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Intel has finally filled out the Sandy Bridge E lineup by releasing the Core i7-3820. The initial Sandy Bridge E lineup launched back in November 2011 and it consisted of two SKUs, the i7-3960X and i7-3930K. While the i7-3820 wasn't released until this week, we reviewed it over a month ago, so head there for a longer analysis. The table below summarizes the current Sandy Bridge E lineup:</p>
<table align="center" border="1" bordercolor="#dddddd" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="550">
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<tr>
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<strong><strong>Processor</strong></strong></td>
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<strong><strong>Core Clock</strong></strong></td>
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<strong>Cores / Threads</strong></td>
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<strong>L3 Cache</strong></td>
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<strong>Max Turbo</strong></td>
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<strong>Max Overclock Multiplier</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite">
<strong>TDP</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#016a96" class="contentwhite">
<strong>Price</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<strong>Intel Core i7 3960X</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
3.3GHz</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
6 / 12</td>
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15MB</td>
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3.9GHz</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
57x</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
130W</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
$999</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<strong>Intel Core i7 3930K</strong></td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
3.2GHz</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
6 / 12</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
12MB</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
3.8GHz</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
57x</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
130W</td>
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$583</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<strong>Intel Core i7 3820</strong></td>
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3.6GHz</td>
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4 / 8</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
10MB</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
3.9GHz</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
45x</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
130W</td>
<td align="center" bgcolor="#f7f7f7">
$294</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
The short summary is that i7-3820 is Sandy Bridge E on a budget. In terms of CPU performance and price, it's equivalent to the i7-2600(K) but provides higher I/O performance due to the quad-channel memory and 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes. Anand summed it up nicely in his review, so we'll just repost here.</p>
<p>
There are three reasons why you'd want the Core i7-3820:</p>
<ol>
<li>
You need PCIe 3.0 today and/or you need more PCIe lanes than a Core i7-2600K can provide.</li>
<li>
You need tons of memory bandwidth for a particular application.</li>
<li>
You want a 2600K but you need a platform that can support more memory (32GB+).</li>
</ol>
<p>
So in general, most users will be better off with a LGA 1155 based platform. While the i7-3820 is actually cheaper than the i7-2600K, the total price of the platform is not. LGA 1155 based motherboards go for as little as ~$50 (e.g. Gigabyte GA-H61M-DS2). If you want more features such as Intel Rapid Storage Technology, you can get a Z68 based motherboard for around $90 (e.g. ASRock Z68M/USB3). In contrast, the cheapest LGA 2011 based motherboard starts at $210. Unless you benefit from the extra features that Sandy Bridge E offers, your money is better spent else (e.g. on an SSD).</p>
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Source: AnandTech
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