Intel Core i7 3820

The Intel Core i7 3820 is the poor relative of the very pricey Core i7 3960X. Both these processors are part of the Sandy Bridge-E family and include the same features (Hyper-threading, Turbo) but differ in their running clocks and, most importantly, number of cores.

The i7 3960X has six cores whereas the i7 3820 has four. The i7 3820 therefore still has Hyper-threading, which allows you to double the number of cores seen by the operating system artificially. It’s clocked at 3.6 GHz and this can go up to 3.9 GHz when Turbo mode kicks in.

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In practice, the Core i7 3820 is an excellent processor at ease with all types of task as well as in games. The overall difference in performance with the Core i7 3960X is a little under 15%. The i7 3820 is also 15% up on the Core i7 2700K (LGA 1155 platform). Available at a lot less than the 3960X, this 'little’ 3820 therefore represents a much more affordable entry to Intel's high-end platform (LGA 2011).

For a more thorough analysis of the series of Core i7 3000s with four and six cores, we refer you to our full test of the Intel Core i7 3960X. We detail there, among other things, how Turbo mode and Hyper-threading work.