Intel Core i7-3970X Pro Reviews

The on problem with the Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition is pricing. When Intel slaps the “Extreme Edition” moniker on a product, you know it’s going to command a premium, and the Core i7-3970X is no different. As of today, this processor is available at about $999 - $1029. That is a tall order for all but the most affluent PC enthusiasts, and although the processor is uber fast, it doesn’t represent the best value, obviously. You could buy three Core i7-3770K processors for the price of a single 3970X, but these are things we’ve been saying for years. Intel’s flagship desktop processors have been priced this way for ages. For the select few of you that can afford such a beast and want nothing by the best components in your system, the Core i7-3970X is it. Until Ivy Bridge-E arrives sometime later this year, Sandy Bridge-E will remain at the top of heap, and the Core i7-3970X is currently the highest performing member of the family. It’s not cheap by any means, but it’s unlocked, overclockable, and offers performance that can’t be matched, especially with highly-threaded workloads.

The Intel Core i7-3970X is no doubt the fastest desktop processor out on the market, but is it a big leap from the i7-3960X? Our testing has shown only a small increase in performance, which is expected with the 200 MHz performance boost that we get with the 3970X. With AMD lagging behind and shifting their focus from the performance desktop CPU market, Intel doesn’t necessarily feel the need push forward with newer architectures. The i7-3970X does not come with a 22nm manufacturing process, so we’re still looking at the same 32nm chip as we saw on the original i7-3960X way back in November 2011, with a slight so called “manufacturer-overclocking”. Ivy Bridge entered the market with the first 22nm chip, which was of course more energy efficient, and with Haswell coming in as the 2nd generation optimized 22nm process microprocessors, we’re not seeing anything new on the enthusiast side that would blow us away. As we know, Haswell won’t be the next enthusiast platform, which makes us worry as to when will we actually see Ivy Bridge-E, which should be the next replacement for the Sandy Bridge-E processor family. On the other hand, the Intel Core i7-3970X did impress us in performance. While the i7-3970X Extreme Edition processor might not be for those already running the i7-3960X, it would be an excellent processor for those thinking about upgrading to a X79 chipset system running the LGA 2011 socket processors. The i7-3960X and i7-3970X will always be a great option for users that need quick processing of resource-demanding tasks, but the i7-3970X should definitely be on your list over the older i7-3960X model. With only a $10 difference in price, the i7-3970X would provide better performance that would save you time and money in the long run, while it also seems to provide a slightly better overclocking and stability over the previous i7-3960X chip. It is important to understand that a powerful cooling solution will be needed to keep this beast cool, as we have seen in our testing; a small overclock can easily heat up the processor to high temperatures which in the end would result in poor performance due to down-throttling.

The best just got better. That'll be Intel's pitch for the new Core i7 3970X. And strictly speaking, it's absolutely true. When the existing Intel Core i7 3960X launched almost exactly a year ago, it was the fastest PC processor on Earth. Since then, nothing has come close. AMD, quite frankly, doesn't operate in this part of the market, so it was always going to be down to Intel to raise the bar. Now it has, and it's hard to imagine how we could be more underwhelmed. How so?

Intel didn’t have to launch the Core i7-3970X. Its -3960X was already the fastest single-socket workstation processor you could buy. But, in the year that has passed since Sandy Bridge-E first debuted, Intel also introduced its Ivy Bridge architecture. Better per-cycle performance gave enthusiasts something to consider: do you save some money by buying a quad-core Ivy Bridge-based processor, or splurge on an older architecture for its higher core count and more generous PCI Express connectivity?