozer, this...
 
Targeted for the gamer? HUH?!?!

Am I missing something here? Games haven't exactly been written to use a good portion of what is available hardware wise in a long time. Most PC games are written for 32 bit, dual core, 4 gig max memory (see 32bit), with a video card from 2 years ago as 'Recommended'.

Intel/AMD loved when there was a large game audience who routinely upgraded their PC. Now that time has moved on and games are influenced by consoles, the casual crowd, and with no presence of a must have resource hungry applications, these high end systems become very niche in what they can offer.

PC component makers really need to fund some developers and make games that need some of this hardware, right now we are in a downward spirial that no one wants to break, and the only winner is the lowest common denominator.
 
a reasonably priced 3930 entry (if we can get someone to review it!)

Ryan at PCPer.com wrote..

If you are reading other reviews that claim to have Core i7-3930K results, be sure they had an actual sample of that CPU as we think performance will be skewed without it. We are planning on getting a retail version of the Core i7-3930K this week to update you!!
 
Agreed

But while you sound dissapoint, I am strangely happy with that.

IMHO, it's a double sided coin.

We win, because we don't have to upgrade as often to enjoy the latest games/software

We lose because the latest games/software are not as technologically amazing as they could have been.

Take it to its logical extreme, and we could all still be on on 286's playing Sierra's Police Quest, dumb and happy that we've never had to upgrade our computers.

Police%20Quest%20-%20In%20Pursuit%20of%20the%20Death%20Angel_3.gif


I wouldn't find that particularly exciting though, and I probably wouldn't be a hardware enthusiast for long. :p

Stuff like this happens with lack of competition
 
Another professional, thorough, and impartial review, as always. SB-E looks like a fantastic processor and fell right where I thought it would.

I'm curious what voltages were needed to obtain your overclocks? My i7 920 got to 4Ghz without any voltage bump (I stopped there because it's a nice round number) I'm just wondering how much extra power you added to the processors to get those results?
 
2 things:

1) AMD's superior memory bandwidth is sooooooo dead now.

2) "The "holes" in the board for mounting, are not holes, but rather female threaded studs."
...that just sounds wrong....and kinda dirty
 
Ryan at PCPer.com wrote..

Yeah, I wonder why Intel held off on the CPU which is most likely going to outsell its big bro by 5:1 or more... :confused:

2 things:

1) AMD's superior memory bandwidth is sooooooo dead now.

2) "The "holes" in the board for mounting, are not holes, but rather female threaded studs."
...that just sounds wrong....and kinda dirty

As a famous stud, I've done more than my share of threading females. ;)
 
If you do this, no upgrade path for you in the future..

04.png

True, but I already have the LGA 1366 920 system sitting on my desk. So my debate is do I build an Ivy bridge system next summer, or just drop in a processor? The i7 980x is $580 on the egg.
 
$600 for the 3930K - and $300 for a half way decent mobo... no thanks. $300 for 2600K and $200 for a decent mobo, more like it. For $350 one can even get a Phenom II 1100T with an awesome mobo. It would make an awesome server or workstation. Intel, seriously, WTF?!
 
$600 for the 3930K - and $300 for a half way decent mobo... no thanks. $300 for 2600K and $200 for a decent mobo, more like it. For $350 one can even get a Phenom II 1100T with an awesome mobo. It would make an awesome server or workstation. Intel, seriously, WTF?!

$220 for a 2500k and $150 for a good mb.
 
I'm really the first to (re)point out that Intel didnt get native USB 3.0 into this platform?

This is not news, and IMHO not a big deal. Motherboard manufacturers will integrate USB3 chips onto the boards anyway.

That, and maybe I'm just an unusual user, but I don't have a single USB 3.0 device. In fact, other than for my mouse, I barely use anything USB at all.

I have an external DVD Burner, but it is hooked up using eSATA,

And SATA ports? I don't care either. I use one eSATA port for the above mentioned DVD burner, and one internal SATA port for my SSD. All of my volume storage is on my NAS.

I don't even care much about the 2 extra cores. I don't think I really need them (in fact they may just hamper my overclock by adding more heat)

What does matter to me are PCIe lanes.

if I could have a $300 LGA2011 2600K with all the PCIe lanes on this board, I would. Unfortunately that's not an option.

If only the 3820 were a "K" part, that would be ideal.
 
I guess that Intel figured that Enthusiasts are just morons that need to throw money at something... The X79 chipset isn't on a par even with AMD 890FX or 990FX... give me a break...
 
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