▷ Lga 2011: a socket with a lot of life ahead?

This socket mainly replaced the LGA 1366. However, it is true that it also replaced the LGA 1567 and the LGA 1356. To put us in context, we are on the verge of completing the first decade of the 21st century. The last Xeon consignment carried by LGA 1366 was the Gainestown series , which would begin in 2008.

We are going to delve into the history of one of the best socket that Intel has released. Do you want to know it?

Index of contents

2011-2012, Sandy Bridge-E / EP and LGA 2011

Intel launches Sandy Bridge on January 9, 2011, which would be the second generation of Intel Core processors, as the appearance of the 2011 LGA socket in the range of servers, as in the enthusiastic range.

The first chips that would be focused on LGA 2011, would be the Intel Core i7 and the Intel Xeon for servers. While the desktop processors ran LGA 1155 and BGA 1284, the enthusiastic and server processors would focus on LGA 2011, LGA 1356, LGA1155 and BGA 1284.

Now you may wonder why in the server processors there were more sockets? So Intel decided to classify its entire Xeon range in high performance, mid-range and low voltage. The Sandy family was characterized by LGA 2011, the 1600 MHz DDR3 and a fairly high TDP in enthusiastic ranges.

Speaking of chipsets, we found 6 different chipsets: X79, C602J, C602, C604, C606 and C608. The processors came in a 65nm manufacturing process.

The output of the Sandy Bridge processors lasted until November 2012, so there were still news between both years. We have decided to separate the Core i7 that mounted this socket and the Xeon so as not to get too involved.

Enthusiastic range

We are going to the second generation Intel Core i7, specifically 4: 3820, 3930K, 3960X and 3970X. It seems that the Ryzen were inspired by the nomenclatures of this generation. These processors had a great performance, since they had 6 cores, 12 threads and frequencies that reached 4.0 GHz in turbo mode .

Keep in mind that we are talking about 2011, so these technical specifications impact a lot for these times. The ideal chipset for this range was the X79, which allowed overclocking and four 1600 MHz DDR3 channels , among other things.

Be careful with the Core i7 3820 because its overclocking was partial, the same did not happen in the 3830K or in the Extreme range . We attached a table for you to see the Sandy Bridge processors of the enthusiastic range.

Name	Socket	Cores	Threads	Frequency	Turbo	OC	L3 cache	PCIe lanes	TDP	Starting price	Release date
Core i7-3820	LGA 2011	4	8	3.60 GHz	3.80 GHz	Partially	10 MB	40 (PCIe 2.0)	130 W	€ 305	2/14/12
Core i7-3930K	6	12	3.20 GHz	Yes	12 MB	€ 555	11/14/11
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition	3.30 GHz	3.90 GHz	15 MB	€ 990
Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition	3.50 GHz	4.00 GHz	150 W	€ 999	End of 2012

Servers range

We have to go to the server range, that is, to Intel Xeon. We find processors very different from each other, since there is a dance of cores and threads, such as frequencies and TDP. This is because we find different ranges within the Xeon.

