Intel Officially Launches the Core i7-5000X Extreme Edition CPUs

Extreme Edition central processing units from Intel are always one level of magnitude, so to speak, faster than even the best consumer-centric, gaming chips. The latest processors from Intel definitely preserve this trend.

Intel has finally made the formal introduction of the Core i7-5960X 8C/16HT, Intel Core i7-5930K 6C/12HT, and Intel Core i7-5820K 6C/12HT central processing units. It was about time really. The company made the formal introduction at PAX 2014, a gaming-centric trade show taking place in Seattle, Washington, between August 29 and September 1. The press release brought with it the official product pages of all three processors, which are now accessible through their own section on Intel's website. The previously leaked specifications have been confirmed. The new Core i7 CPUs are definitely just as overkill as all reports said. Take the Core i7-5960X for example, it has eight cores, 16 threads, a base clock of 3 GHz, a Turbo Boost maximum frequency of 3.5 GHz, 20 MB Intel Smart Cache and a TDP of 140W. The selling price will be in the vicinity of $1,000 / €1,000.

The Core i7-5930K is a six-core unit with 12 threads, 3.5 GHz base clock, 3.7 GHz top clock, 15 MB cache memory and, again, 140W TDP. Its recommended price is of $594 / €594. The third chip in the series, called Core i7-5820X, is also a six-core unit with 12 threads and 15 MB cache, but it runs at 3.3 GHz / 3.6 GHz. Its TDP is 140W and the price is of $396 / €396. Those are the “average prices” as it were. When sold standalone, the prices go up by $10-$50 / €10-€50, while tray (bulk) shipments will shear off the same amount. Be sure to buy one of the new motherboards based on the X99 chipset that Intel's many OEMs have released and continue to launch even now. Look for the LGA 2011-3 socket.

In addition to the three new super-CPUs, Intel has released the Core i7-4930MX CPU, for laptops. It is powered by the Haswell architecture, not Haswell-E, and has four cores, eight threads, 3 GHz base clock, 3.9 GHz top clock, 8 MB cache memory and a TDP of 57W. The price is of $1,050 / €1,050 or so. Given the ludicrous performance of Haswell-E central processing units and their associated thermal design power, the architecture is not likely to be adapted for mobile PC use any time soon, if ever. Hence the release of a high-grade processor that is, instead, designed on the tried and true Haswell generation.

Intel launches Haswell-E CPUs
Image credits to Intel

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