Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Intel's Haswell-E Desktop CPU Debuts With Eight Cores, DDR4 Memory

Posted by Soulskill on from the onward-and-upward dept.

crookedvulture writes: Intel has updated its high-end desktop platform with a new CPU-and-chipset combo. The Haswell-E processor has up to eight cores, 20MB of cache, and 40 lanes of PCI Express 3.0. It also sports a quad-channel memory controller primed for next-gen DDR4 modules. The companion X99 chipset adds a boatload of I/O, including 10 SATA ports, native USB 3.0 support, and provisions for M.2 and SATA Express storage devices. Thanks to the extra CPU cores, performance is much improved in multithreaded applications. Legacy comparisons, which include dozens of CPUs dating back to 2011, provide some interesting context for just how fast the new Core i7-5960X really is. Intel had to dial back the chip's clock speeds to accommodate the extra cores, though, and that concession can translate to slower gaming performance than Haswell CPUs with fewer, faster cores. Haswell-E looks like a clear win for applications that can exploit its prodigious CPU horsepower and I/O bandwidth, but it's clearly not the best CPU for everything. Reviews also available from Hot Hardware, PC Perspective, AnandTech, Tom's Hardware, and HardOCP.

4 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. just wait by hypergreatthing · · Score: 5, Interesting

    until next year. 14nm shrink should be a huge boost in both efficiency and performance.
    The x99 is an "enthusiast" platform and has pricing along those lines.
    DDR4 is also extremely new. Expect it to get faster/better timing specs as time progresses.

  2. 5820K is an extremely nice part by CajunArson · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The 5820K is packing 6 cores and an unlocked multiplier for less than $400. If you don't absolutely need the full 8-core 5960X, then the 5820K is going to be a very powerful part at a reasonable price for the level of performance it delivers.

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
  3. Re:Price by SirMasterboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Though the lower-end model is only $300 for a 6-core 12-thread!

    http://www.microcenter.com/pro...

  4. Re:DDR2/3/4 by mr_mischief · · Score: 5, Informative

    CAS latency hasn't been measured directly in nanoseconds for some time now. It is now measured in clock cycles. The shorter your clock cycles (the higher your frequency) the shorter in absolute time your CAS latency is for the same number. CAS 10 at 2133 is about the same as CAS 5 on 1066.

    CAS latency on Wikipedia
    Memory timing on Hardware Secrets
    FAQ on RAM timings from Kingston