Intel Sandy Bridge-E Debuts: Core i7-3960X Review

Test System Specs

Intel LGA2011 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition (3.30GHz)
- x4 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-14900 (CAS 8-9-8-24)
- Gigabyte G1.Assassin2 (Intel X79)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38

AMD AM3+ Test System Specs
- AMD Phenom II X6 1100T (3.30GHz)
- AMD Phenom II X4 980 (3.70GHz)
- AMD FX-8150 (3.60GHz)
- AMD FX-8120 (3.10GHz)
- AMD FX-6100 (3.30GHz)
- AMD FX-4170 (4.20GHz)
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-14900 (CAS 8-9-8-24)
- Asrock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional (AMD 990FX)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38

Intel LGA1366 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition (3.33GHz)
- Intel Core i7-920 (2.66GHz)
- x3 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 8-8-8-20)
- Gigabyte G1.Sniper (Intel X58)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38

Intel LGA1155 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7-2600K
- Intel Core i5-2500K
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-14900 (CAS 8-9-8-24)
- Gigabyte G1.Sniper2 (Intel Z68)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38

Intel LGA1156 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i5-750
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 8-8-8-20)
- Gigabyte P55A-UD7 (Intel P55)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38

 

Memory Bandwidth PerformanceThe memory bandwidth of the Core i7-3960X is surprisingly low given it was tested with quad-channel DDR3-1866 memory. The read throughput reached just 18.1GB/s, while the write performance was limited to 15.1GB/s. This made the Core i7-3960X roughly 9% slower than the Core i5-2500K when measuring read performance and 18% slower for the write performance.
 

The memory bandwidth of the Core i7-3960X is surprisingly low given it was tested with quad-channel DDR3-1866 memory. The read throughput reached just 18.1GB/s, while the write performance was limited to 15.1GB/s. This made the Core i7-3960X roughly 9% slower than the Core i5-2500K when measuring read performance and 18% slower for the write performance.

Despite the weaker than expected memory bandwidth performance, we were happy to find that the L2 cache performance of the Core i7-3960X was greater than that or the original Sandy Bridge processors.

 

Three years later, we are finally able to put the X58/LGA1366 platform to rest, in what's virtually been Intel's flagship platform for the entire duration. Sandy Bridge gave the platform a run for its money earlier this year, but in the remainder the platform managed to stay on top and only recently AMD was able to match it with their new FX series processors.

The AMD FX (Bulldozer) launch was pretty disappointing, to put it mildly, and today’s arrival of the new Sandy Bridge-E processors does nothing to make AMD’s flagship look any more attractive. But as was the case with the Phenom II and the original Core i7, Bulldozer and Sandy Bridge-E are two very different animals that target very different price ranges.

The AMD FX-8150 is currently being listed for around $270 (if you can find stock), while the Core i7-3960X is a bone chilling $990. The Core i7-3930K should deliver a similar level of performance, but even at $555 it's hardly what you would call affordable. It is what you would call half a grand, and that is what you would call almost twice the price of the FX-8150.

Pricing of the Core i7-3820 is yet to be revealed, but we are not crossing our fingers as it shouldn’t be much faster than the Core i7-2600K. The only advantage it has is the slightly larger L3 cache and the quad-channel DDR3 memory support. Therefore realistically to get aboard the LGA2011 platform, users will want to grab the Core i7-3930K along with a supporting motherboard and four sticks of DDR3 memory.

For gamers there's very little to see here. The Core i7-3960X is no faster than the Core i7-2600K or even the Core i5-2500K. However when it came to our application and encoding performance tests the Core i7-3960X was a monster. The Excel, Photoshop and encoding gains over the Core i7-2600K were impressive, in the order of 20% or faster. 

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