It's been a few days, but I'm back in the saddle. So, I've got a very exciting
product today to unbox. This is the Intel Core i7 980X. It's an LG 1366
processor, and we've seen that before, but what's new about it is this is a 6
core Extreme Edition processor. Now,
just like when Intel launched the
QX6700, this is the only processor that
you can buy from Intel on the desktop platform with six cores. So, the QX6700
was an extreme processor and it was the only four core you could buy at the
time. So, you're paying a premium, but you're getting the latest technology.
This is a 32nm processor. It supports hyperthreading technology, which means
12 threads in Task Manager. Go figure. Turbo boost. It has an integrated memory
controller, triple channel DDR3 memory like all of the LG 1366 CPUs. It is
compatible with most and it should be
all X58 motherboards with only a BIOS update. So, I threw one of these chips
into my one-year old X58 board and it
worked just with a BIOS update. So, then let's go around to the back. This box
contains an Intel processor and thermal solution. It is a three-year warranty.
Okay. So, let's go around here. Okay.
Why don't we break the seal on this bad boy? So, here we go. That is a thousand
plus dollar processor. Now, it's open. We opened the box. Let's see what kind
of experience we have unboxing a Core i7
Extreme. So, this is cool. Intel has actually updated their stock cooler for
the Extreme Edition products. But before we get into that, why don't we have a
look at the documentation. Oh, wow. This is a kind of a complicated package. The
CPU is in like a cardboard uh container. So, we'll look at that after. First of
all, we have the installation instructions along with the three-year
limited warranty. We have an Intel inside logo label. Core i7 inside. It's
a black one cuz it's extreme. All right. Next, we
have Oh, this is new. Look at this.
Intel actually includes a thermal
compound tube. This looks like it's probably shinu. I'm guessing though. I'm
just going based on the um based on the syringe here. Dao Corning. No, this is
it's an OEM. It's an OEM paste. Uh if
it's what I think it is, it's a very high quality paste. And then they
include an in installation instruction guide for how to apply the uh the
syringe to your CPU. I also have a video about that which you could also watch on
my NCIXCOM account. Okay. So, then we
have a clamshell plastic package and the
new Intel stock cooler which I've also done a video on my Linus Tech Tips
channel about outlining the uh the differences between this or just looking
at it. Um, okay. So, the biggest differences, let's start with the
obvious one. This is a heat pipe cooler. So, it has four heat pipes that all
connect directly to a copper base and then aluminum fin tower design just like
many of the aftermarket coolers over the past couple years. Whereas Intel has
been using a top down blower for years and years and years. They haven't
changed that for eons it seems like. Okay, next thing is it uses thumb screws
to secure to the motherboard as well as a back plate. Intel in the past has been
using push pins, plastic push pins. I hate these things. This is way better. I
love it. Okay, next thing. It uses a bode base. You can't see that here, but
the base is actually convex, which means that when you put it down on the CPU and
tighten it down, it gets incredibly tight mounting pressure in the center
right over the die of the CPU. That's very important, too. This is a feature
that's been carried over from previous Extreme Edition heat sinks in that you
can set it to either quiet or performance mode with the push of a
button. Okay, let's have a look at the fins from the side so you can kind of
see through them there. And then it has a sleeved power connector. That's
something that I've wanted to see on stock coolers for a long time because
you know what? It just makes it that much tidier when you're trying to do a
nice build and you got like your blue and yellow and green and black random
wire all over the place. All right, next thing. Uh, right. This is actually
really cool. So, see this fan? That is kind of a weird shape. So, it's not
actually designed to just blow right through the fins like most of the
aftermarket coolers are. The reason for that is that in a properly speced
cooler, you should actually be blowing not only through the fins to cool the
CPU, but you should actually be cooling all of the components around the CPU.
And for a long time, that's been the disadvantage to using a tower cooler
because usually the fan blows only through the fins and it doesn't reach
the surrounding components. But what Intel's done is they've angled the fan
blades so that it actually pushes a lot of air kind of around this way. And it
also pushes it down here and just sort of randomly around the socket. So that
enables Intel to get proper cooling of all the components around the socket and
still use a tower cooler. Amazing. So,
now let's finish up the unboxing and product overview. As I mentioned before,
this is a six core processor clocked at
3.33 GHz. It has Oh, and I just get this
cardboard thing. I've never seen an Intel CPU boxed like this. Very strange.
Um, so they've changed a lot of things. Let's have a look here. So, it has 12
megs of cache. It
uses H. Yeah, it uses a 6.4 GHz QPI link. And
that is pretty much all there is to it. Let's flip it over. It looks just like
any LGA 1366 CPU that we've seen over
the last year plus, except for what's under the hood. So, that's six cores of
high performance computing power. I should probably also mention that I was
able to effortlessly overclock the uh sample that I already have to 4 GHz just
by turning up the multiplier. So, it's an extreme edition processor designed
for overclocking and looking cool and
extreme. Thanks for checking out my video blog.