14 DAY TRIAL // The high-end desktop category, as far as Intel is concerned, is beyond even the best Core i7 consumer central processing units, a type of high end that stands above all other high ends. We now know when to expect the next HEDT update, and it's not any time soon.
You've already seen it happen this year, like in previous years. While the Core i7-4000 line was doing just fine on the computer front, Intel nonetheless unveiled the Core i7-5000X series.
The Core i7-5000X chips are codenamed Haswell-E and are used in high-end workstations and servers, both single- and dual-CPU configurations.
It stands to reason that their successors will enter the same space and steadily push the current product line out of the equation. Alas, that will happen a lot later than you might think.
The Broadwell-E ETA has been unveiled
The folks at VR-Zone were kind enough to share their findings with the rest of the world, even though they wouldn't reveal their vaunted sources or offer guarantees that their information is true.
Then again, even if it is, the info could change between now and next month, since it's always possible that Intel will revise its roadmap.
Anyway, the rumor is that the Broadwell-E line of Core i7 HEDT central processing units will be released only in 2016, not in 2015.
The processors will just bring a performance upgrade, but nothing new in terms of technology, save for the use of the 14nm production node.
The specifications of the Broadwell-E HEDT Core i7 CPUs
We don't have any data on the clocks of course, since the things are still two years away or so. But we can assume that the performance advantage will be of 10-15%, or thereabouts.
All processors will (probably) have 40 PCI Express lanes (as opposed to how Core i7-5000X units have as few as 28), plus a quad-channel DDR4 memory controller. Moreover, the chips will possess 20 MB of L3 cache memory.
Otherwise, the plan is to keep them as similar to Haswell-E as possible, so that users may upgrade from their existing chip to the next without a full motherboard / system change.
Thus, you'll get the same LGA 2011-3 socket, 6-8 cores, up to 20 MB L3 cache and I/O identical to the current-generation CPUs.
Needless to say, the Broadwell-E HEDT central processing units won't suffer from the unfixable TSX bug that came to light only recently. It's a good thing the issue arises only in very specific, enterprise-related situations.