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Since Intel Z68 Express chipset is coming out around the corner, motherboard makers has turned their attention to the X79 Express chipset and planned to showcase the boards during COMPUTEX Taipei 2011. If you are lucky enough, you can catch some running demos somewhere. Intel X79 boards will be ready as early as August and Sandy Bridge-E processor about a month after. Let's take a closer look at what this high end desktop chipset and Sandy Bridge-E processor have to offer.

Since Intel Z68 Express chipset is coming out around the corner, motherboard makers has turned their attention to the X79 Express chipset and planned to showcase the boards during COMPUTEX Taipei 2011. If you are lucky enough, you can catch some running demos somewhere.

Intel X79 chipset is codenamed Patsburg-HEDT PCH and its processor is codenamed Sandy Bridge-E and together they form the Waimea Bay platform, a two-chip solution. Intel X79 boards will be ready as early as August and Sandy Bridge-E processor about a month after.

Let's take a closer look at what this high end desktop chipset and Sandy Bridge-E processor have to offer.

Sandy Bridge-E CPU Feature Overview

Up to 6 cores and 12 threads

32-KB instruction and 32-KB data L1 cache per core

256-KB shared instruction/data L2 cache per core

Up to 15 MB L3 cache (up to 2.5 MB per core) shared among all cores

Up to 40 PCIe Gen 3 Lanes (2×16 & 1×8)

4 lanes of DMI2/PCI Express 2.0 interface

4 Channels DDR3-1600 (1 DIMM per Channel)

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 (thermal control is the only limiter)

130W TDP

LGA2011 Socket

Sandy Bridge-E comes in 3 SKUs :

Sandy Bridge Extreme Edition : 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.3GHz clock, 15MB L3 cache (2.5MB per core), Max. OC

Sandy Bridge E : 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.2GHz clock, 12MB L3 cache (2MB per core), Max. OC

Sandy Bridge E : 4 cores / 8 threads, 3.6GHz clock, 10MB L3 cache (2.5MB per core), Limited OC

Intel X79 Express Chipset (Patsburg-HEDT) Overview