Rumors on Ivy Bridge-E: 3 SKUs, September Release?
by Ian Cutress on June 20, 2013 6:51 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Ivy Bridge-E
A performance enthusiast always wants to know what is coming next. This morning HardwareLuxx published a rather interesting and official looking Intel slide detailing information about the upcoming enthusiast platform, Ivy Bridge-E. While we cannot confirm the legitimacy of the slide, it does follow several patterns we had been assuming for a while.
Firstly the launch date is a little surprising. Initially we have all been discussing October/November, but this slide puts the launch squarely at the beginning of September, between the 4th and the 11th. This is around the same date as IDF San Francisco, held on the 10-12th September.
As with previous launches, there will be a strict NDA date for media to publish results and demonstrations. Judging by what is written there does not seem to be much room for an upgrade to new chipsets, meaning that X79 is still the platform of choice at this time. I would not mind seeing an X89 with a full set of SATA 6 Gbps and USB 3.0 in the near future.
Alongside release details, CPU-World has posted information on the processor SKUs which are expected to be released. The top SKU is to be an i7-4960X, featuring 6 cores (12 threads) at 3.6 GHz which turbos up to 4 GHz and a total of 15MB L3 cache. This is going to be our top end SKU, which normally retails for $999-$1099. Below this is the i7-4930K, also 6 cores (12 threads) but set at 3.4 GHz with turbo up to 3.9 GHz and 12MB L3 cache. The final SKU should be the more interesting – the i7-4820K. The –K moniker suggests this part is unlocked, but unfortunately it is only a quad core (8 threads) part with 10MB L3 cache.
| Ivy Bridge-E SKUs (predicted) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SKU | Cores / Threads | Speed / Turbo | L3 Cache | TDP | Memory |
| i7-4820K | 4/8 | 3.7 GHz / 3.9 GHz | 10 MB | 130 W | DDR3-1866 |
| i7-4930K | 6/12 | 3.4 GHz / 3.9 GHz | 12 MB | 130 W | DDR3-1866 |
| i7-4960X | 6/12 | 3.6 GHz / 4.0 GHz | 15 MB | 130 W | DDR3-1866 |
One of the main benefits of Nehalem but a big issue with Sandy Bridge-E was the lack of a cheap overclocking SKU – while the i7-920 had big success, the i7-3820 eventually came along but it was not enough. This Ivy Bridge-E low end SKU is going to be directly compared with the i7-4770K Haswell SKU, and the only thing going for it is the quad channel memory support, as it loses at IPC. All three IVB-E CPUs should come in at 130W TDP, and as an overclocker I am hoping that the Ivy Bridge overheating issues are sorted with the IVB-E processors.
Source: HardwareLUXX, CPU-World
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Assimilator87 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
Each die has its own memory controller. That's why AMD's dual die G34 CPUs are quad channel, whereas the single die C32/AM3+ CPUs are dual channel.Kevin G - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
Socket 2011 supports quad channel memory. Putting two dies with quad channel memory support into that socket would mean that only 4 of the 8 channels possible would be usable. Similarly the number of PCI-e lanes would remain stack at 40 instead of the 84* possible.*DMI on the second die could be used as an additional 4 PCI-E lanes since wouldn't be connected to the chipset.
bsd228 - Thursday, June 27, 2013 - link
The Mac Pro will be using the upcoming line (announced, but not shipping) of the Xeon E5-2600 v2.frozentundra123456 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
Strange that the quad core has the same tdp as the hex cores, and is only very slightly higher clocked, and actually has lower turbo than the extreme edition.ShieTar - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
It's because Intel only has a few TDP classes. I think at this point in time, anything that might use more than 90W will be thrown into the 130W class. It does make sense though, its not like anybody will develop a case/cooling system which can handle only one of the three existing Ivy Bridge-E CPUs.If you are looking for a realistic power draw of the CPU, the TDP is not all that relevant for you anyways.
sna1970 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
it is about the quad channel memory controller.sna1970 - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
it is about the quad memory controller and the 40 lanes of PCIe 3.0HisDivineOrder - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
Wouldn't it be awesome if as an alternative to the 4820K they offered a 4830K that gave us a hexcore chip without hyperthreading for the same money as the 4820K?Alas, then they'd have to drop the price on the 4820K and we wouldn't want that.
HisDivineOrder - Thursday, June 20, 2013 - link
If you believe rumors, Haswell-E is coming next year around the same time. SB-E, though, had an impressively long run (for those who invested), so I have my doubts that Intel will actually release it on time. If they DO manage to release Haswell-E next year on schedule, I think IB-E is an amazingly bad deal, due mostly to the chipset you're going to have use with it.Will Intel use fluxless solder or more of the air-gap el cheapo special they've been afflicting their post-SB CPU's with? The world wonders.
If Intel truly wishes the enthusiast to stop using their mainstream chips (a la going from LGA to BGA), then Intel ought give thought to offering an E-series chip that AT LEAST matches the 2500k/3570k/4670k pricing since that's proven the sweet spot for ...how many years now? That would serve as balm to the horror story that will be "MOAR HASWELL!" next year if we can all just switch to the Enthusiast line.
But right now, they want more for the CPU, more for the board, more for the memory... all so we can invest in old tech. If Haswell E rumors are to be believed, we'd also be paying more for antiquated tech not to last the year. Somehow, I think we'd probably get a year, but that's about all.
Eh. I don't see why Intel can't just give Enthusiasts the same tech as the mainstream in the same year, even if not the same quarter. Seems like the least they could do. Oh, and reassure enthusiasts by guaranteeing them fluxless solder (addressing the complaint head on) if they spend up on an "Enthusiast" chip.
Notmyusualid - Friday, June 28, 2013 - link
I know not what makes Intel tick, but my desktop shall await their next tock, if you get me...