ASRock Posts Firmware Hack for X99 Owners to Support Broadwell-E

ASRock routinely breaks rules with Intel – like with the SkyOC firmware hack that allows non-K CPU overclocking. In the latest breach, ASRock mentioned Intel's new Core i7-6950X Broadwell-E processor and listed some of its core specs. The CPU will be part of the line replacing Haswell-E (which was the first consumer architecture to host DDR4 memory) and the X99 platform.

Motherboard manufacturer ASRock says that the Intel Core i7-6950X will host 10 physical cores with hyperthreading (total of 20 threads). ASRock indicates that its existing X99 motherboards will be able to leverage a firmware patch to unlock support for Broadwell-E, meaning that HW-E owners may not have to upgrade motherboards if firmware hacks are available. ASRock's will be posted here.

As for other chips, the Core i7-6900K will be one of the highest-end, non-X-class (Extreme) parts with eight cores and sixteen threads. We previously posted a specifications leak of the Intel i7-6950X, 6900K, 6850K, and 6800K; the specs table is reproduced below.

Note that these specifications are not official from Intel and could still prove inaccurate. As of now, the 6950X specs have thus far proven correct, as validated by ASRock.

- Steve “Lelldorianx” Burke.