Testurteil: "4 out of 5 stars"
Test: Einzeltest: Intel Core i7 3930K Sandy Bridge-E CPU
Zitat: Pro: + Almost as good as Core i7 3960X, for a much lower cost
+ Sandy Bridge architecture on steroids
Con: - £450-plus is still a lot of money for a CPU-only chip
- Needs additional outlay for X79 motherboard
Intel´s latest and greatest desktop processor technology now resides in two Sandy Bridge-E chips launched just the other day. The Core i7 3930K CPU sits below the Core i7 3960X in the pecking order, but don´t let that fool you into thinking it´s a manifestly poorer cousin.
Sharing many of the performance qualities of the $999 range-topper and performing very closely in our benchmarks - through which is ploughs through with gay abandon - the $564 (£450-plus) 3930K chip is particularly suited to workloads that stress the CPU´s sheer grunt, which is considerable as it uses six cores and 12 threads when the situation demands. Excitement at the arrival of this benchmark-pulverising slab of silicon is tempered the knowledge that, while undeniably quick, Intel is yet to introduce the full-chip architecture - eight cores and 16 threads - and any sensible purchasing decision must consider mainstream Sandy Bridge processors such as Core i5 2500K and 2600K, which are fundamentally cheaper, power-frugal and perform at acceptable levels for all but the most strenuous of tasks. There exist many parallels between this Sandy Bridge-E launch - LGA2011 chip and X79 chipset - and the introduction of the Intel Nehalem-based LGA1366/X58 platform three years ago. Both offer top-dog performance, at a high cost, and are reserved for users who genuinely demand and need ultimate CPU performance. The only viable option for such folk is to invest in Sandy Bridge-E. Extending this line of logic further, the only chip you should consider is the Core i7 3930K - it performs almost as well as the 3960X processor that costs £300 more. Now, how´s that for a moneysaving tip? Bottom line : the Core i7 3930K is very much a niche product whose appeal is limited to the true power user. For everyone else, consider a mainstream Sandy Bridge chip instead.