We are not expecting Intel's first Gulftown processor to become available until sometime next month. However, as it is becoming increasingly common, several online retailers jumped the gun and have already listed the six-core part, detailing its price and full specs before an official announcement is even made.
According to the listings, the Core i7 980 Extreme Edition features six 32nm cores clocked at 3.33GHz, 12 threads, 12MB of L3 cache, and a maximum Turbo Boost clock speed of 3.6GHz. It features DDR3 support up to 1066MHz and will have a maximum TDP 130W.
Alternate.at quotes a price tag of €1,099 for the Core i7 980, while others have it listed for as low as €960. For reference, Intel's current fastest desktop processor, the quad-core Core i7 975 Extreme Edition, is selling for around $970 in the U.S. market. If the company's past history is of any indication we can probably expect the Core i7 980 Extreme Edition to target the $1,000 price point.
Most of the specs were already available courtesy of the numerous leaks over the past few months, and the expected pricing is not really surprising for an Intel flagship product. However, Alternate.at does offer a more specific hint of its expected release date, quoting an "announced delivery date" of March 14, 2010.
