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Late last year when we reviewed the new Sandy Bridge-E processors, we mentioned a more affordable version called the Core i7-3820 was coming. Although information about the chip had been revealed, the processor has yet to hit shelves and is now expected to arrive later in February. Fortunately, sample units are being passed around ahead of general availability, so we don't have to wait to see how it stacks up.
The i7-3820 is particularly intriguing because of its sub-$300 retail price -- far less than other chips in the series. For instance, the Core i7-3960X has an MSRP of $999 and sells for more like $1,049, while the i7-3930K has an MSRP of $583 and is fetching $599 at e-tail. Both are six-core CPUs operating over 3GHz with massive 15MB and 12MB L3 caches.
At roughly half the price of the 3930K, we expected Intel to butcher the i7-3820, and while that's partially true, the 3820 remains an impressive specimen with four cores operating at 3.6GHz, a 10MB L3 cache and HyperThreading support. Compared to the similarly priced i7-2600K, the 3820 offers additional L3 cache, support for PCI Express 3.0, quad-channel memory and a platform that will take as much as 32GB of system memory.
Related Products from Product Finder
Intel Core i7-3820 3.6GHz Socket 2011
The Intel Core i7 3820 features four cores operating at 3.6GHz, a 10MB L3 cache and HyperThreading support. It also support PCI Express 3.0 and a platform that will take as much as 32GB of system memory. Additionally, the i7-3820 supports quad-channel memory meaning users will be compelled to purchase four modules rather than just two.
Intel Core i7 2600K 3.4GHz Socket LGA 1155
The Intel Core i7 2600K features 4 cores with 8 concurrent threads when using Hyper-Threading, it operates at 3.40GHz with a Turbo Boost frequency of 3.80GHz, it is designed to work with DDR3-1333 memory and feature an 8MB L3 cache. Last but not least, the Core i7 2600K uses the Intel HD Graphics 3000 engine.
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155
The Intel Core i5 2500K operates at 3.30GHz and can reach as high as 3.70GHz when using Turbo Boost.It features a 6MB L3 cache and uses the HD Graphics 3000 engine
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Is it just me or does the tick (or tock, not sure which one this is) of Intel's tick/tock release schedule seem to be becoming less and less of an actual advancement?Microcenter is using the i3-3225 as a promotional football, selling it for $119.95, ($144.95 @ Newegg), if you but if with a given selection of boards.
This chip is a dual core 4 thread offering, but it has the better HD-4000 graphics onboard. I bought it with a Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H (ATX) board, $149.95 (?) @ Newegg)), for just a shade over $200.00.
Haven't put this together yet, but with a 22nm CPU drawing only 55 watts TDP, graphics included all, it should be an outstanding and thrifty mainstream dynamo.
Point being, Ivy Bridge, without the 22nm process doesn't seem to offer too much over Sandy. Or at the very least you have to go to great lengths to obviate it.
OTOH, Ivy Bridge seems to offer an honest improvement, with respect to a general purpose mid-price machine.
As far as the memory latency issues uncovered in the review go, buying the exact same brand memory modules, (GSkill DDR3-1600), in 4GB capacity will net you 9-9-9-24, but 8GB modules come in at 10-10-10-30. I'm guessing that disparity could only become worse, when spread across 4 8GB modules in 4 channels.
So, where should we be laying the blame for the memory bandwidth issues in the review, on the CPU, the boards, the DIMMs themselves, or any combination of the foregoing factors?
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