Core i7 3960X to be 47% faster than the current 990X

According to Donanimhaber the Intel LGA 2011 SandyBridge-E processor range will include the Core i7 3960X six core processor. The 3960X processor was pitted against the top LGA 1366 processor, the 990X, in a series of internal Intel tests which included programs such as Cinebench 11.5, POV Ray 3.7, 3D Mark 11, Pro Show Gold 4.5, Spec CPU 2006 and Sandra 2011.

From these results it is clear that the New i7 3960X is a much better processor than the previous generation of i7 extreme processors showing on average 47.25% faster than the 990X mainly in memory bandwidth. Intel is claiming that the new internal quad channel DDR3 memory controller provides 33% higher memory bandwidth. With regards to specifications the new i7 3960X has 6 cores, 12 threads, 15MB of cache and a stock clock speed of 3.3GHz. Hyper-threading and turbo boost up to 3.9GHz will both be enabled too. Expect extortionate retail prices of around £900 – £1000 for these new extreme processors.