Intel Releases Core i7-3820

by Kristian Vättö on 2/14/2012 2:05:00 PM
Posted in CPUs , Intel , Sandy Bridge E

Intel has finally filled out the Sandy Bridge E lineup by releasing the Core i7-3820. The initial Sandy Bridge E lineup launched back in November 2011 and it consisted of two SKUs, the i7-3960X and i7-3930K. While the i7-3820 wasn't released until this week, we reviewed it over a month ago, so head there for a longer analysis. The table below summarizes the current Sandy Bridge E lineup:

ProcessorCore ClockCores / ThreadsL3 CacheMax TurboMax Overclock MultiplierTDPPriceIntel Core i7 3960X3.3GHz6 / 1215MB3.9GHz57x130W$999Intel Core i7 3930K3.2GHz6 / 1212MB3.8GHz57x130W$583Intel Core i7 38203.6GHz4 / 810MB3.9GHz45x130W$294

The short summary is that i7-3820 is Sandy Bridge E on a budget. In terms of CPU performance and price, it's equivalent to the i7-2600(K) but provides higher I/O performance due to the quad-channel memory and 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes. Anand summed it up nicely in his review, so we'll just repost here.

There are three reasons why you'd want the Core i7-3820:

You need PCIe 3.0 today and/or you need more PCIe lanes than a Core i7-2600K can provide.You need tons of memory bandwidth for a particular application.You want a 2600K but you need a platform that can support more memory (32GB+).

So in general, most users will be better off with a LGA 1155 based platform. While the i7-3820 is actually cheaper than the i7-2600K, the total price of the platform is not. LGA 1155 based motherboards go for as little as ~$50 (e.g. Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2). If you want more features such as Intel Rapid Storage Technology, you can get a Z68 based motherboard for around $90 (e.g. ASRock Z68M/USB3). In contrast, the cheapest LGA 2011 based motherboard starts at $210. Unless you benefit from the extra features that Sandy Bridge E offers, your money is better spent else (e.g. on an SSD).

Source: Intel

Print This Article 22 Comments View All Comments Post a Comment Smart by Hector2 on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Since the TDP hasn't changed, it's pretty clear that Intel is recovering 6-core i7-39xx units that have 1 or 2 defective cores and selling as 4-core. AMD has done this with their many Core units as well. Hector2 Reply RE: Smart by Kevin G on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Actually all the six core socket 2011 chips are binned 8 core chips. I suspect yields are good enough that Intel wouldn't need to cripple additional cores on their larger chips. Various reports are indicating that this is a new die 294 mm^2 in size. Kevin G Reply RE: Smart by Kristian Vättö on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 That's true, this is a new die. Anand covered this in our review (see the table)

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5276/intel-core-i7-3... Kristian Vättö Reply Thick sharpie by crimson117 on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Regarding the CPU image and others like it, sharpie does offer thinner permanent markers which would be easier to write with:

http://www.sharpie.com/enUS/Pages/ultra-fine-point...

Just sayin' ;) crimson117 Reply RE: Thick sharpie by Kristian Vättö on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Haha, you need to bug Anand about this, it's his picture and sample ;-) Kristian Vättö Reply RE: Thick sharpie by Taft12 on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Yes, but do you know Anand's handwriting well enough to out him as the perpetrator of this bad penmanship :D Taft12 Reply RE: Thick sharpie by Etern205 on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 If you imagine to look at it from bird's eye view. It's like someone doing the Chinese ribbon dance. :D Etern205 Reply RE: Thick sharpie by JarredWalton on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 If I'm not mistaken, Intel is the one that writes on the chips -- but then again, it might be Anand. JarredWalton Reply RE: Thick sharpie by Etern205 on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Seen that type of hand writing before on this site, so I doubt it's Intel, but if it was. I wonder how much that person gets paid just to write model numbers on ES CPUs to be sent out for reviews. Etern205 Reply RE: Thick sharpie by Kristian Vättö on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 Here's a picture from another review, the handwriting isn't any better :D So Jarred could be right, it's Intel who does the writing

http://legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1845/intel-... Kristian Vättö Reply Subject Comment Post Comment Please login or register to post a comment.
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