Sandy Bridge-E will use a massive LGA 2011 socket when it arrives in the latter half of 2011. The Patsburg platform is considered the replacement for the current LGA 1366 platform and now we have pictures of the massive socket.
The pictures published by Asian overclocker JCornell have been cut to make sure not too much is revealed about the motherboard JC has in his possession.
Beside the 2011 pins the socket also has two arms to lock in the processor into the socket. The Patsburg platform and its LGA 2011 socket will support four DDR3 memory channels and 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes for connecting graphics cards and other demanding expansion cards.
Sandy Bridge E will be paired with the LGA 2011 socket in workstations and enthusiast systems looking for maximum performance.
