i7 3970X imminent and Ivy Bridge-E due in Q3 2013
Ryan Martin / 12 years ago
Intel’s enthusiast LGA 2011 platform gets updated much less frequently than the mainstream consumer platforms like LGA 1155. As a result we still have to wait another year until the third quarter of 2013 before Ivy Bridge-E, the 22nm version of LGA 2011, will become available to consumers.
According to the updated roadmap the i7 3970X is due to launch in Q4 of 2012, so between October and December of this year. The i7 3970X is identical to the i7 3960X (6 cores, 12 threads, 15MB cache and unlocked multiplier) except that it features a raised core clock from 3.3GHz to 3.5GHz and a raise turbo clock from 3.9GHz to 4GHz.
Ivy Bridge-E brings the implementation of 22nm Sandy Bridge micro-architecture a.k.a Ivy Bridge. It uses the 3rd generation Hi-K+ metal gate process. Key features of Ivy Bridge-E versus Sandy Bridge-E are expected to be larger clock per clock performance, 40 PCI Express generation 3 lanes, quad channel memory support at 1866MHz (increased from 1600MHz on SBE) and X79 will remain the dominant chipset with the 130W TDP being allocated.
The Ivy Bridge CPUs will take the i7 49XX naming, rumoured models include the Core i7-4930, 4960, 4970 and 4990 parts.
