Intel Haswell-E has 8-cores, X99 chipset, DDR4 memory

Intel is going to launch an 8 core CPU series for desktops in 2014 for the enthusiast grade Haswell-E platform. all eyes turn to the 2014 Haswell-E enthusiast grade platform. The world semiconductor leader will be stepping up its game a notch and offer an 8 core desktop CPU for the first time (the biggest leap since the introduction of 6 core CPUs a couple of years back). Perhaps this sudden urge to deliver 8 cores comes with the fact that Haswell will not be succeeded by Broadwell 14nm Tick in 2014.

As vr zone reports: With Haswell-E, Intel will do away with 4-core configurations of these GPU-less dies and offer users a choice of 6 and 8 core CPUs, with up to 20 MB of L3 cache. Of course, Hyper Threading isn’t going anywhere giving the CPU a maximum of 16 logical cores. Maximum TDP for the platform will lie in the range of 130W to 14oW and the processors itself will be built on 22nm 2nd generation Hi-k process. 
 

Let’s speculate performance, Haswell-E, owing to 2 more cores (4 more threads) compared to the upcoming Ivy Bridge-E platform, and taking in all architectural enhancements into consideration, should perform between 33-50% better (best case scenario) than the 2013 enthusiast platform. Finally, a real new performance part by Intel. Of course, this won’t be a game changer as AMD continues to be virtually non-existent in competing with Intel on CPU performance (and that scenario will most likely not change in the near future as well, we’re talking AMD Steamroller here).
 

Wellsburg Chipset

With Haswell-E, Intel will introduce their new Wellsburg family of motherboard chipsets. The biggest new feature (and it’s really big) is the support for DDR4 RAM clocked up to 2133 MHz (of course, you can overclock and take it much further than that). The Wellsburg X-PCH will support a number of connectivity options:

• Up to 6 x USB 3.0 ports
• Up to 8 x USB 2.0 ports
• Up to 10 x SATA 6 Gbps ports
• Integrated Clock support
• TDP of 6.5W

uad-Channel DDR4 RAM

Here’s some more information related to RAM support, Wellsburg will only allow you to install DDR4 type RAM on the motherboard, with speed configurations being in steps of 1333 MHz, 1600 MHz, 1866 MHz and 2133 MHz. Something tells us that 2133 MHz will be the minimum speed of DDR4 kits that go on sale next year (enthusiasts won’t be going for any less anyway).

Quad-channel DDR4 RAM along with increased frequencies could lead to a near 50% increase in bandwidth compared to the older, triple-channel configuration which housed much more conservative RAM clock speeds.

The chipset will support low voltage (1.2V) DDR4 RAM kits (must be the 1333 MHz ones). The DIMM connector now has 288 pins (as opposed to 284 from earlier), the 4 additional pins added to support  NVDIMM modules. Good news is that both 284/288 pin RAM modules will be usable on motherboards with the 284 pin connector or the new 288 pin connector.
 

LGA 2011-3 Socket

Haswell-E will bring a new version of your same old LGA 2011 socket with it. Dubbed LGA 2011-3, the derived socket has the same dimensions and ball pattern pitch as LGA 2011. Basically, the number of pins remains the same while their layout changes. According to the slides, the new design is more efficient as per Intel’s research, and additional wings in the LGA 2011-3 socket help improve package handling.
 

Conclusion

Haswell-E is going to be a blast. From what we’ve seen, Intel is putting in a lot of efforts to the last 22nm platform. In short, if you’ve been waiting to replace your current system with Intel’s highest end offerings, Haswell-E is the platform to wait for (and grab, the moment it’s out).

All courtesy and credits go to vr-zone for this information. Please find below some additional screenshots (click thumbnails).