Name	Cores (threads)	Frequencies		Interface	Memory Support	TDP	Release date	Starting price
Standard	Turbo	L3 cache
4650	8 (16)	2.7 GHz	3.3 GHz 3.1 GHz	20 MB	2 × QPI DMI 2.0 PCIe 3.0	DDR3-1600	130 W	05/14/12	€ 3, 616
4650L	2.6 GHz	115 W
4640	2.4 GHz	2.8 GHz	95 W	€ 2, 725
4620	2.2 GHz	2.6 GHz	16 MB	4x DDR3-1333	€ 1, 611
4617	6 (6)	2.9 GHz	3.4 GHz	15 MB	DDR3-1600	130 W
4610	6 (12)	2.4 GHz	2.9 GHz	DDR3-1333	95 W	€ 1, 219
4607	2.2 GHz	Not support	12 MB	DDR3-1066	€ 885
4603	4 (8)	2.0 GHz	10 MB	€ 551
2687W	8 (16)	3.1 GHz	3.8 GHz	20 MB	DDR3-1600	150 W	3/6/12	€ 1, 885
2690	2.9 GHz	135 W	€ 2, 057
2680	2.7 GHz	3.5 GHz	130 W	€ 1, 723
2689	2.6 GHz	3.6 GHz	115 W	N / A
2670	3.3 GHz	€ 1, 552
2665	2.4 GHz	3.1 GHz	€ 1, 440
2660	2.2 GHz	3.0 GHz	95 W	€ 1, 329
2658	2.1 GHz	2.4 GHz	€ 1, 186
2650	2.0 GHz	2.8 GHz	€ 1107
2650L	1.8 GHz	2.3 GHz	70 W
2648L	2.1 GHz	€ 1, 186
2667	6 (12)	2.9 GHz	3.5 GHz	15 MB	130 W	€ 1, 552
2640	2.5 GHz	3.0 GHz	DDR3-1333	95 W	€ 884
2630	2.3 GHz	2.8 GHz	€ 612
2620	2.0 GHz	2.5 GHz	€ 406
2630L	60 W	€ 662
2628L	1.8 GHz	Not support	N / A	N / A
2643	4 (8)	3.3 GHz	3.5 GHz	10 MB	DDR3-1600	130 W	3/6/12	€ 884
2618L	1.8 GHz	Not support	DDR3-1066	50 W		N / A
2609	4 (4)	2.4 GHz	80 W	3/6/12	€ 246
2603	1.8 GHz	€ 202
2637	2 (4)	3.0 GHz	3.5 GHz	5 MB	DDR3-1600	€ 884

Following the order from top to bottom, we see the most powerful ranges and, as we go down, we see the mid and low ranges of Intel Xeon. In this case, only the ones you see in the tables are the ones that supported LGA 2011, so if your Xeon is out of it, it means that it doesn't support this socket.

Between these two years, AMD failed to compete with Intel in the server sector because the Intel Xeon were truly powerful processors, but not only that: LGA 2011 was the perfect framework for having an unbeatable range of chips.

2012-2013, Ivy Bridge

Ivy Bridge would be launched on August 29, 2012, so someone will wonder how is that possible if until the end of 2012 Sandy processors were launched? Intel and its hobbies. Of course, it did not make any difference to one who bought a Sandy in early 2012, so that in the summer they would bring out a new architecture.

On the other hand, it is normal because technology advances very quickly and Intel was sweet. Ivy Bridge brought the third generation of Intel Core processors manufactured in a 22nm process that was based on Sandy. Intel adopted the famous tick-tock model by reducing the node in each new architecture.

In our case, the Core i7 and Intel Xeon used FinFET Tri-Gate transistors to increase energy efficiency and less delay. We were at a stage marked by Windows 7 and Windows 8, as USB 3.0 support. This series of processors would bring news such as:

PCIExpress 3.0. 4K video playback. Support 200MHz more RAM speed. Greater multiplier or turbo.

Regarding chipsets, there was no change because it shared a platform with Sandy. In this way, the enthusiast chipset remained the X79.

Although Ivy Bridge was punctuated by controversy of a temperature rise of 10º centigrade with respect to Sandy processors. It did not matter if the processor was overclocked or worked in IDLE, the problem was in the thermal paste.

Enthusiasts quickly rushed over to Intel because the company's recommendation was not to be overclocked, but why buy a high-end processor if you can't overclock it?

Leaving the controversy aside, let's go with the 2011 LGA processors from the Ivy family.

Enthusiastic range

It is true that the Intel Core i7 that supported this socket came out 1 year later than the LGA 2011 socket, but it was still a great opportunity for enthusiasts. This time, we would have only 3 processors for LGA 2011: the 4960X, the 4930K and the 4820K.

As in Sandy, one of the Core i7 would not equip the 6 cores and 12 threads: the 4820K. Anyway, we would like to highlight the improvement in efficiency from one generation to another. In Sandy this range of processors would consume up to 150W, but in Ivy it only reaches 130W.

Remember that only the Core i7s we showed supported LGA 2011. Say that all the ivy Ivy Bridge for this socket were overclockable.


