While nobody knows for sure at this point in time when Intel's first processors based on the Sandy Bridge-E architecture are supposed to arrive, the names of these CPUs have been recently unveiled by a table detailing all of Intel's Sandy Bridge desktop processors.
The recently uncovered information seems to support the previous Sandy Bridge-E CPU specifications leaked in mid-April, but, this time, we also get to know the names of these upcoming chips.
Starting things off, the most powerful of the three processors to be released is called the Core i7-3960X, the X at the end of its designation informing us that it belongs in the company's Extreme Edition line.
This Intel CPU packs six processing cores with HyperThreading support that have a base frequency of 3.30GHz and a maximum clock speed of 3.9GHz, which are backed by 15MB of Level 3 cache memory.
Next up, is the Core i7-3930K, which also includes six processing cores with Hyper-Threading support, but has a base operating clock of 3.2GHz, while the maximum frequency in Turbo mode is set at 3.80GHz.
Unlike its older brother, the Intel Core i7-3930K sports only 12MB of Level 3 cache memory.
Finally, the last chip to be released is the Core i7-3820, with 4 cores, 8 threads, 10 MB of L3 cache, a nominal clock speed of 3.60 GHz and a maximum Turbo speed of 3.90 GHz. This is the only Sandy bridge-E processors to come with a locked multiplier.
All the processors sport a quad-channel DDR3 memory controller that can officially support memory speeds up to 1333MHz.
The release date of these Sandy Bridge-E processors is unknown at this time, some reports suggesting that these will be out in Q1 2012. However, the latest rumors to reach the Web state that a 2011 launch could still be possible, but the CPUs will include a limited feature set that lacks PCI Express 3.0 support.
