Specifications and Testing Configuration

Our testing configuration for this testing was identical to that used in the previous Sandy Bridge-E review. 

Highest clock speed with all cores in use

Highest clock speed with a single core in use

  • Intel Core i7-3930K (Sandy Bridge-E)
  • Intel DX79SI X79 Motherboard
  • Intel water cooler
  • 4 x 2GB DDR-1866 Corsair Vengeance (running at DDR3-1333)
  • Intel X25-M G2 160 GB SSD
  • GeForce GTX 285 Graphics card
  • PC Power and Cooling 1200 watt PSU
  • Windows 7 SP1 64-bit

Core i7-3930K on the left, Core i7-3960X on the right

What are the key comparisons do we want to watch out for? 

  • Core i7-3960X vs Core i7-3930K – Obviously this one will determine if the much more expensive Extreme processor can really show a discernible difference from the lower priced K-SKU. 
  • Core i7-3930K vs Core i-2600k – Both are based on the same CPU architecture but the new Core i7-3930K has 50% more cores with 100% more memory channels and we want to know how much performance you get with all those changes.
  • Core i7-3960X vs AMD FX-8150 – The AMD FX-8150 is still priced well under the Core i7-3930K but we want to see if the Bulldozer architecture has any chance here…
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