Following this announcement, Intel pushed word that its X-series CPUs, including unlocked K-SKUs, will remain maxed at 18C/36T (a la 7980XE), but will move to solder for its thermal interface. Intel refers to this as “STIM,” or “soldered TIM.” Technically, solder is a TIM, so we are uncertain if there is anything beyond this marketing namesake.
The new X-series CPUs will also offer 68 PCIe lanes, which propels Intel into more direct competition for PCIe throughput with AMD. Quad-channel DDR4 remains, and the i7/i9 branding also remains.
At least some of these CPUs, like the Xeons, will run on the new X599 platform. We are unclear as to what platform the HEDT CPUs are using. We have some videography of these that will land in our upcoming video. We previously posted a PCB analysis of one of these.
We’ll publish additional information as we learn more.
UPDATE
Intel has announced further specifications for the 28C 3175X:
- 3.1GHz/4.3GHz boost (two fastest cores)
- 28C/56T
- 255W TDP
- 38.5MB Cache
- Price TBD
The X-series products are as follows:
- 8 to 18C options
- 48PCIe lanes off of the CPU, the remaining 10 off of the chipset
Specs are as below, courtesy of Bitwit:
Intel demonstrated gains versus the 2990WX, although only showed applications which are often single-threaded -- like Premiere, Maya, and gaming-related tasks. Blender and other entirely multi-threaded applications were absent from the comparisons. Intel claims "108% faster" video editing (unclear on what precisely Intel thinks "editing" means), "27% faster" rendering in Maya, and "13%" faster game build-time versus the 2990WX.
Intel got back to us on our repeated questions about frequency vs. cores for the 9980XE. All-core is 3.8GHz, single-core is 4.7GHz.
Editorial: Steve Burke
