According to VR-Zone (source) and TechpowerUp (English translation), the pricing rates for the upcoming Ivy Bridge-E Core i7 are now known. Of course, the most high-end model (Core i7 4960X) will come at a price point of USD $990. The for extreme overclockers more interesting Core i7 4930K, featuring six cores and just slightly less cache, comes at USD $555. This is about USD $50 lower than the 3930K at launch. Just like the 3930K was a fine alternative for the 3960X in terms of overclocking capability and performance, the 4930K seems to be the right choice for people who are sorting through a couple of chips to find the best sample.

The most interesting price point is the one for the Core i7 4820K quad-core CPU. Unlike the Sandy Bridge-E quad core counter-part, the 4820K will be fully unlocked. Essentially, it is the 4770K but for the high-end desktop platform X79. Turns out that the 4820K comes at rate of a whooping USD $310, which is about USD $40 less than a Core i7 4770K. Given the relatively small price difference between high-end Z87 and high-end X79 platform, the Ivy Bridge-E counterpart might be more interesting for people who are not willing to spend USD $500+ on a CPU. After all, Ivy Bridge-E features the same core like the Ivy Bridge processors (read: no coldbug), and combines that with quad channel memory bandwidth.

Interesting!