Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition And Then There Were 8

veryone knows that today’s 3DMark Fire Strike bench- E high-end applications are mark shows increases of up bigger, more complex, and to 14%. more demanding of The real-world benefits hardware than ever before. of such performance boosts The days of simply ratcheting are obvious: Less waiting, up a CPU’s clock speed to increased productivity, make it more productive are and a better experience in long gone, however; today’s games and multimedia PC workloads require a entertainment. But the smarter solution. Core i7-5960X isn’t just Enter the latest member powerful; it’s also highly of ’s Extreme Edition efficient, requiring only a processor line, the Core i7- modest 10-watt increase in 5960X. This CPU represents TDP (thermal design power) a number of firsts: It is over the previous Extreme Intel’s first eight-core Edition processor. The Core desktop processor, it is the i7-5960X’s base clock speed first chip to incorporate is 3.0GHz, with a Turbo 20MB of Intel Smart Cache frequency of up to 3.5GHz. on-die memory, and it is the first CPU to work in tandem X99 with DDR4 memory, via A CPU is only as good Intel’s X99 chipset. as the chipset that helps it run the rest of Octopower your PC, and the Core i7- There are lots of notable innovations the previous performance champ, the 5960X is in good hands. Intel’s X99 that make the Core i7-5960X unique, Core i7-4960X, using Adobe Premiere chipset is the premiere platform for but the one that likely stands out Pro CC. high-performance PCs, and provides the most is its eight-core design. Need to do some 3D rendering? If you several improvements over the last- Thanks to Intel’s Hyper-Threading use CINEBENCH 15 X, you’ll enjoy generation X79 performance chipset. technology, this means that the 5960X up to a 32% increase in rendering For starters, X99 provides native is capable of simultaneously running speed (again, vs. the 4960X). What USB 3.0 support (up to six ports, an astounding 16 threads of code if you have some 4K video that you plus up to eight USB 2.0 ports; X79 instructions. When running highly need to transcode to 1080p? If you provided 14 USB 2.0 ports but lacked threaded applications such as photo- use Handbrake, you’ll see a 33% speed USB 3.0 support) and includes support and video-editing programs, this increase. Even game physics and AI for as many as 10 6Gbps SATA 3.0 translates into massive performance performance get a boost from the ports (X79 supported six ports). gains. For example, the Core i7-5960X 5960X vs. the previous generation Both of these enhancements reduce edits 4K video up to 20% faster than Extreme Edition chip: Futuremark’s production costs for motherboard

Advertisement the Core i7- units is $999 for the Core i7-5960X, 5930K and the $583 for the Core i7-5930K, and $389 Core i7-5820K for the Core i7-5820K. at its PAX Prime All three processors are compatible launch event. The with Intel’s TS13X all-in-one liquid- Core i7-5930K cooling unit, which was introduced in is a six-core 2013 and is sold separately. chip with a base clock speed of Apex Predator 3.5GHz, a Turbo The numbers don’t lie; Intel’s frequency of up Core i7-5960X is far and away the to 3.7GHz, and most powerful desktop CPU on the 15MB of Intel market today, and with some fairly Smart Cache. simple you can make Like its eight- it even more dominant. Harness all core sibling, the of this power to an X99-equipped 5930K employs motherboard, and you get the Intel Hyper- world’s fastest desktop CPU working Threading tech- in tandem with the world’s fastest nology, resulting desktop memory. in a total of 12 Whether you need more power for threads, and creating digital content, working with it provides the your video and pictures, or playing same 40-lane the latest high-end PC games—or if manufacturers and streamline board PCI-E 3.0 support and quad-channel you just dig power for power’s sake— design by reducing the number of DDR4 support. Also, as the “K” in its Intel has the platform that will give it feature-specific chips they need name suggests, the Core i7-5930K has an to you. ■ to add. unlocked BCLK multiplier Additionally, X99 is the first desk- for easy overclocking. top chipset to provide support for Rounding out the DDR4 memory. Haswell-E family, the six- equipped with X99 include quad- core/12-thread Core i7- channel support for up to 64GB of 5820K has a base clock 2,133MHz memory configured in four speed of 3.3GHz and a or eight 288-pin DIMM slots. Support Turbo frequency of up to for Intel XMP (Extreme Memory 3.6GHz. It supports 28 Profile) overclocking is present, PCI Express 3.0 lanes, as well, with initial speeds reaching but has the same 15MB 3,300MHz. shared L3 cache as the When combined with the Core 5930K, the same memory i7-5960X, X99 will support up to support, and an unlocked 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes; in multi-GPU multiplier. configurations, X99 will support 2 x Despite all of the new 16 (plus 1 x 8) or up to 5 x 8 setups. technology that Haswell-E Of course, X99 also provides native and X99 represent and the support for eight PCI Express 2.0 considerable performance lanes, the latest network configs, and boosts they provide, the Intel Rapid Storage Technology. new CPUs are available at prices similar to their Meet The Family previous-generation coun- The Core i7-5960X isn’t the only terparts. Pricing in the “Haswell-E” CPU; Intel also introduced United States per 1,000