High
- Amazing multi-core performance
- X99 platform offers excellent connectivity
- Surprisingly efficient
Lows
- Very expensive
- Not compatible with previous LGA2011 sockets
- Doesn’t work with DDR3 RAM
Before Haswell goes away, however, Intel has decided to let it
have one last hurrah in the form of Haswell-E. This new line of processors
offers six to eight cores, and is launching alongside the X99 platform,
which is the first ever to support DDR4 RAM. The star of the show is the
Core i7-5960X processor, an eight-core behemoth clocked at 3 GHz.
Such extreme hardware is sure to
make enthusiasts salivate but, as usual, Intel’s quickest Extreme Edition comes
with an equally extreme price of $999.
How much performance can a grand
buy you?
Same old
architecture
From a technical perspective, the
Core i7-5960X is the least exciting component of this launch. Though it manages
to provide eight cores, which is a first for any Intel processor (previous
Extreme Editions maxed out at six), it does so without any fancy footwork.
Intel has simply added more Haswell cores, and slapped on more cache (20MB,
split between all cores) to match.
One thing this processor doesn’t include is integrated graphics.
This is not odd for a high-end Intel chip, but it’s worth mentioning because it
can surprise people who are new to enthusiast hardware. Every Haswell-E desktop
needs a dedicated graphics card.
Exciting new platform
While the processor itself offers few surprises, the new X99
platform is a different story. As Intel’s latest flagship platform, it offers a
buffet of features, some of which are firsts. While releasing a radically
revised platform may seem odd with Broadwell right around the corner, Intel has
indicated that it will launch with mobilechips, then follow up with
desktop parts. X99 will likely be Intel’s latest-and-greatest until the spring
of 2015.
The big story is support for DDR4 RAM. Everyone needs memory, of
course; the quicker is better. This is a big win for anyone running large,
complex programs. For this niche, the fact that X99 supports DDR4 with speeds
up to 2133 MHz across four channels may prove to be important. It makes sense
that Intel would release DDR4 first on an expensive platform meant for
expensive processors, as buyers interested in such chips are those most likely
to be interested in quicker RAM.
DDR4 isn’t entirely a boon, however, as there are several
problems. Like all new technologies, it comes with a hefty early adopter tax.
Four sticks of DDR4 memory totaling 16GB (that’s four per stick) will set you
back well over $200.
That’s about three times more than equivalent DDR3 memory. X99
also supports speeds only up to 2133 MHz, which is lower than the standard’s
maximum. Owners of this platform won’t be able to use the quickest DDR4 RAM
available.
Quick and efficient
We hooked up the 5960X and the X99
motherboard up to our wattmeter. We noted idle power draw of 74.6 watts, and
load draw of 156.9 watts. An Nvidia GT 650 video card was also installed. These
figures are much higher than a typical Intel quad core CPU, but are still solid
given the platform’s impressive performance. Falcon Northwest’s Talon,
which we reviewed earlier this year, was equipped with an overclocked Core
i7-4770K, and consumed only ten watts less.
Conclusion
The Intel Core i7-5960X pushes the bleeding edge of desktop
performance forward. In our tests, we found it to be up to 43 percent quicker
than the six-core 4960X, Intel’s previous Extreme Edition chip, and up to 77
percent faster than the 4770K quad-core.
Unsurprisingly, Intel’s newest
chip achieves its greatest victories in tests which are reliant on
multi-threaded performance, like the 7-Zip compression benchmark. In
Geekbench’s single-core test, the 5960X’s relatively low clock speed puts it
behind some of Intel’s old quad-cores.
