i7-3820, awesome maybe?

[wooootles]

Hey all,

Just read up on Sandy Bridge-E news. Does this chip have the possibility to be a mainstream choice of gamers/casual overclockers, along with LGA1155 i7s?

First off, it's a locked processor. Secondly, it's a Sandy Bridge. Locked SB usually drive away any potential customers, but Intel says they will let us change it's BCLK only by increments---100MHz (as shipped), 125, 166, 200 and 250MHz. On top of that motherboards may be able to let us finetune them by a few MHz here and there (just like the current 1155 chips).

My i7-930's multiplier can be lowered from 21, and it's considered 'locked' so if i7-3820's multipliers can be dialed down while adjusting the BCLK increment up would it also be a good alternative for i7-2600k, considering SB-E is rumored to have a higher IPC?

Example - I can take a stock 3820, and with proper cooling (say, a NH-D14) bump that BCLK to 125MHz I would have a 4.875 GHz turbo.

If I wanted to hit barely over 5GHz I can set the BCLK to 166 while dialing down the multiplier to 31 (from 39)

Am I misunderstanding this? I hope not, because this one's cheaper than the 2600k.

[Cyanotical]

honestly i think the locked i7-3820 is for those who want an x79 at launch, but know that the best cpu wont be available for few months and don't want to drop a grand on a less then max cpu, ie the 3980 wont be out for a while, get this for now

i think however that it will make an excellent gaming cpu, with it's even newer core design, and x79 chipset, it could very easily be the standard setup for a gaming rig, allowing for upgrades to the i7x later on