Core i7-3930K 3.2 1 LGA 2011 Processor - BX80619I73930K

I've been a long time buyer of AMD cpus due to the price to performance ratio. Within the last year however I have been running more virtual machines on my pc and have been in need of more CPU cores and wishing I could go beyond 16G of RAM on my AMD boxes. I had been on the verge of buying a new Bulldozer to upgrade from an AMD Phenom II 1090T six core, but realized that even after spending an additional $270 I was only going from 6 cores to 8. I wanted to leave at least two cores and 8GB of RAM dedicated to the host OS, then put the remaining RAM and CPU cores to Virtual machine use. With an AMD FX-8150 I could only get 6 cores left, and since 8GB RAM sticks are very expensive, I could only get 8GB of RAM out of the 16 my board could hold with 4x4GB sticks after taking 8GB for my host OS. This meant that at most I could get 4 single core virtual machines with about 2GB of RAM each. I decided to wait to look at the new L2011 offerings from Intel before buying AMD again, I'm glad I did. Intel's CPU has 6 physical dual cores giving me effectively 12 CPUs. The motherboard I'm using with the CPU has 8 DDR3 slots meaning I could fill it with 4GB sticks giving me 32GB. I now have 10 cpus and 24GB of RAM for my virtualization needs, meaning I can run 10 Virts with about 2GB of RAM each easily. Perfect for my needs! While it cost a lost to get to this level of PC (Mboard, CPU, RAM) exceeding $1000 total, I feel that I know have a system that I can easily get four years out of. I also fired up Photoshop and the thing is just super quick on this CPU. Here's what my build looks like: ASUS Sabertooth X79 Motherboard 32GB RAM - 8 x 4GB of Patriot DDR3 DIMMs Intel Core i7-3930k CPU Corsair Force 10GT 120GB SSD for my OS boot disk Overall I ended up getting a 7.7 Windows 7 experience index. In conclusion, I'd recommend this if you have apps that are heavily threaded and can use the cores, for needs that can fit on an AMD build, I'd go that route since it costs a lot less. If you have general productivity needs, go with an AMD build and save some cash, if you need a beast machine and you're investing for the long haul, then this processor can only be bested by it's slightly bigger brother.

After installing everything, the comp refused to boot and instead perpetually displayed the DRAM led light. I changed out the ram; tried different memory configurations, but no joy. I flashed the bios to the most recent version but still no joy. Ultimately, I concluded that the MB was DOA. I replaced it with the ASUS Rampage IV which booted on first attempt with zero problems.

Brand new build Intel DX79SR ,Kingston Hyper X Beast 32 GB Kit (4x8 GB) 2400MHz DDR3,AZZA Solano 1000R CSAZ-1000R Full Tower , Intel I7 3930K,Corsair Professional Series AX 1200 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Gold... Crucial m4 512GB 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/ CPU failed in 5 Mins on the phone with Intel 1 hr. CPU internal failure , I know that Their Tech Support is horrible 40 min trying to explain with a NON English speaking Person OUTSOURCE at its best ( Finally he tells me YOU NEED A NEW ONE REPACE IT)

