Intel Ivy Bridge-E HEDT CPU Lineup

The LGA 2011 socket, supported by the X79 chipset, was invented by Intel for its high-end collection of central processing units, higher than even the Core i7 line of CPUs. Those top-tier CPUs have now been detailed.

The marketing name of the next HEDT series of central processing units, where HEDT means high-end desktop, is called Ivy Bridge-E. Ivy Bridge-E will be to the Haswell collection of CPUs what Sandy Bridge-E/EP is for the Ivy Bridge collection. The HEDT line is one architecture behind the “normal” desktop chips, but nonetheless much stronger. The Ivy Bridge-E series will power computers based on LGA 2011 motherboards (X79 chipset) and will probably include models priced at $300-400 / 300-400 Euro, $500-600 / 500-600 Euro, and $1,000 / 1,000 Euro. VR-Zone actually has all the details on the processors, from the top-tier Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition to the Core i7-4820K. The Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition is, as one might guess, the strongest of the lot, with six 22nm cores, 15 MB cache, and an unlocked BClk multiplier that will allow enthusiasts to overclock it well beyond the base 3.6 GHz.

Speaking of overclocking, people who don't intend to do any tweaking will be glad to learn that the Turbo Boost technology will automatically do it, when appropriate. The top rate is 4 GHz. In case anyone has forgotten, this is the $1,000 / 1,000 Euro part. The “mid-range” chip, called Core i7-4930K, also has six cores and unlocked BClk multiplier, but speeds of 2.4 / 3.9 GHz and 12 MB L3 cache. Finally, the Core i7-4820K is a quad-core unit with 3.7 / 3.9 GHz speed and 10 MB L3 cache. All three processors will be released in November 2013 and will have TDP (thermal design power) of 130W. That's several months after the Haswell (June).

Intel Ivy Bridge-E HEDT roadmap
Image credits to VR-Zone

Posted in: Hardware, Preview