Monday, July 5, 2010

Intel to revamp its CPU lineup, new 6-core part due mid-July


Intel is preparing to revamp its range of Core i processors with the launch of four new models over the next few weeks. According to DigiTimes, the chip giant will kick off its new introductions in mid-July with the hexa-core Core i7 970, priced at $885 in thousand-unit quantities, or about $115 less than the range-topping Core i7 980X. The new six core part will reportedly run at 3.2GHz and sport a total 12MB of L2 cache.

A Core i5 760 with two cores clocked at 2.9GHz will also be released, priced at $205, alongside a lower powered Core i5 870s with a selling price of $351. Finally, rounding off the revamp, Intel will deliver the Core i3 560 in August priced at $138 in thousand-unit quantities. Further models to be introduced in August include two Pentium and a Celeron processor, while the company will also be dropping its prices across several models.

Among the highlights for the cuts are the Core i3 540 and Core i3 530, which will drop to $117 in mid-July and mid-October, respectively, and the Core i7 950 which is rumored to be falling dramatically from $562 to $294 in August. That model runs at 3.06GHz and is part of Intel's high end LGA 1366 platform.