Broadwell-E and the UltraEnthusiast Deca-Core
THE HIGH-END DESKTOP MARKET is where Intel gets to push its CPU engineering chops, away from the constraints of designing chips with a focus on mobile energy efficiency over performance. With the new Broadwell tick, the enthusiast end of the market is get
Very soon, we’ll be entering a new era of personal computing, where we can jam unprecedented supercomputer-class power into our rigs. Intel is about to give the high-end desktop (HEDT) market a boost with the Broadwell-E range of enthusiast CPUs, and Nvidia has lifted the lid on its new Pascal GP100 GPU, the silicon that’s sure to power the next GTX Titan. These are exciting times to be a PC hardware geek, especially if you have deep, deep pockets.
Intel’s Broadwell-E range will be the first to drop, and it’s promising the first consumer deca-core processor, the Intel Core i7-6950X. Broadwell-E is the high-end tick in Intel’s outgoing tick-tock cadence. That means this new range is based on the same architecture as current Haswell-E processors, but it comes with a production shrink, dropping the size of the smallest transistors from 22nm down to its new 14nm process. So don’t expect much of a performance boost from core-comparable chips.
Despite the shrink allowing Intel to plant another pair of full Broadwell-E cores into its flagship CPU, it hasn’t given the 6950X much wiggle room in terms of base clocks. Reviews of the Xeon E5 v4 chips, which the Broadwell-E will likely be derived from, suggest the 6950X might struggle to hit the same Turbo speeds as the 5960X. That means per core performance will likely be under what current Skylake offerings manage. The top chip, though, is set to sport a hefty 25MB of cache, 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes, and the same 3GHz stock clock speed and 3.5GHz Turbo of the current Core i7-5960X Haswell-E— though the equivalent Broadwell-E eight-core i7-6900K does have a higher 3.3GHz base clock.
If efficiency gains from the 14nm shrink translate to cooler operation, we might still see improved overclocking performance—the Broadwell-E range is fully unlocked.
And that range is also set to be a little larger. With the previous Haswell-E lineup, there were just three CPUs on offer: the top-end, eight-core flagship model, and a pair of lower-clocked, six-core versions. The upcoming Broadwell-E range is set to run the gamut of six, eight, and 10-core processing options.
If you were hoping that extended range might push the bottom six-core CPU down toward the price of the quad-core Skylake i76700K, though, you’re likely to be disappointed. From what I hear, the pricing structure isn’t going to change, with the six- and eightcore parts matching the current Haswell-E pricing, but adding a higher tier with the 10-core 6950X. Early scaremongering has that part retailing for $1,500. Maybe Intel’s heard rumors about the price of Nvidia’s next ultra-enthusiast card.
I understand why Intel isn’t dropping the prices of its cheapest six-core—it doesn’t want to cannibalize Skylake sales—but it means we’re unlikely to see the price for eight-cores dropping. If the 10-core 6950K is set for $1,500, Intel will probably keep the eightcore 6900K at the same $1,000 level the 5960X sits at right now. Sigh. Here’s to Skylake-E, eh?
Maybe Intel’s heard rumors about the price of Nvidia’s next ultra-enthusiast card.