It looks like the current Sandy Bridge-E and the X79 just got a bit sweeter as, according to the slide over at XFastest, Ivy Bridge-E should be compatible with the LGA2011 socket and X79 chipset.

As you already know, the Ivy Bridge is based on the new 22nm manufacturing process and will use LGA1155 socket. The current Ivy Bridge-E situation is quite strange as it is something that we honestly weren't expecting from Intel, but currently it looks like that the Ivy Bridge-E, will use the current LGA2011 socket and will be compatible with X79 chipset. Of course, Ivy Bridge-E will probably end up to be an optical shrink of the Sandy Bridge-E but due to smaller manufacturing process, will definitely offer more performance, higher overclocking or lower power consumption.

Of course, this is an enthusiast part of the market and you can expect the Ivy Bridge-E to be priced accordingly. According to the XFastest, the Ivy Bridge-E is scheduled for Q4 2012, while the "plain" LGA1155 Ivy Bridge should come in late Q1/early Q2 2012.

More here.