A long-awaited day has come, Internet: Intel has lifted the embargo on its new Haswell-E processors, and with it the wraps come off of its associated X99 chipset. Of course, we have the goods to share with our in-depth review of all three new Haswell-E chips, which is also replete with details on the X99.
Of Intel's three new SKU's, two are K-series and one is an Extreme Edition, so overclockers can have their way. They drop into a new socket (LGA 2011-3) and offer support for DDR4 memory.
The flagship chip is the Core i7-5960X ($1,000), an eight-core beast clocked at 3.0 GHz (3.5 GHz Turbo) that boasts 40 PCI-E lanes (at 8 GT/s) and a quad-channel DDR4 memory controller (2133 MT/s). Built on the 22 nm process, the 5960X has a TDP of 140 W.
The two six-core Haswell-E chips, the Core i7-5930K ($538) and Core i7-5820K ($389), are clocked at 3.5/3.7 GHz and 3.3/3.6 GHz, respectively, and the latter sports 28 PCI-E lanes instead of 40.
As always, processor and chipset releases bring with them a slew of new products, and we'll be covering them all as they arrive; get ready for a deluge of new motherboards and refreshed boutique gaming systems from all the usual suspects.
With this Haswell-E release, there's more big news than normal, as widespread DDR4 support is now here, too, and therefore a number of DDR4 RAM kits are dribbling out into the market.
Finally, Tom's Hardware is partnering with CyberPowerPC for a full-system sweepstakes giveaway -- a CyberPowerPC Black Pearl with an Intel Core i7-5820K six-core processor, an EVGA X99 ATX motherboard, and a tricked-out NZXT H440 chassis. You can find all the giveaway details here.
Stay tuned.
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