14 DAY TRIAL // Intel's next-generation high-performance desktop processors based on the Sandy Bridge-E architecture won't be clocked higher than the company's current Core i7 Extreme Edition CPUs, according to a report that has recently hit the Web.
This news comes to confirm the information we received a while ago about Intel's first desktop chips based on the Sandy Bridge-E architecture.
The new processors will be officially released in the forth quarter of this year and the initial batch will include three models.
Two of these will come with six fully unlocked processor cores, 15MB or 12MB of cache, and operate at 3.3GHz and 3.2Ghz, respectively.
The third chip sports quad processing cores, 10MB cache, a 3.60GHz stock frequency, and a only a partially unlocked design.
In comparison, today's fastest six-core CPU, the Core i7-990X Extreme Edition, has a clock speed of 3.46GHz, which makes it slightly faster than Intel's upcoming six-core processors.
However, the Sandy Bridge-E architecture will include a series of enhancements that should offer greater performance in most applications, and one of the most important improvements is the inclusion of a quad-channel memory controller.
In addition, the chips feature support for the AVX instruction set and also carry an on-board PCI Express controller that can provide up to 40 PCI-E Gen 3 lanes.
Intel's Turbo Boost technology has also reached the 2.0 version and can now, for slight periods of time, go above the maximum TDP of the chip which enables it to reach higher operation frequencies (3.90GHz in the upcoming SNB-E vs 3.46GHz for the Core i7-990X).
The upcoming processors will require motherboards based on Intel X79 chipset with an LGA2011 socket.
According to Intel's internal estimates, these processors will account for 1%-2% of Intel's desktop CPU shipments by volume in the second half of this year. In comparison, Intel's current Sandy Bridge chips will represent half of the company's shipments in the same period of time. (via Xbit-Labs)