Intel Core i7 3960X (Sandy Bridge E) Review: Keeping the High End Alive

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• mcturkey - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  Glad I'm not the only one who was thinking that! My 486 66 only had 4MB as well.

• Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  My 386 started with 4MB, but I kept it for a very long time as upgrading was fairly expensive. I eventually threw a ton of memory at it as my last upgrade to the platform :)
  
  Take care,
  Anand

• BSMonitor - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  How big was your 386's hard drive?
  
  How many times over could you store it's entire contents in 8 DIMM's of DDR3 memory, now ?? And for probably less cost!
  
  Thought I saw a 16GB kit on newegg for $75? Lol!

• just4U - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  I had a roomie 81 meg harddrive in my 386/16

• khanov - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  "With the socket the same, is the reviewed SB-E the same design as the new Xeons? Will there be 3D design like Ivy Bridge?"
  
  1. It is the exact same die as the new Xeons, although of course different parts are harvested for each market.
  
  2. Yes there will be a 3D transistor design (according to rumors) but this will be Ivy Bridge-E and will not launch until at least late 2012.

• gamoniac - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  Anand,
  More and more power users are running VMs on their desktops or workstation. With most Intel and AMD CPU now support Intel-VT or AMD-V, I notice a lack of measurement in this department in pretty much all online reviews. When you update your test suite, could you possibly include some sort VM test? Note: If so, could you possibly run the VM test on SSD to eliminate HDD limitation?
  
  Thanks for the great review and conclusion, as always.

• Senti - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  I'm amazed how much fuss QuickSync is still generating in reviews. Let's face it - it's fairly useless in current state. Cool words "GPU video transcoding" can only impress casual users, not someone who cares about quality in first place and speed only after that.
  
  With time it will be even more useless if like GPU video decoding it's unable to work with 10 bit and 422/444 content (very likely).

• gunslinger5577 - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  This review indicates no significant improvement with 2x 16x PCI-E lanes in SLI. However the ASUS X79 Pro MB review seems to indicate there is a measurable and significant at times advantage.

• fishbits - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  Weird stuff. Why fret over on-die USB 3.0 when every mobo supports it? And mourning Quick Sync for a CPU that flies at encoding without it? Or when you'd already have an SNB with Quick Sync? Really unhappy with the new Porche's glove compartment...
  
  Love the CPU/Platform, but too pricey for how much I'd use it over what's currently available. Hoping against hope that mainstream Ivy offers 8 RAM slots, but not holding my breath.

• DanNeely - Monday, November 14, 2011 - link

  Each addon chip the mobo makers include increases the cost of the board (not just the chip itself, but the engineering time needed to integrate it, and potentially (if enough are chips are added) by adding an extra layer to the PCB).
  
  You also take a hit in the number of PCIe lanes available for expansion slots. With legacy PCI gone from the southbridge we're unlikely to see any 4x electrical slots coming off of it. Audio, ethernet, and firewire, will take 1 lane each; USB3 controllers will take 1lane/2 ports, probably 3lanes total/board leaving only 2 for expansion slots. THe main impact here is just not being able to go all USB3 for the legacy free gloss without a major squeeze elsewhere. Scientific customers doing stuff that actually needs the PCE 3.0 bandwidth without needing 2x width cards could end up being dinged since it means several fewer total lanes for them to hook stuff up to.