Intel's Sandy Bridge design impressed us nearly a year ago, but it was intended for mainstream customers. The company took its time readying the enthusiast version, Sandy Bridge-E. Now, the LGA 2011-based platform and its accompanying CPUs are ready.
According to Mick Jagger, it’s lonely at the top. Intel might agree. After all, for the past five years, the company has put an increasingly large gap between its fastest desktop processors and AMD’s own best efforts. Enthusiasts tend to lament the fact that a lack of intense competition means they pay more for high-end hardware. But, if you’ve been around long enough, you know that Intel’s Extreme Edition CPUs were always thousand-dollar affairs and, once upon a time, AMD’s vaunted FX-series chips used to be worth their $700+ asking prices.
According to Mick Jagger, it’s lonely at the top. Intel might agree. After all, for the past five years, the company has put an increasingly large gap between its fastest desktop processors and AMD’s own best efforts. Enthusiasts tend to lament the fact that a lack of intense competition means they pay more for high-end hardware. But, if you’ve been around long enough, you know that Intel’s Extreme Edition CPUs were always thousand-dollar affairs and, once upon a time, AMD’s vaunted FX-series chips used to be worth their $700+ asking prices.
The fact that the $1000 price point persists today, eight years later, means Intel recognizes the extremely limited market for these flagship desktop processors and isn’t about to push one of its crown jewels even further out of reach.
The prior generation of flagship parts based on Gulftown came armed with six physical cores and up to 12 MB of shared L3 cache. They boasted LGA 1366 compatibility, extending the useful lives of pricey X58 Express motherboards, helping soften the blow of $500+ processor upgrades. No such luck this time; you’re facing a pricier investment.
Sandy Bridge-E, Gulftown’s successor, employs an LGA 2011 interface, requiring new motherboards based on Intel’s X79 Express Platform Controller Hub. It also comes armed with an integrated quad-channel memory controller, necessitating four-module memory kits. Oh, and then there’s the fact that Intel isn’t planning to bundle its new chips with coolers, requiring a separate purchase there, too.
More: @Tom's Hardware
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