Intel has resigned the higher core count processors for the professional X99 platform and doesn’t look like changing this business strategy in the near future. As a result, users with hefty requirements might need a 6-core or even an 8-core CPU for complex rendering work, or perhaps huge video editing workloads. The current flagship is the Intel Core i7-5960X which utilizes 8-cores and 16-threads. Apparently this behemoth will be replaced sometime this year with a 10-core, 20-thread 6950X processor. The new range codenamed Broadwell-E is going to be an alluring prospect for extreme users wanting the absolute best performance. Theoretically, these CPUs should work on 2011v3 motherboards providing the manufacturer offers a suitable BIOS
Today, MSI revealed that they have already taken this into consideration and released BIOS updates for their entire X99 range. Here you can see the list of supported models:
- X99S MPOWER (E7885IMS.M80)
- X99A SLI Krait Edition (E7885IMS.N50)
- X99S SLI Krait Edition (E7885IMS.N50)
- X99A RAIDER (E7885IMS.P20)
- X99A RAIDER (E7885IMS.P20)
- X99A GAMING 7 (E7885IMS.HC0)
- X99S GAMING 7 (E7885IMS.HC0)
- X99A SLI PLUS (E7885IMS.1A0)
- X99S SLI PLUS (E7885IMS.1A0)
- X99A MPOWER (E7885IMS.M80)
- X99A GODLIKE GAMING (E7883IMS.130)
- X99A GODLIKE GAMING CARBON (E7883IMS.210)
- X99A GAMING 9 ACK (E7882IMS.320)
- X99S GAMING 9 ACK (E7882IMS.260)
- X99S GAMING 9 AC (E7882IMS.190)
- X99A XPOWER AC (E7881IMS.A30)
- X99S XPOWER AC (E7881IMS.190)
This is great news for existing owners of X99 MSI motherboards who intend to upgrade to a Broadwell-E CPU upon release. I have to commend MSI for updating the BIOS way in advance (perhaps), to ensure everything is fully operational when you purchase a Broadwell-E processor. If you have any intentions of upgrading, simply navigate to the specific model number’s support page and download the latest BIOS version. Other manufacturers should follow suit very soon but it’s great to see MSI taking such a proactive approach.
Are you looking forward to Broadwell-E’s release?
