Intel documents list a previously unheard of SKU indicating an unlocked Sandy-Bridge E CPU which may be pitched at the mainstream.
Intel documents list a previously unheard of SKU indicating an unlocked Sandy-Bridge E CPU which may be pitched at the mainstream.
With IvyBridge-E just around the corner you might be thinking that we can now stick a fork in SandyBridge-E – it’s done. Or is it? New Intel retailer roadmaps have surfaced which add a new twist in the tale of the high-end LGA2011 desktop processor range: an unlocked Core i7-3910K. Chinese site Expreview.com revealed that it has the S-spec code ‘SR0TN’, clearly differentiating it from the i7-3970X ‘SR0WR’ and will ship with a base frequency of 3.0GHz, with Turbo yet to be determined.
The release of this processor would be a fillip to the slowly waning SB-E line. A i7-3910K would be positioned somewhere between the locked quad-core i7-3820 and unlocked hexa-core i7-3930K, which have a gulf of well over £200 between them. It could represent the best possible six-core CPU for the money, and offer a good entry-level point to the LGA-2011 platform if IvyBridge-E initially launches only high-end £500+ CPUs.
Of course, the vast majority of users looking for processors in this price range will be better off with Haswell i7’s. However there remains a clutch of usage scenarios which would benefit greatly from six cores and 12MB L2 cache, even if they have to overclock it to reach higher performance levels. If Intel can bring such a CPU to the wider market and not just OEMs then there would be plenty of excuse for enthusiasm, even if it is using the previous generations architecture.
Source: Expreview via TechPowerUp
