Intel Core i7 3930K 

Again the gap is just 100MHz, 4.8GHz on airs plays 4.9GHz.

At nearly £500 it's still an expensive CPU, but currently it's the only LGA 2011 processor worth a look.

However, it still costs around 500.

I do a lot of hardware virtualization on my computer so I can always use all the extra threads the only small issue with the thing is being able to cool it, I have this cpu running at 4.5 GHz @ 1.4v and my h100 only can manage keeping it at about 82C.

You should note, however, that you also won’t save a significant amount on energy usage: In our measurements conducted with an Extech Datalogger, the Core i7-3930K’s 122.5-watt draw at idle and 233.7-watt draw under full load was not far removed from Core i7-3960X’s respective 124.1-watt and 243.2-watt draws.

On the full-system Futuremark PCMark 7 benchmark, the scores followed exactly the same pattern: The overall score was 3,643 versus 3,594, with the individual tests similarly matched.

Four channels is getting silly and merely serves to underline the real reason the new Core i7 exists.

What's more, thanks to the 'K' on the end of Intel Core i7 3930K, this lower priced alternative to the Intel Core i7 3960X gets the full unlocked treatment and also benefits from the newly introduced CPU strap, the better to make overclocking a bit more flexible.

Our tests calibrated for more component-level performance, AIDA64, SiSoftware Sandra 2012, and Geekbench 2.2, proved just as conclusive: There is almost no performance differential between the Core i7-3930K and the Core i7-3960X that most users will find significant enough to be worth the extra $416 or so it will cost to get them.

Intel's previous high end processors sported a triple channel memory controller.

When advising people on buying most performance-oriented components, we usually recommend taking a single step back from the top of the line: There’s frequently a bigger difference in price than in capability between the bleeding edge and the next best.

The Core i7-3930K has 12MB of cache to the faster chip’s 15MB, and a clock rate of 3.2GHz instead of 3.3GHz that can rise to a maximum of 3.8GHz instead of 3.9GHz when Turbo Boost is enabled.

As evaluated on a test system using an Asus P9X79 Deluxe motherboard, the Core i7-3930K applied a dozen filters and effects to an image in Adobe Photoshop CS5 in 2 minutes 53 seconds, as opposed to the Core i7-3960X’s 2 minutes 48 seconds.