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Intel's new Core i7 Extreme Edition series: Gaming power for those who can afford it |
September 03, 2013
Most of us go about our daily computing tasks secure in the knowledge that something like our Intel Core i5 or AMD A6 will render our Web browser just fine. But then there are the “1 percent” of geeks who demand the best of the best for gaming and high-end computing.
Intel built its three new Extreme Edition chips, including the six-core Core i7-4960X, for members of this elite. The new processors appear atop Intel’s price list, and you can expect to pay up to $990 for the processor alone—not including a CPU cooler.
Nevertheless, if you’re interested in pulling maximum frame rates and detail levels from top-tier titles like Metro 2033 or the Crysis series, you’ll want to consider Intel’s new chips. And you’re hardly alone: Recent reports suggest that the gaming hardware market is alive and well, with hundreds of millions of dollars spent in preparing rigs for a single game.
An oldie but a goodie
Despite their 4000-series model numbers, the new Core i7 chips are based on Intel’s older Ivy Bridge microarchitecture, not on Haswell (the code name for the new Extreme Edition series is Ivy Bridge-E). That means it’s restricted to Socket 2011 motherboards running Intel’s X79 chipset. The good news for people looking to upgrade from a previous-gen Extreme Edition CPU is that the new chips are backward-compatible, though you’ll need to flash your board’s BIOS with new firmware. That option will save you a couple of hundred dollars, but enthusiast motherboard manufacturers will do their best to tempt you with brand-new models, too.
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Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2047752/intels-new-core-i7-extreme-edition-series-gaming-power-for-those-who-can-afford-it.html#tk.rss_all
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