Conclusion
Almost three years on the release of the X79 platform supporting hexa-core Ivy Bridge-based processors, headlined by the Core i7-4960X, Intel is now updating the high-end platform with the Haswell architecture.
Three Haswell Extreme (HSW-E) processors are coming to market, with the best being the Core i7-5960X. It ships with eight cores and 16 threads, and this is the first time such power has been packaged into a consumer chip. Supporting the HSW-E processors is a new chipset, X99, which requires DDR4 memory. You'll need to invest in the trio of processor, motherboard and memory, mind, so entry into the platform certainly isn't cheap.
The reviewed Core i7-5960X's extra cores and threads push its CPU-centric performance to levels comfortably higher than we've ever seen before. Such monstrous potential works great in multi-core-aware applications such as Cinebench and HandBrake but has much less impact when gaming at either 1080p or 4K resolutions. This, really, is a workstation chip first and foremost, irrespective of it being pushed as an (extremely) high-end desktop solution.
Most readers will be fine with mid-range Haswell processors and would be advised to wait for next-generation Broadwell chips for their new build. But if you really can take advantage of eight cores and 16 threads of Haswell power, the Core i7-5960X, even at $999, is untouchable.
The Good
Extreme performance
Eight cores and 16 threads in one chip
Relatively energy efficient
Overclocks well
The Bad
The $999 cost
Requires completely new platform
HEXUS.awards
Intel Core i7-5960X
HEXUS.where2buy
The Intel Core i7-5960X processor is available to purchase from Scan Computers*.
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