Intel's Broadwell processors go extreme with 10 cores and ludicrous speed

The Broadwell-E Intel Core i7-6950X is arguably the world's most powerful processor ever created.

It's the first processor from Intel to come packing 10-cores. What's more, they're all running at a base clock of 3GHz or up to 3.5Ghz thanks to Intel's new TurboBoost 3.0 technology.

You can bet this Broadwell-E part will absolutely decimate CPU in existence before it. According to Intel's numbers, its new Broadwell-E Core i7-6950X processor offers a 35% increase in performance compared to the last generation Haswell-based Intel Core i7-5960X.

The this is largely thanks to the part's new 14-nanometer Tri-Gate 3D transistors. But beyond the silicon, Intel has introduced TurboBoost Max 3.0 technology to more efficiently push each Core as far as they can go. Currently, Intel's processors are limited to working as fast as the slowest core. However, with TurboBoost Max 3.0 lets you push every thread and core to its limit.

The new chip will still fit in X99 motherboards as it's using LGA 2011-v3 socket. Intel's latest extreme processor also features 40 lanes of PCIe 3.0 connected directly to the CPU, which allows you to load up your ultimate rig with quad-SLI or crossfire and still have room to add speedy SSDs.

And with 20-threads and quad-channel DDR4 2,400MHz memory, it brute forces its way through content creation and gaming with a new form of multi-tasking Intel calls mega-tasking. Instead of having to wait for video to finish rendering before you can do anything else, Intel claims its latest product will relieve all production hang ups.

Alternatively, users could game at 4K, record their gameplay and push the same footage to a livestream all at once.

The Intel Core i7-6950X processor will begin shipping in the coming weeks with a starting price of $1,569 (about £1,071, AU$2,177).

All in the family

Beyond introducing a new flagship product, Intel is expanding its series of Skylake processors with more cores.

Finally supplanting the Intel Core i706700K is the hexa-core 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-6800K, followed by the 3.6GHz Core i7-6850K featuring the same number of cores and lastly the octo-core 3.2Ghz Intel Core i7-6900K.

Users will see performance increases from the added cores as more games are developed with DirectX 12.

• It's a bright future for the best processors