I am very happy with this CPU on an ASUS P9x79 Pro, like Michael. I also have 32 GB Kingston Quad channel memory, a Gigabyte GTX 670-OC-2GB VRAM video card, all SSD drives, and I do not overclock...actually run the BIOS on the power saving mode, and it does all the 3D work and complex filter renderings in Photoshop and its plug-ins with ease at that setting, so I have not even gone to the "Normal" setting. Fans run slowly and virtually silently at this setting and with a Coolermaster TPC 812 heatsink, the temperature of the 3930 runs between 33 and 36 degrees celtsius. This installation in a Corsair 550D, constructed by the manufacturer with quiet first and foremost in mind, is almost inaudible, and surely does not disappoint in that regard! To my surprise though, and this has also been reported by others in forums on line, the Windows 7/64 loading time is actually a few seconds LONGER(from the "loading windows" logo to Log-on) than with two other quality computers I have (a x58(1366) with a 960 processor, and a LG 1155 with a 2600 CPU); this, with reasonably comparable hardware,Startup menu settings in MSCONFIG and software. Just out of interest, I removed the NVIDIA driver, and it had no effect on boot time. From discussions on other forums, this is felt to be a property of the x79 motherboards and the way that format governs various driver loadings, but I don't have a definitive explanation. People were saying that it is not related to the ASUS line per se, but I have not used the Intel x79 MB to see if there be a difference. I would be interested to know what other people contributing on this thread might have to say about this, if they have roughly comparable systems on which to comment, in this regard. Really though, this is unequivocally inconsequential, merely academic, and most certainly does not reflect on the alacrity and efficiency with which this processor functions, once the system is booted, and this applies to my entire installation, as a whole, which is truly exemplary. Being a non-gamer, I'm afraid my review, by definition, has to be viewed as somewhat limited for what certain prospective customers may want to know, particularly with a CPU of these specifications and potentials. I elected this CPU over my original choice, the 3820, because, in consultation with Adobe technicians, Photoshop CS6 can now take advantage of hexcore in 3D and complex filtration algorithms. That was not the case in CS5 when they advised me not to buy the 990X, in the Bloomfield series, when I bought my previous computer which was prebuilt and is really not outdated, even today, in terms of performance. In view of this CPU's superb function in stock configuration, I see absolutely no reason to overclock and overstress my components for little or no practical benefit, as I am in no way interested in bragging rights over pushing the limits with respect to benchmark data. BOTTOM LINE: Highly recommended.

Super responsive CPU. Overclocks nicely. I've had mine up to 4.7 GHz so far; but I'm sure it'll clock higher than that. Apps like blender certainly benefit from the extra cores and it's just impressive to see 12 virtual threads on the Windows sidebar gadget. Bought this chip as the 'happy median' in the LGA 2011 line; the 3690X being way overpriced and the 3820K looked less appealing than the hexacore. Here you get the best of both worlds. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars is that I believe for the price, Intel should've included a stock fan, although most will probably want to upgrade to liquid cooling to overclock this chip anyway. Overall, I recommend this chip for the gamer/enthusiast.

Nice and fast and stable. Got PCIe 3 to work with my EVGA GeForce GTX 680 FTW+ 4GB and Nvidia drivers with their patch fix. Using with ASUS P9X79 WS motherboard and 32GB Corsair Dominator quad channel RAM. Everything runs smoothly and is easy to overclock, not that I really need to with this CPU anyway. Still, speeds up encoding and rendering a bit, if needed. Works great for gaming, but might be a bit excessive, having less than fully used capabilities, if that's your main use of your computer. Highly recommended. ... Update: February 12, 2013 Just thought I'd let you guys know that I'm easily and safely overclocking this chip up to 4.6GHz fully loaded under my somewhat higher-end air cooler with a VCore of 1.35 volts. Nice and stable crunching power. This chip seems to handle anything and everything. It's even dynamically fully loaded nearly 24/7 crunching for scientific research seamlessly in the background while I go about my other normal computer use, which probably includes most of what you might think of, and maybe then some.

This is a good processor designed for overclocking but... You are gonna need to buy a really good heat sink if you overclock! No heat sink comes with this processor so be ready to add at least $100 to the price. From what I've read there are good heat sinks for less than $100 but they are heavy and pull at the processor and mother board pretty hard. The self contained liquid coolers are mostly toys and don't really cool the CPU when overclocked at all. If you are going to overclock, and you are if you are buying this processor, then do yourself and your computer a favor get a Kraken X60 liquid cooler.

I upgraded to this cpu from a Q6600 and let me tell you that the difference is amazing. Even when this chip is under load while rendering video in Sony Vegas my computer is very responsive. I am running it at stock clocks for the time being just to break it in. This cpu is strong enough to even play almost any of the most demanding emulated games around (LLE sound Tales of Symphonia and Zone of the Enders) at playable frame rates. If you are thinking about getting the 3960X DON'T! It only has a very small boost in performance for nearly twice the price, stick with this one. An interesting factoid though, this and the 60X were originally 8 core cpus. Intel disabled two cores for some reason, probably because AMD is not pressuring them in the slightest to compete. I do not know if it is possible but Intel may enable these at a future date (hoping they do anyway). This chip can handle nearly anything you throw at it and at reasonable temperatures. Under full load it maxes out at 58C using the Corsair H100 and idles at 26C to 30C. It has some massive over clocking potential, the highest stable clock I have read about was 4.75Ghz; some have made it to 5Ghz but not stably.