Posted by Nathan Kirsch | Tue, May 27, 2014 - 12:05 PM

Are you waiting for Intel’s next-generation Core i7 enthusiast processors called Haswell-E? More information is floating around today about the upcoming High-End Desktop (HEDT) processor thanks to Coolaler. He believes that Intel will be replacing the Core i7-4820K, i7-4930K, and i7-4960X trifecta with the new Core i7-5820K, i7-5930K and the i7-5960X. The Haswell-E processors will need be run on platforms with the yet to be released Intel X99 chipset. The Intel X99 platform will usher in DDR4 memory support and a new LGA socket that just happens to have 2,011 pins, but is shapped differently than the current LGA2011 socket found on Intel X79 Expressbased motherboards.

The Intel Core i7-5960X will have 8 cores (16 threads thanks to HyperThreading) that have a base clock of 3GHz and 20MB L3 cache. The Intel Core i7-5930K is a 6 core 12 thread processor with a base clock of 3.5Ghz and 15MB of L3 cache. Lastely, the Intel Core i7-5820K is a 6-core 12 thread part with a base clock of 3.3Ghz and it also features 15MB of L3 cache. All three of these Intel Haswell-E CPUs will support DDR4-2133 MHz out of the box according to the site and all have a 140W TDP rating. The Core i7-5820K features just 28 PCI Express lanes versus the 40 found on the Core i7-5930K and the Core i7-5960K. Months ago there was speculation that the entry level Haswell-E processor, Intel Core i7 5820K, wouldn’t have HT. Maybe Intel gave it HT, but gave it PCIe limitations?

Of course all the data in this chart is unsubstantiated and could be very wrong. The X99 platform and Haswell-E processors are still a ways away from coming to market, so we are sure there will be more info leaking out closer to the actual release of the new platforms.

All I know is that an 8-core Haswell-E processor with DDR4 memory and a couple Gen3 PCIe M.2 SSDs is going to be the ticket for a fast PC!