Name	Cores (threads)	Frequencies	L3 cache	TDP	Socket	Interface	Memory	Launching	Starting price
Normal	Turbo
4960X	6 (12)	3.6 GHz	4.0 GHz	15 MB	130 W	LGA 2011	DMI 2.0 PCIe 3.0	Quad channel DDR3-1866	9/10/13	€ 999
4930K	6 (12)	3.4 GHz	3.9 GHz	12 MB	130 W	LGA 2011	DMI 2.0 PCIe 3.0	Quad channel DDR3-1866	9/10/13	€ 583
4820K	4 (8)	3.7 GHz	3.9 GHz	10 MB	130 W	LGA 2011	DMI 2.0 PCIe 3.0	Quad channel DDR3-1866	9/10/13	€ 323

Many did not know that the LGA 2011-1 was knocking on the door, since it would come out in early 2014. The enthusiastic range wanted to level up, but it would have to wait until LGA 2011-v3, which brought the real change.

Servers range

As far as servers are concerned, Intel increased the performance of its Intel Xeon. In fact, LGA 2011 came out of the hand of Intel Xeon, which made it clear that Intel wanted to focus this socket on the professional sector.

As usual, the TDP of Xeon chips started to be reduced because energy efficiency had made sense at Intel for years, so it was a priority. However, performance was not affected, quite the contrary.

Here we leave you the table of the Ivy Bridge Xeon processors compatible with LGA 2011.

Name	Cores (threads)	Base Frequency	Turbo	L3 cache	TDP	Starting price	Launching
Xeon E5-1620	4 (8)	3.60 GHz	3.90 GHz	10 MB	130 W	€ 294	Early 2012
Xeon E5-1650	6 (12)	3.20 GHz	3.80 GHz	12 MB	€ 583
Xeon E5-1660	3.30 GHz	3.90 GHz	15 MB	1080 €
Xeon E5-2603	4 (4)	1.8 GHz	Not support	10 MB	80 W	€ 198
Xeon E5-2609	2.4 GHz	Not support	€ 294
Xeon E5-2620	6 (12	2.0 GHz	2.5 GHz	15 MB	95 W	€ 406
Xeon E5-2630	2.3 GHz	2.8 GHz	€ 612
Xeon E5-2630L	2.0 GHz	2.5 GHz	60 W	€ 662
Xeon E5-2637	2 (4)	3.0 GHz	3.5 GHz	5 MB	80 W	€ 885
Xeon E5-2640	6 (12)	2.5 GHz	3.0 GHz	15 MB	95 W
Xeon E5-2643	4 (8)	3.3 GHz	3.5 GHz	10 MB	130 W
Xeon E5-2650	8 (16)	2.0 GHz	2.8 GHz	20 MB	95 W	€ 1107
Xeon E5-2658	2.1 GHz	2.4 GHz	€ 1, 141
Xeon E5-2650L	1.8 GHz	2.3 GHz	70 W	€ 1107
Xeon E5-2660	2.2 GHz	3.0 GHz	95 W	€ 1, 329
Xeon E5-2665	2.4 GHz	3.1 GHz	115 W	€ 1, 440
Xeon E5-2667	6 (12)	2.9 GHz	3.5 GHz	15 MB	130 W	€ 1, 552
Xeon E5-2670	8 (16)	2.6 GHz	3.3 GHz	20 MB	115 W
Xeon E5-2680	2.7 GHz	3.5 GHz	130 W	€ 1, 723
Xeon E5-2687W	3.1 GHz	3.8 GHz	150 W	€ 1, 885
Xeon E5-2689	2.6 GHz	3.6 GHz	115 W	N / A

2014, end of LGA 2011

In 2014 we would see the end of the support and manufacture of the LGA 2011 socket . It was time to make way for the next: the LGA 2011-v3, a socket that would dominate the enthusiastic sector and the world of servers.

This jump would come from the hand of Haswell-E and would last until Broadwell-E, that is, from 2014 to 2016. LGA 2011 is synonymous with high performance, a concept that made Intel fashionable at the beginning of this decade.

We recommend reading the best processors on the market

So far the history of LGA 2011, we hope you liked it. Did you have a processor with this socket?