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Intel kick started 2011 with the release of their 2nd generation Core processors as they unleashed the Sandy Bridge architecture for the first time. Initially there were five processors, which included the popular Core i5-2500K and Core i7-2600K.
Enabling these new processors was the LGA1155 platform, which brought about three new chipsets. Two of these, the H67 and P67, went on to spoil what would have otherwise been perfect execution by Intel. Plagued by a SATA 3Gb/s bug, this put the entire platform on hold for numerous months until Intel could ramp up production of working B3 stepping chipsets to replace the defective models, effectively costing Intel a billion dollars or thereabouts.
By March the company was on the mend and before long it was all about Sandy Bridge. Intel described its production increase for the microprocessor as the fastest ramp-up of any product in the company’s history.
With the Sandy Bridge processors hitting full stride, the recent release of AMD’s Bulldozer processors was not enough to slow sales. This was largely due to Bulldozer’s inability to compete well enough with the Core i5-2xxx series. Even worse than that, it’s next to impossible to actually buy an AMD FX-8150 processor thanks to chip shortages. Meanwhile, Intel is preparing to strike back by bolstering their 2nd generation Core processors even further. Today marks the arrival of Sandy Bridge-E and three new processors released initially, which include the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, Core i7-3930K and Core i7-3820. Powered by a new LGA2011 socket, these 32nm processors provide up to six cores with a dozen threads. Intel has also upgraded the integrated memory controller with four channels supporting DDR3-1600 memory, for a theoretical peak bandwidth of 51.2GB/s.
These processors will be explored in greater detail shortly, but for now it’s worth mentioning they feature a total of 2.27 billion transistors in a die size of 20.8mm by 20.9mm, which are mind-boggling stats to say the least. The Sandy Bridge-E launch lineup consists of three processors. King of the hill is the Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition, a fully unlocked chip featuring 6 cores with Hyper-Threading for 12 thread support. This model comes clocked at 3.3GHz with a Turbo frequency of up to 3.9GHz and TDP rating of 130 watts.Like all Sandy Bridge-E processors it supports quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory. However unlike some Extreme Edition models, the new Core i7 3960X receives a massive 15MB L3 cache which is shared across all six cores. The 3960X sticks to the conventional Extreme Edition pricing with a MSRP of $990. Under the Core i7-3960X we have the more reasonably priced Core i7-3930K at $555. With a base clock of 3.2GHz across six cores it can scale up to 3.8GHz using Turbo Boost. The key difference between the Core i7 3960X and the Core i7-3930K is the L3 cache capacity which has been downgraded to 12MB.
It seems unlikely that the extra 3MB (25% increase) of L3 cache would provide enough performance to justify the ~80% increase in price of the Core i7-3960X. That said, users have always had to pay absurd price premiums to get their hands on Extreme Edition CPUs. Finally, Intel is also releasing the Core i7-3820 which will be the cheapest of the three, though official pricing is yet to be finalized. Clocked at 3.6GHz with a Turbo Boost speed of up to 3.9GHz, the Core i7-3820 is actually clocked the highest of the three Sandy Bridge-E processors. However it’s also a quad-core processor supporting eight threads using Hyper-Threading just as the outgoing Core i7-2600K does.
The Core i7-3820 has the added benefit of a quad-channel memory controller opposed to the dual-channel controller of the Core i7-2600K. It also sports 2MB of additional L3 cache, bringing the grand total to 10MB. Lastly, the Core i7 3820 supports partial overclocking which allows core multiplier adjustments to a preset maximum, though at this stage we are unsure as to what that preset is. Another important feature of the updated Sandy Bridge-E architecture is PCI Express bandwidth. The new processors provide up to 40 lanes of PCIe 2.0 bandwidth for PCI Express devices, which can include graphics cards, storage controllers and additional LAN devices. This translates into more than 2x the PCIe lanes when compared to the original Sandy Bridge desktop processors.
For multi-GPU configurations using either Crossfire of SLI technology, the Sandy Bridge-E processors can provide full x16 bandwidth to two cards while a third can be fed x8 bandwidth. Alternatively users can configure the processor for one slot at 16x and another three at 8x.
