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Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300

By | February 17, 2012, 4:37am PST

Summary: If Intel’s six-core Sandy Bridge-E CPUs were too rich for your blood (and wallet), the chip giant is now giving you a more affordable option. The Core i7-3820 sports only four cores, but it also carries a much lighter price of $294. The new chip has a higher clock speed than its siblings at 3.6GHz, but [...]

If Intel’s six-core Sandy Bridge-E CPUs were too rich for your blood (and wallet), the chip giant is now giving you a more affordable option. The Core i7-3820 sports only four cores, but it also carries a much lighter price of $294.

The new chip has a higher clock speed than its siblings at 3.6GHz, but its Turbo Boost maxes out at 3.9GHz like the Core i7-3960X. It also has only 10MB of cache, while the 3960X comes with 15MB and the i7-3930K includes 12MB.

The 3820 is priced lower than the Core i7-2600K, despite having some key advantages (support for quad-channel memory and PCIe 3.0), though it requires a new, pricey X79-based motherboard. Would you rather get the new CPU and motherboard, or go with the older processor and cheaper LGA 1155 motherboard? Let us know in the Talkback section.

[Via Anandtech]

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Quad-core, Intel Corp., Processors, Semiconductors, Hardware, Components, Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist.

Disclosure

Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy is a freelance technology journalist; currently, all work that Sean does is on a contractural basis. Sean has also written corporate communications documents for CA.

Sean does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Sean Portnoy

Sean Portnoy started his tech writing career at ZDNet nearly a decade ago. He then spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. He received a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. from the University of Southern California.

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i3
preferred user 28th Feb
one of my systems is an i3 2400 with hyperthteading
works well for my needs
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RE: Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300
Rob.sharp@... 17th Feb
I'm cheap so i'd go with the older CPU and cheaper board.
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Newer CPU
ragnar.moller@... 17th Feb
Seems the high end CPU's are always behind the next mainstream CPU's coming. I need to see the new 1155 CPU's before.

Suppose the Sandy Bridge-E with a Budget X79 motherboard is more future proof accepting more memory.
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RE: Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300
bump911 17th Feb
@ragnar.moller@... Budget?? Newegg shows the lowest price X79 board at 209.99 - hardly budget.
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RE: Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300
treker67 17th Feb
I'd take one of the higher end motherboards with the i7-3820 CPU, which for my purposes right now is fast enough. In 4 years or so, when the 6core CPU's come down in price (hopefully), I would upgrade the CPU then, which would be substantially less expensive than a complete system. I don't need the fastest computers, but I do plan ahead so that I can upgrade CPU's in the future, so I try to get a higher end motherboard at the start of a new build.
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RE: Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300
Champ_Kind 17th Feb
@treker67 The only flaw in that plan is that the new processors in 2-3 years time may not be pin compatible with the board you choose today. Think about the early 775 motherboards not being compatible with dual core Pentiums and the Core 2 chips, 1156 vs 1155, and so on.

You're better off to get a 2500k and a mid-range Z68 motherboard than you would be with the least expensive socket 2011 offerings.
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Personally I agree; with this combo, i5 2500 and Z68 motherboard & $380
Zurk_Orkin 21st Feb
@Champ_Kind

" The i5 2500 & i5 2500k have both seen 10% price increases at retail since October 2011. And I would want an ATX with (1X) pcie X16 and (1X) pcie X4 for the opportunity for more advanced peripherals that are being developed now for increased bandwidth. But, although the i5 2500 has "Turbo Boost" it lacks "Hyper Threading". So it would be a gaming processor, while the i3 2120, which has "Hyper Threading" is the best choice for a 3.3Ghz Sandy Bridge processor; I have one of those too and can be had direct from DELL as a mini-ATX Inspiron complete computer w/ 1TB hdd, 350w psu and dell-H61 motherboard (two ram slots only) $449. Otherwise you are looking on spending twice that much for a custom built P67 w/ HD 7870 or GTX 560Ti; or a Z68 and use the new Intel built-in quality graphic."
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RE: Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300
treker67 21st Feb
@Champ_Kind What you say is true. However, my plans are to replace the i7-3820 4core with one of the current 6core processors that are out of my price range at this time. Given how I've seen processor prices drop when a new processor family comes out, I believe that this works best for me.
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Good Price
farshad_xix 17th Feb
Good Price...
http://www.it4iran.com/it/?p=713
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RE: Intel sneaks out quad-core Core i7-3820 Sandy Bridge-E processor for under $300
lanek22 18th Feb
I'll use my $$ for a decent solid state drive to beef up my system right now.
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i3
preferred user 28th Feb
one of my systems is an i3 2400 with hyperthteading
works well for my needs

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