Intel Unveils Its First Eight-Core Desktop Processor

Intel has unveiled its first eight-core desktop processor, the i7-5960X Intel Core Extreme Edition processor, alongside two new hexa-core offerings, all members of the product family formerly named Haswell-E.

"We're thrilled to unveil the next phase in our 'reinvention of the desktop' we outlined earlier this year," said Lisa Graff, Vice President and General Manager, Intel's Desktop Client Platform Group. "This product family is aimed squarely at those enthusiasts who push their systems further than anyone, and we're offering the speed, cores, overclocking and platform capabilities they have asked us for."

Clocked at 3.0GHz, with a 3.5GHz Turbo Boost mode and 20MB cache, the Core i7-5960X is priced at $999 (approximately Rs. 60,000). Aside from the i7-5960X, Intel announced two hexa-core (12 threads) processors, the $389 (approximately Rs. 23,500) Core i7-5820K, which runs at 3.3GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) and the $583 (approximately Rs. 35,00) i7-5930K, which runs at 3.5GHz and Turbo Boosts till 3.7GHz. Both 6-core offerings come with 15MB cache.

At the heart of the new CPUs is the X99 chipset that comes with support for DDR4 RAM, up to 40 PCI Express 3.0 lanes, 14 high speed (6 USB 3.0 + 8 USB 2.0) ports, Gigabit LAN, and 10 SATA 3.0 ports. The platform is also Thunderbolt 2 ready, which means manufacturers can add Thunderbolt 2 support via an additional card.

"I'm ridiculously excited about Intel's new platform," Kelt Reeves, President of Falcon Northwest, while commenting on the launched chips. "This is the biggest bundle of amazing new technologies all hitting at once that I can ever remember seeing. Enthusiasts will be amazed at what they can do with DDR4 memory, 10 SATA 6GB ports, 40 PCI Express lanes and eight-core CPUs."

	Core i7-5960X	Core i7-5930K	Core i7-5820K
Essentials
Processor Number	i7-5960X	i7-5930K	i7-5820K
# of Cores	8	6	6
# of Threads	16	12	12
Clock Speed	3 GHz	3.5 GHz	3.3 GHz
Max Turbo Frequency	3.5 GHz	3.7 GHz	3.6 GHz
Cache	20 MB Intel Smart Cache	15 MB IntelSmart Cache	15 MB Intel Smart Cache
Bus Type	QPI	QPI	QPI
System Bus	0 GT/s	0 GT/s	0 GT/s
# of QPI Links	0	0	0
Instruction Set	64-bit	64-bit	64-bit
Instruction Set Extensions	SSE4.2, AVX 2.0, AES	SSE4.2, AVX 2.0, AES	SSE4.2, AVX 2.0, AES
Embedded Options Available	No	No	No
Lithography	22 nm	22 nm	22 nm
Scalability	1S Only	1S Only	1S Only
Max TDP	140 W	140 W	140 W
Memory Specifications
Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type)	64 GB	64 GB	64 GB
Memory Types	DDR4-1333/1600/2133	DDR4-1333/1600/2133	DDR4-1333/1600/2133
# of Memory Channels	4	4	4
Max Memory Bandwidth	68 GB/s	68 GB/s	68 GB/s
ECC Memory Supported	No	No	No
Expansion Options
PCI Express Revision	3.0	3.0	3.0
Max # of PCI Express Lanes	40	40	28
Package Specifications
Max CPU Configuration	1	1	1
TCASE	66.8	66.8	66.8
Package Size	52.5mm x 45.0mm	52.5mm x 45.0mm	52.5mm x 45.0mm
Sockets Supported	LGA2011-v3	LGA2011-v3	LGA2011-v3
Advanced Technologies
Intel Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2.0	2.0
Intel vPro Technology	No	No	No
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel 64	Yes	Yes	Yes
Idle States	Yes	Yes	Yes
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Demand Based Switching	No	No	No
Thermal Monitoring Technologies	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Identity Protection Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Smart Response Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Data Protection Technology
AES New Instructions	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Platform Protection Technology
Trusted Execution Technology	No	No	No
Execute Disable Bit	Yes	Yes	Yes