Intel Announces 10-Core Core i7-6950X And Broadwell-E Family

Today Intel is announcing their Core i7 “Broadwell-E” high-end desktop (HEDT) processors! We have been talking about these processors for a while now and they are finally here! The really big announcement is that the flagship processor, the Core i7-6950X will be a 10-core, 20-thread beast! This is the first time there has been a desktop processor with 10 cores! It is pretty crazy that we only went to dual core back in 2005!

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So getting right into specifications here as I said the Core i7-6950X will have 10 cores and 20 threads. It also has a 25MB cache, 40 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes, a clock speed of 3.0 GHz and a turbo boost up to 3.5 GHz. Next is the Core i7-6900K, it is an 8-core / 16-thread CPU that has a clock speed of 3.2 GHz and boosts up to 3.7 GHz. It will have a 20 MB cache and the same 40 PCI-Express lanes. The third processor is the Core i7-6850K which is a 6-core / 12-thread CPU with 15 MB cache and a clock speed of 3.6 GHz which boosts up to 3.8 GHz. It has a 15 MB cache and the same 40 PCI-Express lanes. Finally we have the 4th processor which is the Core i7-6800K. It is a 6-core / 12-thread processor with 15MB cache and a clock speeds of 3.4 GHz with a boost up to 3.6 GHz. Unlike the other three processors the Core i7-6800K will only have 28 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes.

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As far as pricing goes the top-end Core i7-6950X will be $1723, the Core i7-6900K will be $1089, the Core i7-6850K will be $617, and the Core i7-6800K will be $434. All four processors have a DDR4 memory controller that supports DDR4-2400 memory by default, that is a step up from the DDR4-2133 that we saw with Haswell-E. All four processors also feature Intel’s new Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and will have a 140W TDP. Intel’s Turbo Boost 3.0 technology allows for applications to be steered to the highest-performing core, giving single-threaded experiences a huge performance boost.

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We of course know that these HEDT processors are used for rendering so how does Broadwell-E compare to the previous generation? Intel says that you will see up to 35% better performance vs. the previous generation and up to 2X better performance vs. 4 cores.

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HEDT processors are also the favorite of gamers, especially people who want to get the most out of their system. Here are some of the gaming stats.

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Intel is also very committed to overclockers and is introducing three new overclocking features with these processors. The include Per Core Overclocking, AVX Ratio Offset, and VccU Voltage control.

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Intel’s new Broadwell-E processors are extremely impressive and will become the go-to processors for content creators, professional gamers, and many other people looking for the best desktop performance.

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