Benchmark Results: Sandra 2011

In a measure of pure arithmetic alacrity, the overclocked Core i7-3930K once again dominates. Two other hexa-core Sandy Bridge-E configurations follow before the overclocked quad-core -3820 is allowed to surface, just ahead of Core i7-990X. The stock version of the same chip comes after that, besting Intel’s Core i7-2600K.

Strange that the overclocked Core i7-3820 leads this test, right?

Not really. In my Sandy Bridge-E review, we figured out that the AES256 throughput of Intel’s AES-NI-equipped CPUs is tied directly to memory bandwidth. With only four cores mated to a quad-channel DDR3-1600 subsystem, the -3820 rises right to the top of our Cryptography results.

Of course, overall, the six-core models are more powerful, which is why you see them turn in better SHA256 hashing numbers. The big jump in memory bandwidth is also responsible for the big jump in AES256 bandwidth moving from Sandy Bridge to Sandy Bridge-E.