Six-core Extreme, 2.88GHz quad Core i7s show early
updated 03:10 pm EST, Fri February 26, 2010
Intel plans faster quad-core i7s soon
Three speed upgrades for Intel's Core i7 chips have been leaked within the past several hours that show the company planning a slew of speed upgrades in coming weeks for both desktops and mobiles. A store listing for the Core i7-980X appears to provide additional details beyond past leaks and suggests Intel's first mainstream six-core processor will be even faster than expected. While it's already known to run at 3.33GHz with all six cores and carry 12MB of cache, the chip is now set to use Turbo Boost to ramp up to 3.6GHz and in Germany should cost the equivalent of $1,427 at retail, though this may drop in the US.
The i7-980X is largely expected to arrive in March and appears to have already been preceded by the Core i7-930. The 2.8GHz part would primarily replace the entry 2.66GHz Core i7-920 and would boost to 3.06GHz while sporting 8MB of cache. Some European retailers already claim to have stock of the chip at prices of about $347, suggesting that Intel is on the verge of making the speed increase official.
Furthest away is the i7-940XM. While not due until the summer, it should be the first quad-core mobile chip to break the 2GHz barrier and will clock in at 2.13GHz. It will still use the older 45 nanometer manufacturing process and at 55W will be too power-hungry to run in all but desktop replacement-sized notebooks, but it should scale up to a high 3.33GHz. Its pricing is a mystery but will likely near the $1,000 mark as with most Extreme Edition chips. [via Fudzilla]
Grizzled Veteran
Joined: Oct 1999
More speed please!
It's nice to see increases in raw speed again after a few years of arguing the (false) virtue of more cores that only works if the goddam software can exploit them! Six or twelve real cores that gives up to 24 virtual cores is pretty much worthless for all but a few applications!