Unlike the original Sandy Bridge processors that launched with multiple chipsets, the LGA2011 platform will be supported by a single chipset — or should we say by a single chip.Similar to the relatively new Z68 chip of the LGA1155 platform, the X79 is a Platform Controller Hub (PCH) and will take on the full responsibility of a southbridge along with some of the duties of a northbridge. So what does the Intel X79 have in store for us? We had heard rumors that the PCH would include more than a dozen SATA ports and most would be 6GB/s capable and ready to accommodate SAS drives.
Unfortunately what we have on hand is very different. The X79 fails to differentiate itself from the Z68 as users still only get six SATA ports and shockingly just two of them are 6Gb/s capable. USB 3.0 support is nowhere to be found but you get the same 14 USB 2.0 ports as on the Z68. All in all the chipsets are near enough to identical, which is disappointing for Intel’s new flagship platform. If you compare the features of the X79 to the older X58/ICH10R chipset combination, it’s hard to believe after 3 years so little has changed. Essentially users are getting two extra USB ports, two extra PCIe x1 lanes and a pair of SATA 6Gb/s ports, though the overall amount of SATA ports remains the same.

Although the Intel X79 is very bland, motherboard manufacturers still have a chance to jazz it up with third-party controllers providing better network support, USB 3.0, additional SATA 6Gb/s support, and so on. Today we are testing the Core i7-3960X with the Gigabyte G1.Assassin2 which is the latest member of their G1.Killer range.
When Gigabyte launched their Sandy Bridge motherboard series they reconsidered their traditional baby blue and white color scheme and opted for a more aggressive black theme for their high-end products. Boards such as the P67A-UD7, P67A-UD5 and P67A-UD4 got the matte black PCB treatment which was complemented with all-black connectors.
The new G1.Assassin2 is Gigabyte’s new flagship G1.Killer motherboard and as such will likely be the most expensive. The board offers support for 2-way/3-way CrossFireX and SLI depending on your preference. The board also incorporates a Creative SB X-Fi Digital Audio Processor (20K2) on-board supporting X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity and EAX HD 5.0. Gigabyte has included Bigfoot Networks’ Killer E2100 NIC, which is featured on all G1.Killer motherboards. Whether that translates into any real-world benefit is debatable but Gigabyte is the only manufacturer implementing the Killer NICs onboard.
Storage support has been enhanced. Apart from the six SATA ports attached to the Intel X79 chip, an additional two SATA ports have been included. Unfortunately, the Marvell 88SE9172 controller has been embedded rather than the newer and faster 88SE9182. The included chip provides an additional two onboard SATA ports that support 6Gb/s speeds as well as RAID0 and RAID1 arrays. The G1. Assassin2 is brimming with USB connectivity, exceeding the dozen standard USB 2.0 ports courtesy of two Fresco FL1009 controllers that supply four USB 3.0 ports — two at the rear and another two using a bundled 3.5″ front mounted bracket.
The G1.Sniper2′s matte black PCB gives it a unique look, as does its black and green component design. Aesthetics aside, we have no real complaints about the board’s layout. Perhaps the only issue with the design is its placement of the DIMM slots and CPU socket, which are virtually on top of each other. Intel LGA2011 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition (3.30GHz)
- x4 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 8-8-8-20)
- Gigabyte G1.Assassin2 (Intel X79)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38
AMD AM3+ Test System Specs
- AMD Phenom II X6 1100T (3.30GHz)
- AMD Phenom II X4 980 (3.70GHz)
- AMD FX-8150 (3.60GHz)
- AMD FX-8120 (3.10GHz)
- AMD FX-6100 (3.30GHz)
- AMD FX-4170 (4.20GHz)
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-14900 (CAS 8-9-8-24)
- Asrock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional (AMD 990FX)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38
Intel LGA1366 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7-975 Extreme Edition (3.33GHz)
- Intel Core i7-920 (2.66GHz)
- x3 2GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 8-8-8-20)
- Gigabyte G1.Sniper (Intel X58)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38
Intel LGA1155 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i7-2600K
- Intel Core i5-2500K
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-14900 (CAS 8-9-8-24)
- Gigabyte G1.Sniper2 (Intel Z68)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
Software
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38
Intel LGA1156 Test System Specs
- Intel Core i5-750
- x2 4GB G.Skill DDR3 PC3-12800 (CAS 8-8-8-20)
- Gigabyte P55A-UD7 (Intel P55)
- OCZ ZX Series 1250w
- Crucial m4 256GB (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 SOC (1536MB)
- Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-bit
- Nvidia Forceware 285.38