14 DAY TRIAL // Intel will soon release the Ivy Bridge-E series of central processing units, which will be to Haswell what Sandy Bridge-E were to Ivy Bridge. As such, we didn't expect to see a new Sandy Bridge-E surfacing, yet this is precisely what has happened. It might turn out to be fake rumor, or some other type of misunderstanding, but the folks at Expreview seldom make such slips.
What they discovered was a certain chip called Core i7-3910K. They found it on roadmaps with retailers, complete with S-spec code: SR0TN.
That's actually the only reason no one is holding onto the assumption that Core i7-3910K was just a typo of Core i7-3970X.
If it were a typo, the S-spec code would be different, specifically SR0WR.
And so we reach the specifications, or the few things we were able to gather about the technical details.
First off, the Core i7-3910K CPU probably has six cores, simple because it is called i7-3900 and not i7-3800.
Secondly, the clock frequency is of 3 GHz, at least in base state. If any sort of Turbo Boost technology is included, it will probably take things quite a bit higher.
Either way, the K brand extension makes it clear that this is a chip with an unlocked multiplier, so even if Turbo Boost proves absent or unsatisfactory, owners will be able to tweak the performance manually.
And since this is an ultra-high performance central processing unit, the ones that buy it will probably have a lot of overclocking acumen indeed.
All in all, the Core i7-3910K is bound to be superior to the likes of Core i7-4770K (quad-core at up to 3.9 GHz), albeit at the cost of a higher TDP and price ($400 / €400 versus $350 / €350).
Keep in mind that the price is just an assumption. The leak didn't include it.